Subway Maps

Quietly, a new old look for the subway map

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 5, 2011

When the MTA cut service last June, they took the opportunity to refresh the subway map as well. The changes were, by and large, cosmetic. The giant bus callouts were cut down in number and size while the colors were changed to better highlight the the subway lines. Yet, with parks turning light brown and a shadow tracking the route lines, the changes were not met with great acclaim.

Recently, though, the MTA has rolled back some of the changes to the old map. Without much fanfare, the latest iteration of the map returns the parks to their green color. While the route lines still feature that shadow and station names run off at odd angles, the colors are looking a little more vibrant and lifelike.

I got wind of the changes earlier in September and saw the excerpt you see above. I asked the authority if they had a comment on the redesign. This is their statement:

We reprint the map several times a year, and we are continuously trying to make it easier to use. In June 2010 we issued a fairly significant redesign aimed at reducing clutter. Most of the changes we made as part of that redesign were successful and remain in place for the September edition of the map. One exception to that is the background land color.

In response to feedback we received after the 2010 redesign, we’ve returned the background land color to the more traditional beige. (For those with a detailed interest in graphic design, the underlying land color in the new map is a slightly screened back Pantone 468. The green-shaded land color had been a Pantone 614 with extra black added.) The colors of water and parks have also been adjusted slightly in concert with the new background land color. Also to continue to build on earlier clutter reduction, we’ve removed some streets and cemeteries that were not directly served by the subway.

The September 2011 map is posted online in jpg and pdf formats, and is being distributed to station agents for individual distribution to customers. The maps posted in stations and trains are updated less frequently, and will not receive this version of the map.

Meanwhile, I have also seen a full-fledged PDF with the following in the upper right corner. I can’t share the whole thing, but take a peek here:

All I know about this map is that it is apparently based upon a few old ideas. Back in the mid-1990s when Manhattan Bridge service changes caused radically different peak and off-peak service patterns, the MTA printed a few maps that had featured both service offerings. In April of this year, one blogger offered up his own version of the night map. “It’s the MTA’s,” he said, “if they want it.”

The MTA would not confirm to me that this night map could become a reality. Oftentimes, the authority produces internal documents for testing that do not see the public light of day. Some projects — like the Weekender map – are launched; others are left as good ideas on the cutting room floor. Perhaps this is one of them. Still, it strikes me as a useful representation of the subway system late at night when some trains do not run and others run truncated routes. At least someone’s thinking about.

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AsidesMTA

When 117 phone numbers become one

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 4, 2011

For years, one of the most obvious signs of bureaucratic issues with the MTA concerned its public phone numbers. The authority had, at its high point, 117 different phone numbers depending upon which service callers needed, and no one really knew which number to call. As part of its effort at cutting down these severe inefficiencies, the MTA has consolidated to one, state-run number. Those who need information from the MTA can now just call 5-1-1.

The 511 service, the authority said in a press release, will provide a portal to an interactive voice response system that will connect calls to customer service and travel information for all MTA agencies. Services include all rail and transit schedules; trip planning; lost and found; MetroCard, rail ticket, or Bridges and Tunnels tolls; and Mail & Ride. Furthermore, as 5-1-1 is a state service, this move costs the MTA no additional dollars. “This is a great example of how we are working to make it easier for our customers to get information and interact with the MTA at the same time that we reduce the MTA’s administrative costs,” MTA Managing Director Diana Jones Ritter said. “Customers now have a single phone number for all transportation-related questions, instead of a long and sometimes confusing list of agencies and departments.”

The MTA noted that 5-1-1 has been available as a transportation resource for a while, but the offerings have been refined. Call transfer paths will “better direct customers’ inquiries to the appropriate departments,” and functions such as Lost & Found, MetroCard Balance Protection and general comments and concerns are now available at one phone number. Ads promoting the new service will soon appear in buses, subways and rail cars throughout the area.

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AsidesView from Underground

Study: After a while, prerecording messages ignored

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 4, 2011

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is an important message from the New York City Police Department.” We know the words. We hear them every day. There’s something about keeping your belongings safe, checking yourself and saying something if you see something. Then there are others — about unlawful sexual conduct, riding on the outside of train cars, panhandling, etc. At this point, veteran subway riders simply sigh when the same prerecording announcements we’ve been hearing for five years starts to play. We’re suffering from noise overkill.

