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Updates on North Shore BRT


Union Tpke

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1 minute ago, Gotham Bus Co. said:

I'm assuming that the decision was "finalized" before the process began.

No because they have like 6 different routes along with four different modes of transit for each. They need time to choose the best one.

 

We’re all getting our hopes up though. Staten Island never gets and never will get funding for any new transit infrastructure projects. They will do endless studies just to give people hope.

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1 hour ago, Union Tpke said:

They are busy examining the alternatives to give the illusion that they were considered.

How much you want to bet they chose the least expensive option even if it’s the least effective just so they don’t have to spend more money to place any new rail?

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3 hours ago, Elloss said:

How much you want to bet they chose the least expensive option even if it’s the least effective just so they don’t have to spend more money to place any new rail?

They didn't indicate that they were looking to go with TSM. (They considered it early on, but the fact that they're talking about BRT indicates that the TSM proposal was dropped, much like it was years ago.)

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27 minutes ago, Elloss said:

TSM?

Transportation Systems Management, which needs very little -- if any -- dedicated infrastructure. Think of it as a route that's only special because of specific monitoring. It has no real potential, so it was ultimately canned.

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2 minutes ago, Lex said:

Transportation Systems Management, which needs very little -- if any -- dedicated infrastructure. Think of it as a route that's only special because of specific monitoring. It has no real potential, so it was ultimately canned.

Oh yeah I remember they were talking about that as one of the alternatives. I still don’t get why they couldn’t use heavy rail though when the tracks are already there.

Edited by Elloss
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Just now, Elloss said:

Oh yeah I remember they were talking about that as one of the alternatives. I still don’t get why they couldn’t use heavy rail though when the track are already there.

Well, aside from only some of the track existing, there's no way in hell they would use heavy rail for more than just a confined line from St. George to Arlington. 440 is absolute garbage for passenger rail of any kind, the freight alignment is even worse (misses everything between Arlington and West Shore Plaza while cutting through industrial/restricted space), and the Arlington terminus would be a PITA to reach without being on top of it. BRT would be able to bridge the gap and serve West Shore Plaza without missing quite as much, lacking potential, or costing a pretty penny. It could certainly allow for rail conversion at a later date, though HRT is pretty much out of the question -- especially without TOD to help offset the cost.)

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15 hours ago, Elloss said:

Oh yeah I remember they were talking about that as one of the alternatives. I still don’t get why they couldn’t use heavy rail though when the tracks are already there.

 

14 hours ago, Lex said:

Well, aside from only some of the track existing, there's no way in hell they would use heavy rail for more than just a confined line from St. George to Arlington. 440 is absolute garbage for passenger rail of any kind, the freight alignment is even worse (misses everything between Arlington and West Shore Plaza while cutting through industrial/restricted space), and the Arlington terminus would be a PITA to reach without being on top of it. BRT would be able to bridge the gap and serve West Shore Plaza without missing quite as much, lacking potential, or costing a pretty penny. It could certainly allow for rail conversion at a later date, though HRT is pretty much out of the question -- especially without TOD to help offset the cost.)

Rail is actually a worse choice for riders.

Because of where the North Shore Line is physically located on the waterfront, it's not that accessible via walking. So the choice is between 

  • building a rail line - existing passengers using buses either have to choose to ride their existing bus to St. George or ride a bus to a train to St. George, and people hate transferring, so guess what's gonna happen.
  • building an open BRT - buses can leave the right of way to serve people where they actually live and work. This is the current service plan for North Shore BRT.

NorthShoreBRT.jpg

For passengers taking the Ferry, the choice is between a two-seat ride (bus, ferry) and a three-seat ride (bus, train, ferry) - and that's assuming they're not going to transfer in Manhattan too. We should generally try limiting the amount of transfers for the majority of people to one.

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  • 7 months later...

I don't recall seeing this before. From March:

https://www.thecity.nyc/transportation/2020/3/9/21212437/mta-floats-staten-island-high-speed-busway-to-newark-airport

 

Quote

 

MTA Floats Staten Island High-Speed Busway to Newark Airport

BY CLIFFORD MICHEL  MAR 9, 2020, 3:55AM EDT

A high-speed bus linking Staten Island to Newark Airport is being considered by the MTA for a swath of the borough with limited transit options.

The potential route from Tottenville to Newark Liberty International Airport is among a pair preliminarily picked by the agency as part of its West Shore transit alternatives analysis.

A second bus rapid transit line option could someday connect the Staten Island Railway’s Arthur Kill station to the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail in Bayonne.

“I’m open to anything that can get my constituents to work faster and with less aggravation,” said Assemblymember Michael Reilly, a Republican who represents Staten Island’s South Shore, which includes Tottenville.

