It might be easier to take out what you don't need with a grep:

@to_be_written = grep { split(/_/)[0] <= $today } @busdir;
[download]

... after which, you just need to take each file in @to_be_written and do what you need to do with it.

Alternative, it's probably more efficient to use a foreach loop, as to only process the list once for both the requirement on being less than $today, and for the file operations:

foreach (@to_be_written) {
   if ( split(/_/)[0] <= $today ) {
      do_magic_file_copy_thing_here( $_ ); # $_ is the filename of int
+erest
   }
}
[download]

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Dr. Michael K. Neylon - mneylon-pm@masemware.com || "You've left the lens cap of your mind on again, Pinky" - The Brain