Now, a recent study suggests that not only are we annoyed by these announcements, but we generally just flat-out ignore them. A professor of psychology from the U.K. says prerecorded announcements create complacency as they become a part of life’s background noises. “People habituate to any kind of stimulus and eventually filter it out and the same thing happens with warnings and announcements,” Judy Edworthy said. “It is rather like crying wolf – people get warning fatigue. It means people could actually be at more risk of what they are being warned about.”

As one U.K.-based reporter found, 27 prerecorded messages played at one rail station within the span of 30 minutes, and researchers are blaming the fear companies have that they will be “accused of failing to alert customers to potential dangers.” In New York, the epidemic isn’t as bad as the one described in The Telegraph, but sometimes, all we want is a little bit of quiet. We’ll say something if we see something. Now stop berating us.

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New York City Transit

A plan to lessen the crowds on the popular L

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 4, 2011

With concerns about crowding on the L train drawing headlines this summer, the MTA has pledged to address the issue. Later this fall, they will one roundtrip train to the line between 9 and 9:30 a.m. as an interim measure. Doing so, says the authority, will drop load guidelines under 100 percent, and the authority hopes to bring full CBTC online by the end of 2012.

On the surface, one whole train between 9 and 9:30 a.m. doesn’t sound like much. Here you go, guys. Enjoy your one extra train. Plus, the L line is generally crowded throughout rush hour. For now, though, it could be the difference between trains at 101 percent of capacity and those at 90 percent of capacity. Even with the adjustments in load guidelines last year to consider trains full with a quarter of the passengers standing, that extra train could make some unpleasant rides slightly more tolerable.

The announcement of one extra train — with more to come in another year or so — stems from the summer flurry of news about subway crowds. After The Times reported that weekend ridership was on the rise, politicians took note. Armed with the news that weekend ridership at some L train stops was a shocking 80 percent of weekday ridership, Daniel Squadron called upon the MTA to review service along the L line, and this week, the agency’s internal report has hit the proverbial airwaves.

The document is a 13-pager, and it’s available here as a PDF. A lot of it, though, is extraneous as it is a report that the MTA has had at the ready for a while. They’ve spent a lot of time studying the L line and know the ridership inside and out. It’s going to be the first CBTC route in the city, and if that technology is ready in 14 months, as Transit says it will be, capacity on the L could be bumped up significantly.

First, the numbers: Since 1998, daily ridership along the L has spiked from just over 68,000 to just under 130,000. The MTA has maxed out the line at 17 trains per hour, up from 12 just 13 years ago, and is now running 444 daily L train trips, up from 292 in 1998. As ridership has gone up, the MTA has tried to use the L line — one of two that doesn’t have to share trackage with another route — as a testing ground, and thus, we’ve been hearing about CBTC since before I started this site in late 2006.

With CBTC and ATO, the MTA says it can decrease headways to allow for upwards of 24 trains per hour. The system was plagued by some bad testing results as well as a need to purchase more equipment. After being put on hold in 2006 and then resuming a few years ago, Transit anticipates rolling out a full implementation of CBTC in late 2012, and the authority aims to increase capacity to around 20 trains per hour at peak times, thus lessening the crowds. Those are of course the best laid plans, and we know how that goes.

In the meantime, though, weekend travel will remain problematic. Because of the switching limitations along the Canarsie Line, the MTA usually has to knock out large sections of the route to make sure work is completed. It can’t single-track L trains because that would hinder weekend productivity. Furthermore, with CBTC tests needed before the MTA can move forward with its plan, weekend L service may be cut now and then over the next few months. It might get worse before it gets better.

So L riders looking for space right now should walk to the back. The report details how cars in the front of Manhattan-bound trains — those that open right at the entrances at Lorimer St. and Bedford, 1st and 3rd Aves. — are far more crowded that the last car on the L trains. Loads in the front are at 130 percent while loads in the back are at 99 percent. It’s not much but it’s better than nothing. Take heart though, L train riders: Changes are coming ever so slowly.

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Public Transit Policy

Thoughts on spending on design vs. capacity

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 3, 2011

A $3.8 billion PATH station will not bring increased capacity to the rail system.

As the United States’ economy remains in a slump and the MTA has been forced to scramble for construction dollars, how the authority spends its billions has often come under the microscope. Along the East Side, Phase 1 of the Second Ave. Subway will deliver three stations for $4.5 billion. While those costs are high, at least SAS is increasing transit capacity. The same cannot be said for other projects.