‘Like Our Own Train’

As part of its study on how to boost service in a part of the island with historically few commuting options, the MTA trimmed 18 possible routes on multiple modes of transportation to a shortlist of six before settling on the two bus rapid routes.

The proposed route to the airport would begin in Tottenville near Arthur Kill and connect to the Goethals Bridge and the New Jersey Turnpike, via nearly 10 miles of bus lanes.

The MTA says the Tottenville-Newark route could connect to the North Shore’s proposed bus rapid transit route, which aims to take advantage of five miles of dedicated roadway along old railroad lines to get commuters to the St. George Ferry Terminal faster.

The second route selected by the MTA also would begin at the SIR Arthur Kill stop and ply a dedicated right-of-way for 10.8 miles along the Korean War Veterans Parkway, Richmond Avenue and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Expressway.

From Walker Street in Elm Park, the bus would travel two miles in mixed traffic across 13 stops and the Bayonne Bridge to connect to the Hudson Bergen Light Rail’s 8th Street Station in Bayonne.

“That would honestly be a dream. It would be like having our own train line,” said Rabana Arif, a student at the College of Staten Island who lives in Tottenville.

Still Unfunded

The MTA is expected to select its preferred alternatives by the end of April, but the timeline beyond that remains unclear.

The project currently lacks funding for its environmental impact study, a critical step.

A group of eight Staten Island lawmakers, led by Rep. Max Rose (D-Staten Island/South Brooklyn), penned a letter to MTA Chair Patrick Foye on Jan. 28 calling for the study to be fully funded.

“Over half of all Staten Island residents work outside the island with commuting times over twice as long,” the letter reads. “A failure to begin this study immediately would condemn our constituents to the same congestion problems and lack of options we have endured for far too long.”

An MTA spokesperson confirmed that the agency received the letter, but didn’t comment further.

 

 

Edited by GojiMet86
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@GojiMet86 I remember going to that meeting in October. There were very few actual SI commuters there and most were clueless people from Transportation Alternatives and similar groups. The way I see it, you need to have the local bus study complete and then figure out how this new infrastructure will tie into the restructured local system.

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  • 1 year later...
18 hours ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

They are probably really going to go all in with these capital plans as they now have the funds they need to get it done........until it is depleted again.....

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1 hour ago, Orion 7 said:

They are probably really going to go all in with these capital plans as they now have the funds they need to get it done........until it is depleted again.....

Staten Island should be priority. Population just keeps going up out here and there are limited options out here. The SI redesign should be next before Brooklyn and Manhattan. 

 

The biggest issue with SI buses right now is the amount of STOPS on some of these local lines. I wouldn't be surprised if routes have around 30-40% of their stops removed. Stops need to be removed, and there needs to be full length limited routes (like the S79/89) to get across the island quickly since there's no subways. 

 

As for these BRT options, what is really needed is a route that connects to that Walmart shopping area in Bayonne!! The S89 should become 24/7 and stop at Bayonne Crossing Mall (stop on 22nd/Crossing Way, and Hook/Crossing Way), then serve 34st as the last stop). 

 

And now with Amazon on the island and that whole Matrix Park area getting redeveloped, the proposed BRT route to Arlington would be changed to end at Matrix Park (basically upgrading the S90 at this point). 

 

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8 minutes ago, XcelsiorBoii4888 said:

Staten Island should be priority. Population just keeps going up out here and there are limited options out here. The SI redesign should be next before Brooklyn and Manhattan. 

Brooklyn is already in progress (they released the Existing Conditions Report), and Manhattan will be done before SI unfortunately. Logistically it makes sense unfortunately (with all the Brooklyn-Queens routes, it definitely makes sense to do Brooklyn right after Queens). Manhattan is not quite as intertwined with The Bronx (the only major example is that I think the M101 should've been split for improved reliability, if they're going to truncate/reroute the M100).

It would've been a perfect opportunity to do the SI local redesign with the express redesign, but that ship has sailed, unfortunately (but on the bright side, we'll be getting the full breakdown...the Existing Conditions Report, Draft Report, and Final Report, so there's more opportunities for feedback, and more information to base that feedback off of). 

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  • 3 weeks later...
32 minutes ago, bobtehpanda said:

The point of RX is that it's cheap to do, and a tunnel to Staten Island is definitely not cheap

A Staten Island link can come at a later date, but I wouldn't link the two ROWs. (Given that this is a bus-related thread, I won't elaborate here.)

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12 hours ago, Lex said:

A Staten Island link can come at a later date, but I wouldn't link the two ROWs. (Given that this is a bus-related thread, I won't elaborate here.)

Right.

As an interesting thought exercise, if it was a BRT, one other option would be a bus tunnel either to the existing Gowanus HOV or some kind of new busway facility to the BBT.

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