 
Reality Check for Staten Island's Rail Plans
$1.4 billion price tag for North and
West Shore lines proves daunting
Staten Island Advance - Saturday, July 12, 2008
The prospect of new North and West Shore rail lines that would form
a transit triangle around Staten Island is either the only hope for
the borough's car-choked roads, or a pie-in-the-sky proposal that
will end up gathering dust on a bookshelf in some planner's office.
The faster travel speeds offered by rail, along with a proposed link
to New Jersey, have been embraced by elected officials and business
leaders who say they're the key to ensuring a smooth commute through
a borough that is fast running out of growing room. It's also seen
as a means to lure more businesses to the Island, and as a way to
connect more residents to New Jersey's job market.
But like most things that sound so appealing, an enormous price tag
is attached: About $1.4 billion stands between the hopes for an
efficient Staten Island rail network and the reality ($1 billion
would be needed for the West Shore and $400 million for the North
Shore).
The desire is there, say Staten Island commuters, desperate for
increased and better transportation options. And the political
interest is there, represented across the spectrum of the borough's
elected officials. But interest and desire alone won't raise a
nickel for the project.
Who'll take charge in raising the caboose-loads of money needed for
these projects?
Republican Rep. Vito Fossella, the borough's pipeline to Congress,
says it starts with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the
state agency that, along with the Port Authority, would likely play
a major role in the establishment of any new Island rail routes.
More than any other entity, he says, the MTA can make the North
Shore and West Shore rail projects happen if it makes them a
priority. It's a big "if."
Although the MTA has had some recent successes on Staten Island,
such as significant improvements to local bus service, and a major
role in the startup of a popular new bus line to Jersey City, the
agency appears to have limited interest in delivering rail results
to Staten Island. When repeatedly pressed by the Advance for an
interview with chief executive Elliot G. Sander on the subject, a
spokesperson declined, saying the agency is "not looking to make
news on this just now." Last spring, Sander told the Advance that he
supports both rail projects, but warned they would be next to
impossible to pull off without the revenue generated from the
proposed congestion-pricing plan -- which ultimately failed.
Fossella says MTA leadership is critical. "Unless you have a ready,
willing and able participant in the MTA that's going to truly be a
champion, the federal government, Congress and others are just not
going to release money for projects" such as these.
Though the MTA is poised to scale back its next five-year capital
plan due to increasing budget deficits, the agency is still planning
to spend billions on Manhattan's Second Avenue Subway project. The
question remains whether the agency can spare a billion or so for
Staten Island rail projects.
"That's what we need from the MTA," Fossella said. "We need them to
be true champions at the federal level for this project that's
important for Staten Island, not just the multi-billion-dollar
Second Avenue Subway."
Pointing to the lawsuit brought against the MTA to minimize the
traffic impacts caused by Verrazano-Narrows Bridge construction,
Fossella called for a team effort encompassing all Staten Island
legislators to push the agency to widen its focus to this borough's
rail needs.
"It's got to be a united front, Democrats and Republicans, sitting
down at the table at every level of government, with these agencies,
saying that this is a priority for the people of Staten Island, and
it cannot relent until and unless it's done," Fossella said.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey would play a big role
in any plans to establish a Staten Island-to-Bayonne rail link.
Despite repeated requests, its executive director, Chris Ward, was
unavailable for an interview with the Advance for this story.
A spokesman for the bistate agency issued general commitments to
helping the borough on future transportation challenges -- but
offered nothing concrete. In response to a question about a 2004
Port Authority study of the North Shore line, the spokesman, Steven
Coleman, did say: "The Port Authority still believes this is a
project worthy of further consideration in planning for Staten
Island commuting and North Shore development."
With both Fossella (end of 2008) and Conservative Borough President
James P. Molinaro (end of 2009) nearing the end of their terms in
office, their focus is largely limited to securing funding for the
studies that will lay the groundwork for the rail future. Along with
civic leadership from the Chamber of Commerce and all other Island
elected officials, the task of leading the charge to get the train
lines built will largely fall on the successors to Fossella and
Molinaro.
For his part, City Councilman Michael McMahon, (D-North Shore), a
congressional candidate, has pledged to make solving Staten Island's
transportation woes his first priority if elected. "It's not only a
question of transportation, it's an incredible economic shot in the
arm for both the North Shore and West Shore," McMahon said. The
borough's Republican party has yet to nominate a candidate.
Republican Councilman James Oddo, a candidate for Molinaro's seat,
sees the funding issue as a huge challenge for the borough's
leaders, but one that can be accomplished. "We've got to try," he
said. "It comes down to that. No matter how daunting, we've got to
try."