Down in Lower Manhattan, various stakeholders — the federal government, the Port Authority — have contributed billions to two projects that are more ostentatious than functional. The Calatrava PATH terminal has been billed as part of the rebirth of Lower Manhattan after September 11, but for $3.8 billion, all we’re getting is a giant porcupine. The Fulton Street Transit Center will be a hub for the subway in name only as the $1.4 billion renovation includes a fancy above-ground entrance and some reconstructed walkways.

For over $5 billion, then, New York is getting a few buildings that may or may not be visually appealing, and no added transit capacity. I’ve long believed that to be a waste of precious resources, and I’m not alone. Over at Forbes, Stephen Smith of Market Urbanism fame writes about spending priorities. Starting his argument with a nod toward Japan’s train system, Smith notes that the country’s rail hubs are not architecturally attract. “Shinjuku doesn’t even seem nice by modernist Japanese standards,” he writes, “and the most extravagant post-war station I can find is Nagoya, which doubles as the skyscraper headquarters of the country’s biggest Shinkansen company.”

Moving along, Smith says that the spending patterns in New York are “indicative of our warped priorities” when it comes to transit spending. A greater proportion of dollars are funneled toward aesthetics rather than capacity. He writes:

Spending a lot of money on flashy stations is also not something that Spain, the world leader in cheap and efficient tunneling projects, recommends. In a report on railway expansion in Madrid, tunneling expert Manuel Melis Maynar writes: “Design should be focused on the needs of the users, rather than on architectural beauty or exotic materials, and never on the name of the architect.” And it makes sense – the point of transit is to transport. Money buys movement, and funds are finite. When a system is running well, people aren’t sticking around to stare at the ceiling, anyway.

As always though, America must be the exception. Spain would never spend $3.8 billion on a single starchitect-studded station, but its own Santiago Calatrava was happy to build one if New York was footing the bill. Calatrava’s original design called for an enormous bird-like World Trade Center PATH station whose walls would open up in a sort of flapping motion, but it was scaled back for security and cost reasons. The wings were clipped and evolution was set back a few hundred million years – the bird will now be a ”slender stegosaurus.” Even the originally projected $2.2 billion cost would have been more than Paris spent on its entire new 9 km-long Métro Line 14.

And then just one block away from the WTC boondoggle, we find the $1.4 billion Fulton Street “Transit Center” (a.k.a., subway station). Back in 2002 there was talk of selling off air rights above the station, the largest undeveloped parcel in Lower Manhattan, but that never happened…If American cities are ever going to grow beyond their currently stunted sizes, they’re going to need new transit infrastructure. But no amount of government subsidies will ever be enough to build more than a line here and there until we get our astronomical costs under control.

Expensive design isn’t the only driver of cost in the U.S., but particularly in Lower Manhattan, design gives transit spending a bad name. It’s tough to justify spending billions on two projects within a few blocks of each other that do next to nothing to increase ridership, but that’s what politicians want. It doesn’t make much sense.

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Taxis

A livery cab bill awaits resolution in Albany

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 3, 2011

An NYC taxi medallion has been a better investment than gold or a house since 1980. (Via Bloomberg News)

Getting stuck in Albany is no one’s idea of a good time. It’s even worse when the thing stuck is not a person but rather a bill designed to improve transportation options in New York City, but that’s exactly what’s happened with the Mayor’s plan to expand livery cab access outside of the core area of Manhattan.

The plan, as we know it, is not without controversy. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has made it a goal to improve taxi access for everyone who wants to travel from one point outside of Manhattan to, well, everywhere. With 97 percent of yellow cab rides originated within Manhattan south of 96th St. or at an airport, millions of New Yorkers are left searching for cabs in vain. In April, Bloomberg proposed a plan to legitimize street hails for livery cabs. By granting 30,000 limited medallions to livery cabs, Bloomberg’s plan would allow these cabbies to pick up passengers anywhere in the city but in Manhattan south of 96th Street. It would raise $1 billion for the city — a key point — and provide increased transportation access.

But the best laid plans often run into politicians beholden to powerful lobbyist groups, and the City Council, under the influence of medallion owners, was destined not to pass the bill. Bloomberg went to Albany, and while the Assembly and Senate approved the bill, they have reportedly yet to present it to Gov. Andrew Cuomo for his signatured. Residents want to see the changes, but fleet owners have been looking to kill the bill since mid-July. After all, if a taxi medallion is a better long-term investment than gold, why would these medallion owners — who generally are not the drivers — want to risk competition even if the 30,000 new medallions would go to drivers who wouldn’t compete with the yellow cabs?

