Staten Island Chamber of Commerce hosts
discussion on improving borough's traffic problems
Taking part in the eternal debate of why it takes us so long to get
from Point A to Point B, critics of the transportation
infrastructure covering the Island and those who work for agencies
trying to make travel smoother met at Fort Wadsworth yesterday
morning.
Fittingly, the conversation went back and forth, back and forth,
but, at least for now, not very far.
The roundtable discussion hosted by the Staten Island Chamber of
Commerce lasted about 45 minutes, or as long as it takes the average
Staten Islander to get to work.
It began with a presentation by Dr. Jonathan Peters, an assistant
professor of finance at the College of Staten Island, who has been
researching tolls and transportation for the past six years. The two
biggest factors that have landed the Island in its current transit
havoc, according to Peters, are the massive growth seen here in the
last 10 years and the overdependence of the borough's residents on
their cars.
"Certainly, we could do more with mass transit," Peters said, adding
trains seem to be the most productive mode of commuting. "The key
thing is to have a dependable and reliable system."
Peters added that revenue generated by Island commuters pays for
rail lines in Connecticut and northern New Jersey; the tolls at the
Verrazano-Narrows Bridge have increased at a rate three times that
of inflation, and transportation agencies are dropping the ball on
spending money on mass transit here.
A Port Authority representative attending the meeting did not
directly address Peters' criticism, but Steve Coleman did say his
agency spent $300,000 for a study to examine how public officials
can move ahead in recreating the North Shore rail line.
The Port Authority has spent $72 million to build a rail facility at
Howland Hook Marine Terminal in Mariners Harbor, which should
decrease truck traffic coming off the Goethals Bridge and onto the
Staten Island Expressway, Coleman added.
A spokesman with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority did not
return a call seeking comment.
Most of the business leaders who attended yesterday's meetings were
more concerned with making the trip around -- not off -- Staten
Island easier. Delivery and catering companies have been forced to
limit their coverage area because of traffic, said Lawrence De
Maria, the president and CEO of the Chamber.
"It's going to get worse before it gets better," he said.
John Giaccio, the Department of Transportation's Staten Island
borough commissioner, said a task force of transportation and police
officials meets every two weeks to discuss problem areas on the
borough's roadmap. Keeping intersections and the streets around the
Island's schools clear are among its priorities, Giaccio said.