"New York City is one of very few places across the country that has
mass transit demands like this, and the federal government hasn't
made a lot of money available for transit," he added. "Within that,
with those limited dollars, you're competing against the big boys.
You're competing against Manhattan, and the Second Avenue Subway,
and all of their projects, and little old Staten Island
unfortunately gets what's left. To date, that hasn't been much, and
that's why it's a daunting task."
There's precedent with these far-reaching dreams, however. "New
Jersey Transit never believed they would get funding for the
Hudson-Bergen Light Rail," said Jonathan Peters, a finance professor
and transportation expert at the College of Staten Island. Yet
perseverance and political will got it done. "It might be a bit of a
slog, but I think a defeatist attitude is one of the biggest
problems we have."
THE PLANS
A revitalized North Shore rail system could carry as many as 15,000
riders a day by 2015, and could complete the 5.1-mile trip in about
15 minutes -- far less than the average 30-40 minute trip by bus.
Passenger service on the old North Shore rail ceased in 1953 (a
victim of increasingly efficient local bus service) and freight
service stopped in 1991, leaving the right-of-way largely intact.
However, most of the tracks have rotted or washed away, and the old
stations have been lost to the passage of time. In some spots, the
shoreline would need to be rebuilt where it has slipped into the
sea.
A study completed in 2004 estimated that as many as 31,000 riders a
day could use that line by 2020.
Increasingly unbearable traffic has already drawn commuters back to
rail service, with a 9 percent growth in ridership on the Staten
Island Railway in both 2006 and 2007.
THE STUDIES
Talked about for nearly two decades now, the North Shore project is
further along, with a detailed feasibility study funded by the Port
Authority completed in 2004. That study showed that there were
enough people living along the North Shore corridor to support rail
service, although residential densities were at the low end of the
spectrum used to determine such a project's viability. The study
found that rail service would help alleviate future traffic in the
area, and would provide opportunities to improve the North Shore's
economic conditions.
The West Shore project is already halfway through its own year-long
$350,000 study of three possible route alternatives. The highly
detailed city-funded study is being conducted by New Jersey-based
consulting firm Systra USA. The West Shore line would include a
transfer point to the North Shore rail and the Staten Island
Railway. A possible spur to the Staten Island Mall and future Fresh
Kills Park are also being considered, as well as stops at the
Corporate Park in Bloomfield.
Each plan has pros and cons, explained Tamila Spinner, senior vice
president of the Staten Island Economic Development Corp. (SIEDC)
and project coordinator for the West Shore project. The SIEDC will
host a public open house on July 24 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. in the
Hilton Garden Inn, Bloomfield, to collect feedback on the possible
choices.
When the current West Shore study is completed sometime around March
2009, both projects will be on equal footing, and ready to advance
to the Alternative Analysis phase, which includes a look at
potential environmental impacts that would be caused by the projects
moving forward.
Since both studies share a common goal of linking to New Jersey's
rail network, it would be best for them to proceed together to
determine the best way for the different lines to intersect with
each other, the Staten Island Railway and New Jersey Transit trains,
several transportation experts said.
"These things should be looked at in a coordinated fashion," said
Jeff Zupan, senior fellow for transportation at the Regional Plan
Association, a non-profit organization that works to promote better
transportation, community design and economic competitiveness
throughout the Tri-State area. "They're kind of being done as though
they're on other sides of the moon."
FUNDING THE NEXT STEPS
Before federal funding can be awarded to the projects, both must
undergo the exhaustive Alternative Analysis process as required by
the National Environmental Policy Act. The analysis looks at all the
possible options involved, from which route the tracks will follow,
to which type of trains to use and how best to cross over roadways.
The choices are compared against the "no build" option of doing
nothing.
But securing funding for such necessary studies -- although they
amount to less than 1 percent of the cost of construction -- has
been a challenge for elected leaders.
The task will become even tougher now, as transportation agencies
across the country vie for a limited pot of money to pay for their
own projects in preparation of the reauthorization of the federal
transportation bill next year.
Before either the North Shore proposal or West Shore proposal sees
its first railroad spike, both face a path that seems as long as the
Trans-Siberian Railway. About $3 million to $5 million is needed for
the follow-up studies of each line before funding and construction
can begin.
Attempts to secure study funding for the North Shore project have
been successful in past years, with $3.25 million allocated two
years ago by Sens. Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton. That
money was lost, though, when the spending bill in which it was
contained was never finalized by the congressional conference
committee and sent to the president for a signature. The project
again failed to score funding this week when a Senate appropriations
committee finalized its list of projects that would receive money.
The only funds currently set aside for either $3 million to $5
million study is $220,500 secured in December by Schumer and
Clinton.
Molinaro remains committed to getting the environmental study under
way before he leaves office in 2009, and said he expects funding to
be secured for the North Shore portion of the analysis by the end of
the year.
