The New York City Council passed legislation that requests the MTA to allow New York City residents to pay a comparable fare on the Long Island Rail Road or Metro North Rail Road as the New York City Transit subway sounds great on paper.
It was signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio and supported by both Comptroller Scott Stringer and Public Advocate Letitia James.
Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams endorsed the same.
He proposes a pilot project on the Atlantic Branch in Brooklyn for those boarding East New York, Nostrand and Flatbush Avenue stations.
This concept will be introduced for residents of Southeast Queens to take advantage of heavily discounted LIRR fares starting later in 2018. If adopted on other LIRR branches, this proposal could have significant adverse impacts on other Queens, Nassau and Suffolk County residents who are 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.
Elected officials from New York City Council clearly illustrated their lack of understanding concerning how transportation works. How many who supported 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 this logic, there should be a reduction in the cost of any NYC Transit or MTA Express Bus Service 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 extra for a premium service.
Existing scheduled LIRR trains serving the Port Washington branch would have a difficult time accommodating hundreds to several thousand new riders.
Few will have seats. Additional riders beyond that number would have to stand if they are lucky enough to be able to board.
There are few if any available seats west of Flushing. More customers may be attempting to board when the new Elmhurst Queens LIRR Station opens by 2023.
Imagine the crowds, if 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 an LIRR train at Woodside?
What about new riders with luggage in hand who will want to connect with the future LaGuardia Air Train at Mets Willets Point LIRR Station?
There is no way existing Port Washington branch rush hour service could accommodate several thousand more new Queens and LaGuardia Air Train rush hour customers without adding more trains.
Part of the problem is the cost of $2 million or more per car or $20 million per ten car train set.
Between design, engineering, procurement, manufacturing and delivery along with inspection and acceptance, it can easily take five years before the LIRR can acquire additional rolling stock.
Another problem is track capacity to accommodate additional trains west of the Woodside Station.
The LIRR also needs additional maintenance and storage capacity for any significant LIRR fleet expansion. We are all already aware of 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 occur between the Tunnel Portals and Harold Interlockings west of the Woodside Station.
This results in canceled 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. Think of 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 the 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 rush hours. If one of the four tunnels is temporarily out of service, the result is numerous delays and cancellations 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 the original 2011.
The MTA “party line” schedule claim (based on 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 on the previous history of delays and recovery schedules adding up to 11 years worth of broken promises, the first day of revenue service might be 2024 or later.
The $70 million estimated cost for a $6.50 fare for all trips for residents within NYC riding on both the LIRR and Metro North including a free NYC Transit subway transfer is just a guess.
It is not based upon any concrete data. The cost could easily be $100 to $200 million or even more indirect farebox revenue loses for the LIRR, Metro North and NYC Transit.
The MTA has no surplus operating dollars available under the $32 billion 2015-2019 Five Year Capital Plan to cover these costs.
Neither Mayor Bill de Blasio or the NYC Council have offered to increase NYC’s level of operating assistance to pay for this.
For decades, NYC politicians have discussed this issue. They claim two-fare bus to subway neighborhoods is 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 percent of outer borough residents living in two fare zones have an elaborate local or select limited-stop bus service within one-quarter mile (10-minute walk) or less on weekdays.
Many also have access to express buses.
There are other issues to contend with for NYC public officials who want to offer new NYC LIRR and MNRR riders a free transfer to the NYC Transit Subway. They obviously have never traveled through either Grand Central Terminal or Penn Station during rush hours. Both the eastside No. 4, 5, and 6 subway lines or west side No. 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 eastern 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 for 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 the purchase of additional buses, off-board fare collection equipment, real-time communications systems to notify riders of the anticipated arrival of the next bus, shelters and facilities.
Introduction of Limited Stop Service, Select Bus Service or Bus Rapid Transit is not a new idea that needs 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.)
