Trying to plan out a commute (Patchogue to Hampton Bays), is this why people in LI use cars more?

[bobtehpanda]

I wasn't thinking converting current branches into trams, that would be barbaric.  No, what I was thinking was more along the lines of light rail.  i.e. take a north-south six lane road in Suffolk County, take the two center lanes, paint them red and drop down a pair of rails in the road.  It would look like what was shown in that photo and in this one from Philidelphia as well.  Think of it as select bus service on rails and with overhead wires.  The light rail would get priority at traffic lights and have dedicated lanes (that other cars could only enter into for turning--just like bus lanes) so the trip up and down would be much faster on the light rail then by car.

 

And with that you don' have to worry about trouble securing an ROW, etc.  The ROW is already there.  We just need some paint, some rails, and some overhead wire and we're good to go.

 

Germany does this nifty thing where they run trams and trains on the exact same tracks and platforms, and it's done in some other areas of Europe as well. For obvious reasons that isn't legal here. The advantage of that type of operation (when properly signalled and everything) is that you can basically just connect branches with short street-running segments, which ends up being a lot cheaper than building a brand new light rail across the Island.

 

Suffolk could also do with a light rail line linking Stony Brook, Smith Haven Mall, Ronkonkoma, and Patchogue (or Sayville, pick your flavor), and that would also be super-convenient.

[Vistausss]

Yeah, but at least in Germany those tram-trains aren't anywhere near lirr42's idea. Most of those tram-trains run once every two hours (with once every one hour at max in rush hour)!

[lirr42]

We don't need silly trams taking up precious track slots on already crowded LIRR lines.  Long Island needs new steel rails all over the place.  Light Rail has worked out well in New Jersey, let's see Long Island get a piece of the fun!

[Joel Up Front]

It all boils down to how Long Island developed following World War II and how bad the sprawl got afterwards.

[N6 Limited]

Its better to commute by car anywhere within Nassau and Suffolk Counties, and even eastern Queens.

 

If you're going east/west your job has to be on the same LIRR line, or it becomes an adventure. 

 

If you want to get around Nassau you basically need NICE, because the LIRR is virtually useless (again, unless it's on the same line).

 

I don't know much about how SCT commuting is, I've only used the S1, which is the most frequent on 15 min headways.

[FamousNYLover]

I heard LIRR want do to Double Track project, but only problem is car NIMBYs don't want double-track, but I support LIRR for double-track b/c it's needed.

If drivers don't want to wait to crossing train track, they should drive to nearby station or bus stop and take bus or train instead.

[qjtransitmaster]

Its better to commute by car anywhere within Nassau and Suffolk Counties, and even eastern Queens.

 

If you're going east/west your job has to be on the same LIRR line, or it becomes an adventure. 

 

If you want to get around Nassau you basically need NICE, because the LIRR is virtually useless (again, unless it's on the same line).

 

I don't know much about how SCT commuting is, I've only used the S1, which is the most frequent on 15 min headways.

ask me about SCT if going Hauppauge it can be done via transit due to S45 being very frequent and running late and it times well with LIRR I know its the exception compared to the rest of the system. NICE buses time with LIRR trains very well so if doing diagonal L type travel the LIRR TO NICE can either be easy if using N72/35/40/41 or absolute Shit like N51/45 or 80 but who knows if you work odd hours even those can work for ya. Those buses aren't slow but not all are reliable. So it is case by case NICE/SCT need to step it up buses that tend to be slow are mostly east west.

 

I heard LIRR want do to Double Track project, but only problem is car NIMBYs don't want double-track, but I support LIRR for double-track b/c it's needed.

If drivers don't want to wait to crossing train track, they should drive to nearby station or bus stop and take bus or train instead.

That would be possible if SCT didn't suck so bad overall.

 

HINT: LIRR intermittent tickets are cheap and rarely collected. Use this to your advantage.

[KTrainExp]

We don't need silly trams taking up precious track slots on already crowded LIRR lines.  Long Island needs new steel rails all over the place.  Light Rail has worked out well in New Jersey, let's see Long Island get a piece of the fun!

 

First off, I would like to say that I'm a huge fan of your blog. I have gained a considerable amount of knowledge from reading your daily updates and hearing your opinion on LIRR matters!

 

However, comparing New Jersey to Suffolk is an absolutely absurd argument. I am all for increased transit options, but New Jersey's Bergen Light Rail was built to accomodate CONCRETE growth. They created it because they knew it would be utilized appropriately and the populus there has since then. In Suffolk though, there is no doubt that this is a carcentric district. Light rail, BRT, heavy rail is a fantasy at best, and will continue to be until at least several decades past by in terms of inter-Suffolk transit. There is no sign of any explosion of growth over there that would warrant such an investment and there have been no community outcry over Suffolk (as far as I'm concerned). I'm sure residents would be enraged (as I would be too) if a single lane was adopted into BRT. Simply put, there is NO reason as to why inter-Suffolk would need such heavy measures.

 

If we're talking about improvements along the Port Jefferson Branch, that is something that would be welcomed, and the MTA already has this mind after reading their capital plan for the future.

 

The only plausable argument that I've seen in this thread is regarding inter-Suffolk transit options is the one geared towards helping Stony Brook students., but that can be retified easily with more frequent Suffolk bus service between Smithhaven or Port Jeff and the campus. Other than that, the OP has dug himself into a hole regarding transit in Suffolk.

[Vistausss]

Well, TBH, there is outcry for better LIRR service along the Greenport branch because mainly in Riverhead there's lots of building going on. Of course, one small area doesn't make up for all of Suffolk but it does show there's at least *some* building growth and *some* outcry for better service.

 

Btw, who says a lane has to be taken? I'm pretty sure lots of areas have plenty of space around the freeways and expressways so they can easily lay a lane (or rail, for that matter) alongside it. Not that I'm agreeing with the BRT/light rail idea, but I'm just sayin' it would be possible without creating an outrage *if*...

[bobtehpanda]

Btw, who says a lane has to be taken? I'm pretty sure lots of areas have plenty of space around the freeways and expressways so they can easily lay a lane (or rail, for that matter) alongside it. Not that I'm agreeing with the BRT/light rail idea, but I'm just sayin' it would be possible without creating an outrage *if*...

 

Suffolk is very built up in the places where you'd want to put in a dedicated lane - either the adjoining space is used for parking lots, or serves as an intentional green buffer between the air and noise pollution of the roads and residential areas.

 

I'd also find it very hard to believe that there's a huge demand for good-quality transit intra-Suffolk - people underestimate how unhospitable that "last-mile" walk really is, especially when the last-mile to a store or business often involves a quarter mile from the sidewalk to the parking lot, and the bus stop has very few, if any amenities.

[Vistausss]

Funny thing is: when I used that argument of the last-mile walk in the SCT section of this forum where people who use SCT on a regular basis come to discuss, they said that most places don't have that last-mile walk, nor are lots of bus stops on dangerous roads.

[bobtehpanda]

Funny thing is: when I used that argument of the last-mile walk in the SCT section of this forum where people who use SCT on a regular basis come to discuss, they said that most places don't have that last-mile walk, nor are lots of bus stops on dangerous roads.

 

The difference between current SCT routes and a major fixed-ROW route is that SCT routes have the freedom to wind into slow residential streets. Fixed-ROW transit can't do that if it wants to be fast and efficient, so stops would have to be on the very wide arterial roads.