Residents For a More Beautiful Port Washington is conducting a survey to see whether residents favor adding a shuttle service to the Long Island Rail Road station to alleviate the town’s parking problem.
In the first three hours of the survey on Monday, the group received 110 responses and 80 percent said they would consider using a shuttle.
“Our plan for the survey is to collect data on patterns of the residents’ commuting to the station,” said Mindy Germain, executive director of Residents For a More Beautiful Port Washington. “We want to find out all of the information: what trains they take, what time, where they park and more.”
A plan for improving parking near the train station is important, Germain said, because the Long Island Rail Road’s plan to add another track as part of the Eastside Access project, which will connect the Port Washington line to Grand Central, could cause more problems.
Adding a shuttle service is one of 14 recommendations the Port Washington Parking Improvement Committee made.
Reorganizing the parking lots, a possible tiered parking lot and other simple solutions were recommended, too, Germain said.
There are about 220 parking spots at the LIRR station in the South Bayless Avenue lot and the Haven Avenue lot.
The proposal for a tiered parking garage was submitted in 2007, Germain said, and received strong criticism from residents, but the committee is not ruling it out completely.
The Residents group has been in constant contact with the community addressing issues and concerns regarding possible changes, Germain said.
The parking committee and the Residents group will also look into different modes of transportation, including better coordination with the Nassau Inter County Express bus service, Germain said.
“A better coordinated system with the NICE bus service would be an important option too,” she said. “That would mean the bus would get people to the station on time.”
From the early collected data, 65 percent of the respondents said their first choice train is between 7:19 and 8:08. Sixty-six percent said their second choice train is between 7:36 and 8:18. Forty-eight percent said they would need to be within a five-minute walk of the shuttle.
According to the results, 44 percent of the people who responded said they would take a shuttle from a central location such as the Town Dock or Stop & Shop.
Germain said the Residents group is focusing on gathering information and weighing the community’s answers to find a solution.
“Only data can answer the question,” Germain said.
The survey asks residents how often they take the train, when they take the train in the morning and evening, how they get to and from the station, where they park and their opinion of a shuttle service.