The bill’s opponents have mounted some rather convoluted offenses as well. Take, for instance, this letter from Public Advocate Bill De Blasio. As Public Advocate, De Blasio is supposed to advocate for the people of New York City, but it appears as though he’s trying to shore up support from powerful and wealthy medallion owners as he eyes as the 2013 mayor race. He says:

This plan likewise threatens the livelihood of livery cab base owners and drivers. For decades, livery cab companies have offered reliable and legitimate pre-arranged cab service throughout the five boroughs of New York City. However, the current taxi plan will place substantial barriers in front of those providing legal, prearranged car services. If the Mayor’s plan becomes law, the existence of newly-permitted livery cabs capable of picking up street fares will no doubt significantly decrease the demand for prearranged car service. This plan will also likely increase the incentive for non-permitted livery drivers to pick up street hails illegally.

Apparently, De Blasio seems convinced that limo companies that guarantee pick-up service will find their customers waiting endlessly as drivers get needlessly distracted by street hails instead. I’m not entirely positive how one draws that conclusion from a plan that would allow street hails; it seems anathema to the workings of the car service market which relies upon good service and good word-of-mouth to gain popularity. But De Blasio’s words suggest exactly who is opposing the taxi measure.

As recently as ten days ago, it appeared as though the bill would die a death at the hands of powerful interest groups who have been lobbying Albany for months. Yet, the allure of the dollar is a strong one indeed, and Gov. Cuomo is pushing Bloomberg and the bill’s opponents toward a compromise. If the city could indeed realize $1 billion from the sale of new medallions, it is better to find a solution to the impasse than forego easy money in tight times. “When you can find revenue without raising taxes, grab it,” Cuomo said last week.

For now, we can glimpse the basic contours of a potential resolution. Facing criticism by U.S. Senator Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat who has championed the rights of the disabled, the old bill will give way to one with more protections for riders and yellow cabs. One Assembly representative — Micah Kellner — wants to sell 1500 new yellow medallions for handicapped accessible cabs in addition to 6000 new “outer borough” medallions. Of those, 1200 would have to be handicapped accessible. State Senator Martin Golden wants to cut the number of new medallions down from 30,000 to just 10,000 to placate the yellow cab industry.

And that’s where things are now. Powerful interests are fighting against a plan that would help millions of New Yorkers who would benefit from increased access to street hails. The resolution will drag on through the fall, but I’m optimistic that something positive will emerge. The bill and the debate, both nearly dead ten days ago, live on.

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Service Advisories

Weekend work impacting 15 subway lines

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on October 1, 2011

A little late with these. Sorry.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 1 to 5 a.m. October 3, free shuttle buses replace 3 trains between Franklin Avenue and Flatbush Avenue due to repair work on circuit breakers south of President Street. Note: 2 trains operate between 241st Street and the Utica Avenue 3, 4 station.


From 1 a.m. Saturday, October 1 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 3, 4 trains skip Fulton Street in both directions due to work on the Fulton Street Transit Center. For alternate service, take the 2, 3, A, C or J shuttle instead. Note: J shuttle train operates between Fulton Street and Chambers Street-Brooklyn Bridge.

(Overnights)
From 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m., Saturday, October 1 and Sunday, October 2 and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m., Monday, October 3, uptown 4 trains run express from Brooklyn Bridge to 14th Street-Union Square due to work on the Broadway/Lafayette-to-Bleecker Street transfer connection.


From 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Saturday, October 1 and from 8 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Sunday, October 2, 5 trains skip Fulton Street in both directions due to work on the Fulton Street Transit Center. For alternate service, take the 2, 3, A, C or J shuttle instead. Note: J shuttle train operates between Fulton Street and Chambers Street-Brooklyn Bridge.


From 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Saturday, October 1 and 8 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Sunday, October 2, 5 trains every 20 minutes between Bowling Green and Dyre Avenue due to work on the Broadway/Lafayette-to-Bleecker Street transfer connection.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 1 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 3, uptown 6 trains run express from Brooklyn Bridge to 14th Street-Union Square due to work on the Broadway/Lafayette-to-Bleecker Street transfer connection.


From 4 a.m. Saturday, October 1 to 10 p.m. Sunday, October 2, Manhattan-bound 7 trains run express from 74th Street to Queensboro Plaza due to track panel work south of 33rd Street-Rawson Street.

(Overnights)
From 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m., Saturday, October 1 and Sunday, October 2 and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m., Monday, October 3, uptown A trains skip Spring, 23rd and 50th Sts. due to track work south of Canal Street.