Schumer last week reaffirmed his commitment to transportation issues
on Staten Island, whose workforce faces one of the longest commutes
in the country.
"We must develop more mass transit options to relieve the
traffic-plagued streets of Staten Island," Schumer said in a
prepared statement. "The light rails will move tens of thousands of
commuters daily to and from work, taking thousands of cars off the
road."
But if federal help doesn't pan out, don't expect any financial help
from the state, some of the Island's Albany legislators say.
In fact, the state Department of Transportation released its New
York State Rail Plan this week, addressing freight and passenger
rail issues. Its five references to Staten Island focused on freight
rail on the West Shore. The 174-page report did not contain a single
mention of the North Shore or West Shore rail projects.
"I don't think many of my upstate colleagues even know what the
North Shore of Staten Island is," said Assemblywoman Janele Hyer-Spencer
(D-Mid-Island/Brooklyn). "I have not felt either at the city or the
state level that there is much of a push to see either one of these
things happen."
The last real discussion about funding the North Shore rail study
was months ago, during the height of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's
congestion-pricing debate. Before the state Assembly ultimately
decided to block the proposal, members of the borough's Assembly
delegation sought assurances that the money raised would fund the
multi-million dollar North Shore rail study.
The MTA capital plan, which was contingent on the passage of
congestion pricing, did include funding for the North Shore study,
as well as other perks, such as 33 new express buses for the Island.
The defeat of the mayor's pricing plan took those promises off the
table.
A mayoral spokesman pointed to the city's funding of the current
preliminary West Shore rail study, as well as the North Shore and
West Shore Land Use studies, and an analysis of a South Shore fast
ferry, as examples of Bloomberg's commitment to the Island's transit
needs.
"These are all studies that we are funding through city money, or
would have through congestion pricing, which speaks to the
importance with which we view them," said spokesman Stu Loeser.
Importance aside, a cautious optimism remains.
"I think eventually we will see it," said Assemblyman Matthew Titone
(D-North Shore). "Will I see it in my lifetime? No. But I think we
will reach that pressure point where there is no choice but to
create these alternatives."
ENGINEERING ISSUES
Peters, the CSI transportation expert, said that although the
borough faces horrific traffic due to unfortunate choices made
during the building of some key roads like the Staten Island
Expressway, many other decisions made in past generations, such as
not developing the North Shore rail right-of way, building Richmond
Avenue to its full eight-lane width, and incorporating room for rail
on the Bayonne Bridge, add up to give the borough an advantage when
it comes to competing with other projects.
"Staten Island has a very, very good hand. These things are hard to
replace," he said. "These are really good cards. We just have to
play them well."
The Bayonne Bridge was built with rail in mind, with space set aside
for tracks running across the span. But though it's the common
denominator for both rail projects, the bridge is also a source of
uncertainty.
Even if funding becomes available to finance the project, there are
still engineering challenges to overcome, including how to run a
train over the steep span. Even more problematic is the future for
the existing bridge, which is now the subject of a year-long study
to consider its replacement with a taller structure, or a tunnel, to
accommodate the next generation of colossal cargo ships destined for
local ports.
SHOT IN THE ARM
If built, the two rail lines would also allow Staten Islanders to
tap into another growing job market in Jersey City's financial
center, previously out of reach to many because of an inconvenient
commute. The only current transit service that links to New Jersey
is the S89 bus that travels along Richmond Avenue, across the
bridge, and to the Hudson-Bergen line's 34th Street station in
Bayonne. The route carries about 830 riders a day.
"We can move people onto the Island and we may be able to attract
businesses," said Ms. Spinner of the Staten Island Economic
Development Corp. "There is a tremendous potential for economic gain
and quality of life for our residents."
Peters' research, presented this spring as part of a conference
hosted by CSI's Center for the Study of Staten Island, pointed to
residential growth in cities like Houston and Los Angeles after
light rail systems were installed there.
Closer to home, since the Hudson-Bergen Light Rail opened in 2000,
that system has helped spur the building of more than 10,000 housing
units with an estimated sales value of more than $5.3 billion,
according to one study.
"All the doubting Thomases should just look over the bridge to
Bayonne and see there that the partnership between the county
government, and federal and state government and New Jersey Transit
made their dream for a light rail into reality," McMahon said. "It
is possible, and it was done less than 10 miles away from where we
want to do it."
Send us your rail-related ideas & questions
We want to know what you think about the future of rail
transportation on Staten Island. Send your thoughts to
transportation@siadvance.com. Got a question? We'll pass the best
questions onto those who can provide the answers. Got a suggestion?
We'll make sure it's heard.
By Maura Yates and Phil Helsel
Reprinted here with permission
from the
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