 
Old Cure for Current Transit Woes
Staten Island Advance - Sunday, July 13, 2008
Staten Island has the dream, but lacks the dollars to pay for two
new rail lines envisioned as an alternative to gridlock on borough
streets.
Restoring train service along the abandoned tracks of the former
North Shore rail line would cost at least $360 million, and creating
a brand new line along the West Shore would probably cost more than
$1 billion.
But some transportation experts believe the borough's population
isn't dense enough to warrant such a tremendous investment,
especially when a sophisticated new bus network might do the trick
for a fraction of the cost.
"Because rail is fixed, it has less flexibility," 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.
Creating dedicated lanes along both routes that would be set aside
just for buses, with possible segments of the route that extend onto
regular streets, could draw even more riders to transit, and could
be just as fast as trains, he contends.
"Buses can be just as good, and moreover, because they're cheaper,
they may happen faster," Zupan said.
EMPLOYMENT OPTIONS
And with more buses traveling over the Bayonne Bridge, it gives more
people the option to find work in Jersey City instead of making the
trek into Manhattan.
"Maybe you can get a decent job at Exchange Place instead of going
into Lower Manhattan," Zupan said. "Whether you can justify building
a rail line for a large amount of money to do that is another
matter."
"Improved bus service, now that you do have a link to the light rail
and improved park and rides and more buses -- that might be as much
as you can afford, and it still might accomplish a lot in terms of
giving people more mobility to their jobs."
But bus service won't work without a high-quality system and use of
a dedicated right-of-way, with no other vehicles allowed, Zupan
said.
SELECT BUS SERVICE
The city rolled out the first route for its new Select Bus Service
earlier this month in the Bronx. Passengers can pay at the stop
before boarding and use both the front and rear doors to get on,
speeding up the ride. The buses travel in a dedicated lane during
certain hours, and are given priority by interacting with traffic
lights to keep them moving faster.
A similar service is already envisioned for Hylan Boulevard sometime
in the next decade.
Jonathan Peters, a finance professor and transportation expert at
the College of Staten Island, believes such a bus system could be
used to draw more riders on the North Shore by picking up passengers
from local streets before returning to the main bus lane, which
could run along the old rail right-of-way, instead of train tracks.
Another good opportunity to use buses would be along Richmond
Avenue, he said.
No matter which option is ultimately decided upon, mass transit is
the only hope for a future without gridlock.
Population forecasts estimate more than 552,000 people will call the
borough home by 2040, and borough roads are already congested past
the breaking point.
"The commute by motorists from Staten Island into Manhattan and
beyond will continue to worsen," said City Councilman James Oddo
(R-Mid-Island/Brooklyn). "That's just reality based on sheer volume.
Add on to that, the corridor from the Goethals Bridge all the way to
the Battery Tunnel for the next 30 years will have intermittent
construction. The conditions will be such that it will really force
people to get out of their cars."
By Maura Yates
Reprinted here with permission
from the
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