From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, October 1 and Sunday, October 2, uptown C trains skip Spring, 23rd and 50th Sts. due to work on the Broadway/Lafayette-to-Bleecker Street transfer connection.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 1 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 3, Bronx-bound D trains run on the N line from Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue to 36th Street due to structural repair and station rehabilitation from 71st Street to Bay 50th Street and ADA work at Bay Parkway. Note: At all times until Friday, October 28, the southbound D is bypassing 71st Street due to stair reconstruction. So, there is no D service at 71st Street this weekend.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 1 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 3, D trains operate local in both directions between 34th Street-Herald Square and West 4th Street due to work on the 5th Avenue Interlocking Signal System Modernization.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 1 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 3, E trains run on the F line in both directions between 36th Street, Queens and 34th Street-Herald Square due to work on the 5th Avenue Interlocking Signal System Modernization. Note: Trains travel the 63rd Street and 6th Avenue corridors, stopping at F stations. Trains originate and terminate at 34th Street-Herald Square. For service between West 4th Street and WTC, customers should use the A or C.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 1 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 3, Brooklyn-bound F trains run on the A line from West 4th Street to Jay Street-MetroTech due to electrical and substation work at Jay Street-MetroTech and the Broadway/Lafayette-to-Bleecker Street transfer.


From 11 p.m. Friday, September 30 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 3, there is no G train service between Court Square and Bedford-Nostrand Avs due to deep well rehabilitation north of Bergen Street. Free shuttle buses provide alternate service.


From 4 a.m. Saturday, October 1 to 10 p.m., Sunday, October 2, Queens-bound J trains skip Hewes Street, Lorimer Street and Flushing Avenue due to track panel work north of Hewes Street.


From 1 a.m. Saturday, October 1 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 3, shuttle trains run between Fulton Street and Chambers Street-Brooklyn Bridge due to work at Fulton Street Transit Center. Note: there are no 4 or 5 trains at Fulton Street.


From 6 a.m. Saturday, October 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday, October 2, L trains run in two sections due to fencing installation at the Canarsie Yard:

  • Between 8th Avenue and Broadway Junction and
  • Between Broadway Junction and Rockaway Parkway (every 24 minutes)


From 4 a.m. Saturday, October 1 to 10 p.m. Sunday, October 2, M trains run every 20 minutes between Metropolitan Avenue and Myrtle Avenue due to track panel work north of Hewes Street on the J line.


From 10 p.m. Friday, September 30 to 5 a.m., Monday, October 3, uptown Q trains run local from Canal Street to 34th Street-Herald Square due to platform edge rehabilitation at 34th Street.


From 10 p.m. Friday, September 30 to 5 a.m., Monday, October 3, Manhattan-bound Q trains run express from Kings Highway to Prospect Park due to NYC DOT column repair along the Brighton Line.


From 6 a.m. Saturday, October 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday, October 2, Brooklyn-bound Q trains run express from Kings Highway to Brighton Beach due to overcoat paining of the Brighton Line bridges.

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ARC TunnelAsides

DOT, New Jersey come to terms on ARC dollars

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on September 30, 2011

It’s been almost a year since New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie canceled the ARC Tunnel and made a move to keep the federal dollars explicitly earmarked for the project. After months of wrangling between the government and Christie’s high-dollar attorneys, the two sides have come to an agreement, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said this afternoon. In the final settlement, New Jersey will return $95 million to feds while spending a significant portion of the rest on DOT-approved projects.

Per the DOT press release, the federal government will recover all of the $51 million in New Starts money provided to New Jersey for the ARC Project, and those funds will be made available to other areas for transit projects. The other $44 million were provided to New Jersey via the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and it will be returned to the U.S. Treasury. Furthermore, New Jersey must spent around $128 million it has from the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality project funds on transit-related projects that DOT approved and reviewed. I guess the remaining funds — approximately $48 million — will remain with the Garden State.

“We appreciate the support and encouragement of Senators Lautenberg and Menendez in reaching an agreement that is good for the taxpayers of New Jersey, but also helps to improve infrastructure in the state,” Secretary LaHood said. “I thank the governor and his legal team for reaching this agreement.” Now how about that Gateway tunnel or the 7 train to Secaucus?

