What Rail Additions Are Most Needed In NY Metro? (Pelham: home, transfer to)
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As a regular train rider I have noticed many things that are lacking in NY when it comes to mass transit in the NY area. I was wondering what you think is most needed to improve mass transit/getting around NY?
Here are a few of my own:
1) A connection from Grand Central to Penn Station and an agreement amoung the different railroads to sell one trip tickets. It is ridiculous that you have to go a mile to get to the other railroad station and that there is no direct link. Having to buy 2 different tickets to get from one suburb to another also discourages train travel and keeps people in their cars.
2) A subway shuttle from the east to west side. Crosstown buses go at walking speed and are slowed down by people too lazy to walk a block. If they are going to keep buses, the MTA should add express crosstown buses that ONLY stop at subway transfer locations.
3) Since the MTA is building the 2nd ave line, why not finish the job and connect it not only to the 4/5/6 at 125th but also to the west A/C/B/D. It would uptown travel much easier.
Light Rail Suggestions: 207th-Fordham Road - this route is served by the only rapid bus line in the city but is still too slow for such an important route (crosses all uptown subway lines and 3 Metro North lines). 40k+ passengers a day travel this route.
34th St - I believe the railroad tracks prevent a subway shuttle here so light rail may be a good way to solve the SLOW xtown bus problem.
Hudon Bergen Extension to SI Ferry - would make getting around SI much easier w/o a car and help w/ SI Expressway traffic.
125th St to Laguardia Airport - light rail/airtrain could make getting to the airport easier via the RFK Bridge.
A subway shuttle from the East Side to the West Side? I take it you mean other than the one already running below 42 Street.
Re: 2nd Avenue subway. What's about to be built is only a scaled-down version of the original proposal. It wasn't supposed to terminate at 125 Street, but instead, run all the way up to Pelham Bay Park in The Bronx. Of course, since BMT trains are two feet wider than their IRT cousins, this would have meant that every station along the present #6 line would have had to be scaled back. (Then the #6, already a seriously overloaded line, would be operating only between 125 and Brooklyn Bridge--same local service on Lexington, but a shorter run for better service). Whether this eventually comes to pass or not is impossible to say at present.
There is already a proposal for some sort of light rail running as a loop in the Financial District. Again, impossible to say if it will happen, but at least it's being considered, which is something that you couldn't say ten years ago.
There are also a couple of proposals for subway lines linking the airports in Queens. The best one is, unfortunately, the least likely: a line running between LaGuardia and JFK, with connecting stations at every currently existing line in Queens along the way. More likely, though somewhat less useful, is the extension of the N line past Ditmars Boulevard and into LaGuardia.
As a regular train rider I have noticed many things that are lacking in NY when it comes to mass transit in the NY area. I was wondering what you think is most needed to improve mass transit/getting around NY?
Here are a few of my own:
1) A connection from Grand Central to Penn Station and an agreement amoung the different railroads to sell one trip tickets. It is ridiculous that you have to go a mile to get to the other railroad station and that there is no direct link. Having to buy 2 different tickets to get from one suburb to another also discourages train travel and keeps people in their cars.
2) A subway shuttle from the east to west side. Crosstown buses go at walking speed and are slowed down by people too lazy to walk a block. If they are going to keep buses, the MTA should add express crosstown buses that ONLY stop at subway transfer locations.
3) Since the MTA is building the 2nd ave line, why not finish the job and connect it not only to the 4/5/6 at 125th but also to the west A/C/B/D. It would uptown travel much easier.
Light Rail Suggestions: 207th-Fordham Road - this route is served by the only rapid bus line in the city but is still too slow for such an important route (crosses all uptown subway lines and 3 Metro North lines). 40k+ passengers a day travel this route.
34th St - I believe the railroad tracks prevent a subway shuttle here so light rail may be a good way to solve the SLOW xtown bus problem.
Hudon Bergen Extension to SI Ferry - would make getting around SI much easier w/o a car and help w/ SI Expressway traffic.
125th St to Laguardia Airport - light rail/airtrain could make getting to the airport easier via the RFK Bridge.
A reliable Brooklyn-Queens train route that does not require going into Manhattan, but I don't know if this is possible because I think it would mean building in areas that are away from trains and many people would like it to remain that way.
I agree that there need to be more crosstown options besides the buses, I would like to see one at 125th if it's possible. I also think there should be some sort of crosstown train in the Bronx.
Hudon Bergen Extension to SI Ferry - would make getting around SI much easier w/o a car and help w/ SI Expressway traffic.
There seems to be nothing "Metro" about these proposals.
Maybe they should actually extend the Hudson/Bergen Light Rail into BERGEN before NJ starts easing Staten Islands congestion.
The population of Bergen is double that of Staten Island & could use the reduction of traffic.
A reliable Brooklyn-Queens train route that does not require going into Manhattan, but I don't know if this is possible because I think it would mean building in areas that are away from trains and many people would like it to remain that way.
That proposal already has official status; it's called the Brooklyn-Queens Rail Link, and would make use of a couple of old freight lines that cross between the two boroughs. Another one of those, "If we get lucky it might actually come to pass" deals.
- 2nd Av Subway have one branch to the BX and the other goes Crosstown on 125 connecting to the 1 on Broadway.
- Put the G train back on Queens Blvd - Also there should be a transfer built between every G station and intersecting Manhattan Trains...The Fulton Steet G station also should have Transfer to the Atlantic Hub in BK.
- A Commuter Type Train between Philadelphia's 30th and Penn Station would be nice, with these cities being so close to each other you'd think there'd be an economic (That's not Amtrak), Quick (That's not SEPTA/NJT) reliable Rail (Not Buses) between the 2 cities.
A bronx-Queens connection I live about 10 minutes from queens(driving). But i gotta take a freaking train to manhattan just to come all the way back down to queens. Cuyting out the middle man would be nice
- Better G train service (more cars, greater frequency, fewer breakdowns--all categories that other trains do much better) which extends further into both queens and brooklyn.
- Bronx-Queens cross-connection
- Quickmounting bike rack for buses
- Extension of Second Avenue Subway with the Q line going up into the Bronx and the T doing crosstown service across 125th.
There seems to be nothing "Metro" about these proposals.
Maybe they should actually extend the Hudson/Bergen Light Rail into BERGEN before NJ starts easing Staten Islands congestion.
The population of Bergen is double that of Staten Island & could use the reduction of traffic.
What may be more useful would be an east-west (I-80) light rail connection from Bergen Co to the GWB Bus terminal (175th A train). I almost got a job in Fort Lee and I wouldn't have been able to catch the bus on the way home because there was no place to cross the divided highway. RIght now if you get a monthly NJT bus pass you often still pay extra for the $1.25 private Mexican buses that wait at the bridge.
Also an extension of the Path to GCT would be useful for NJ commuters and provide a direct link from Penn to GCT.
Also, when I said a shuttle from the east to west side I was referring to the UWS and UES. A short east to west trip takes forever up there.
Finally I love the direct Philly to NY idea. No idea why there aren't a few of these funning at peak hours.
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