In the fall of 2015, some members of the New York City Council proposed a bill that would allow NYC residents to pay the same $2.75 fare on the Long Island Rail Road or Metro North Rail Road as riding the New York City Transit subway sounds great on paper but look at the details.
Most recently, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams endorsed the same.
He proposes a pilot project on the Atlantic Branch to Brooklyn which may start in September 2017.
Residents of Brooklyn and southeast Queens would be able to take advantage of heavily discounted LIRR fares.
This proposal if adopted on other LIRR branches at a later date could have significant adverse impacts on other Queens, Nassau and Suffolk County residents who are already daily LIRR commuters.
This holds true for offering the same riders a free transfer from either the LIRR or Metro North to the NYC Transit Subway.
The bill introduced in late 2015 by NYC Councilmember Daneek Miller and supported by NYC Transportation Committee Chairperson Ydanis Rodriguez clearly illustrated their lack of understanding concerning how transportation works.
Do either NYC Councilmembers and others promoting this bill have a Metro Card and ride any public transportation systems like constituents do on a daily basis?
Those NYC residents who already utilize either the LIRR, Metro North, MTA Bus or NYC Transit Express Bus are aware the cost is more than either the bus or subway.
If you agree and follow the logic of NYC Councilmembers Miller and Rodriguez, there should be a reduction in the cost of any NYCT or MTA Express Bus Service from $6.50 to $2.75 as well.
There are already almost 100,000 NYC residents who travel weekday to and from work paying extra to ride the LIRR, Metro North, MTA Express Bus or NYC Transit Express Bus.
All are aware that they are paying for a premium service.
Existing scheduled LIRR trains serving the Port Washington branch might be able to accommodate one to 2,000 new riders if they are spread out over the 6 to 10 a.m. morning rush and 4 to 8 p.m. evening rush hours trains.
Few will have seats.
Any additional riders beyond that would have to stand if they are lucky enough to be able to board.
There are few if any available open seats west of Flushing.
Don’t forget that several hundred to a thousand more customers may be attempting to board when the new Elmhurst Queens LIRR Station opens in 2018.
Can you even imagine the crowds, if only several thousand of the daily 66,000 NYC Transit subway riders who utilize the Flushing Main Street No. 7 station decide to become regular daily LIRR customers.
What if you add potentially even more new riders attempting to board a LIRR train at Woodside?
There is no way existing Port Washington branch rush hour service could accommodate 5,000 to potentially 10,000 and more new Queens customers without adding more trains.
Part of the problem is the cost of $2 million or more per car or $20 million per 10-car train set.
Between design, engineering, procurement, construction, delivery along with inspection and acceptance, it can easily take five years before the LIRR can acquire additional rolling stock.
The LIRR also needs additional maintenance and storage capacity for any significant LIRR fleet expansion.
We are all already aware what happens due to equipment malfunction, inclement weather, switching or crossing gate problems.
Don’t forget the increase in the frequency of major service disruptions due to storm and signal problems in the East River Tunnels.
These problems periodically also occur between the tunnel portals and Harold Interlockings west of the Woodside station.
This results in cancelled and combined trains.
People are packed standing in the aisles.
There is no way for conductors to check tickets.
Train trips take longer as more time is needed at each station for riders to enter and exit.
At Penn Station, it could take five or more minutes before everyone can depart the train.
Can you imagine the chaos with thousands of additional daily riders?
There is no room to run additional trains in or out of Penn Station during either a.m. or p.m. rush hours via the East River tunnels with connections to Long Island.
Three of four tunnels running inbound during a.m. and outbound p.m. rush hours have very tight spacing between trains.
One tunnel is shared by the LIRR, New Jersey Transit and Amtrak for reverse train movements with equally tight spacing during rush hours.
There is no platform capacity at Penn Station to accommodate any additional trains during rush hour.
Penn Station is currently operating at 100 percent capacity during both a.m. and p.m. rush hours.
If one of the four tunnels is temporarily out of service, the result is numerous delays and cancellation of trains.
Nothing will change until LIRR Eastside Access to Grand Central Terminal is open for revenue service.
The anticipated revenue service date has slipped on numerous occasions from originally 2011.
The MTA “party line” schedule claim (based upon the most recent project recovery which has also changed numerous times during the life of the project) calls for a December 2023 opening day.
Based upon previous history of delays and recovery schedules adding up to 11 years worth of broken promises, don’t be surprised if first day of revenue service occurs in 2024 or later.
The $70 million dollar estimated cost for a $2.75 fare for all trips for residents within NYC riding on both the LIRR and Metro North is just a guess.
It is not based upon any concrete data.
Nobody knows if the cost could easily be $100 to $200 million or even more in direct farebox revenue loses for the LIRR, Metro North and NYC Transit.
The MTA had to cut $3 billion out of the original $32 billion 2015-2019 Capital Program.
It ended up being approved at $29 billion.
The MTA has no surplus operating dollars available to cover these costs.
NYC Councilmembers Miller and Rodriguez have yet to convince Mayor Bill de Blasio to increase NYC’s level of operating assistance to pay for this.
For years, local politicians in NYC would stir the pot on this issue.
They claim two fare bus to subway neighborhoods are a desert when it came to public transportation.
As a result, residents only choice was to rely on automobiles.
Look at any Queens, Bronx, Brooklyn or Staten Island bus map.
More than 95% of outer borough residents living in two fare zones have an elaborate local and/or limited bus service within one quarter mile (10 minute walk) or less on weekdays.
Many also have access to express buses.
NYC Councilmembers Miller and Rodriguez also want to offer new NYC LIRR and MNRR riders a free transfer to the NYC Transit Subway.
Obviously neither has traveled through either Grand Central Terminal or Penn Station during rush hours.
Both the east side #4, 5, & 6 subway lines or west side #1, 2, & 3 subway lines are already operating at or above capacity.
Many wait for a second subway train to arrive before being able to board.
The same is true to a lesser extent for Atlantic Avenue Brooklyn Station travelers attempting to access subway lines.
There is little room for new riders who might want to take advantage of a free commuter rail to subway transfer.
If offered, there are thousands of NYC residents already riding the LIRR and Metro North who would also want the same free transfer.
People who moved to neighborhoods in northeast and southeast Queens knew full well that they would be living in a two fare (bus to subway) zone with longer commutes to and from work.
In the end, it all comes down to the availability of increased funding for additional transportation service to serve residents of two fare zones in NYC outer boroughs.
Operating subsidies are required to increase the level of service and reduce the amount of time one waits for a bus on existing routes.
Same for adding more off-peak, late night and weekend service.
Capital dollars are required for purchase of additional buses, off board fare collection equipment, real time communications systems to notify riders for anticipated arrival of the next bus, shelters and facilities.
Introduction of Limited Stop Service, Select Bus Service or Bus Rapid Transit are not new ideas that need to be studied once again.
Larry Penner
Great Neck
(Larry Penner is a transportation historian and advocate who previously worked 31 years for the US Department of Transportation Federal Transit Administration Region 2 NY Office) .