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Subway History

Before the ALDS, a Nostalgic ride to the Bronx

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on September 30, 2011

The Nostalgia Train will ferry straphangers from Grand Central to Yankee Stadium tonight. (Photo via MTA)

Another baseball post-season, another playoff appearance for our own New York Yankees. With the club’s 16th playoff berth over the past 17 seasons, the MTA is once again rolling out the Nostalgia Train for a timeless jaunt up to the Bronx. It’s become an annual tradition and one that attracts Yankee fanatics and railfans alike.

Tonght’s Nostalgia Train will be departing from the uptown express tracks at Grand Central at 7:15 sharp. It will stop at 59th, 86th, 125th, 138th and 149th Streets before arriving at Yankee Stadium. Transit will do it again tomorrow before Game 2 and ahead of Game 5 on Wednesday if the Yankees’ series with the Detroit Tigers makes it that far. This year’s Nostalgia Train consists of cars originally operated by the old Interborough Rapid Transit company from 1917 into the early 1960s. Be forewarned though: These vintage cars aren’t air conditioned.

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Staten Island

North Shore options include light rail, bus improvements

by Benjamin Kabak
written by Benjamin Kabak on September 30, 2011

The MTA is consider light rail as a possible way to bring transit to Staten Island's North Shore. (Click to enlarge)

Could Staten Island be the home of New York City’s first true light rail line? Based on an analysis conducted by the MTA concerning ways to improve transportation along the borough’s North Shore, it very well might be.

The North Shore Alternatives Analysis, presented last week at Snug Harbor (and available here as a PDF), has been a long time coming. Nearly two years ago, the MTA announced a engineering study that would examine ways to reactivate transit along the old North Shore Rail Line right of way, and the agency started the Alternatives Analysis phase of the project in April 2010. New York’s Empire Development Corporation has called upon the MTA to reactivate the rail line, and now the MTA has whittled its options down to three.

The sexiest choice concerns a light rail network that would run from the Ferry Terminal to the West Shore Plaza. The 15-stop line is estimated to cost $581 million (in 2010 dollars) to construct and would improve travel times from St. George to West Shore Plaza by as much as 35 minutes. The MTA says that light rail would be ” more
compatible than heavy rail with potential plans for connecting services.” I optimistically take that to mean a connection across the Bayonne Bridge.

As far as the light rail details go, the Alternatives Analysis made a few assumptions. First, the Clifton Staten Island Railway shop could be modified to include light rail maintenance. Second, any work would have to include a new car wash, body shop and fueling station in Arlington.

The next option would involve tearing up any rail tracks, paving the right-of-way and turning it into an exclusive busway. By adding eight stops, this alternative could speed travel by as much as 33 minutes end-to-end, but it would carry a substantial price tag as well. The MTA estimates $352 million in capital costs, and for a only a busway, that seems excessive.

The third alternative is called the Transportation System Management. Similar to the required no-build option added to environmental impact statements, this alternative examines ways in which the MTA could improve service by essentially restructuring existing service but doing nothing else. For $37 million, TSM would improve travel times by a whopping 60 seconds.

So what happens next? The MTA is essentially trying to determine which of three alternatives will improve mobility while preserving and enhancing the North Shore’s environment, natural resources and open source and maximizing limited financial resources for the so-called greater public benefit. Over the next few months, the MTA will assess potential ridership figures, conduct traffic analysis for station sites and beging some conceptual engineering and cost refinements. It is, in essence, a pre-environmental impact review designed to identify the locally preferred alternative. They have already begun to solicit community feedback on this plan.

As a believer that no transit options are going to be faster than a dedicated rail line, I’d love to see the MTA pick light rail. It would provide a fast ride across Staten Island and the opportunity to connect into New Jersey. But of course, light rail would present its own set of challenges. New York City has no light rail infrastructure, and bringing it to Staten Island would require the MTA to build up from scratch a light rail support system. It’s not impossible, but for the current MTA, it’s ambitious.

Then there is the 800 pound gorilla in the room. I can see Staten Island becoming one of the MTA’s next great mega-projects, but it’s going to take some time. The $580 million (in today’s money) won’t materialize over night, and the MTA has to finish part of the Second Ave. Subway and the East Side Access project before funding another megaproject. Still, that a potential light rail line would cost something with millions at the end of it instead of billions could be its saving grace. Furthermore, New York City wants to redevelop Staten Island’s North Shore, and providing better transit is a key part of that plan. The dollars might somehow materialize.

So for now, there are rumblings of a plan. Nothing is concrete, but over the next few months and years, transit developments could come to Staten Island. It’s about time.

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