Dangerous Roads newsletter: Mom raised me without driving. Can Long Island manage without its railroad?

I’m grateful to have been able to spend another Mother's Day alongside my mom, who has done so much to support me and my two brothers throughout our lives.

But there is one thing she could never do for us: give us a ride.

My mom, Dolores — Lolita to all who know her — is among the 6% of American adults who, according to a Pew Research Center study, don’t drive at all. Unlike many of those people, she’s never had a license. And since she turned 83 in January, I’m thinking that ship has sailed.

Growing up in New York City, this wasn’t much of an issue. She’d pick us up from school by foot every day in the Bronx. Pediatrician visits meant a ride on the Bx24 bus. When we moved to Southeast Queens, she introduced us to the Jamaica dollar vans.

Public transportation was so abundant that I, too, found myself in no rush to drive when I became old enough to do so. I rode the Long Island Rail Road to get to high school in Brooklyn as a teenager. I took two city buses every day for four years alongside my future wife when I attended Queens College.

It wasn’t until I started working and, later, living on Long Island that I became a full-fledged motorist. And even today, I’d much rather spend an hour on a train than stuck in traffic.

However, the reality is that for most Long Islanders public transportation isn’t a part of their daily lives. The LIRR carries about 270,000 passengers each day, which works out to about 135,000 unique customers — the majority of whom live on Long Island. It’s enough to make the LIRR the busiest commuter railroad in North America. But, serving a region of 3 million people, it’s still a relatively small slice of Long Island’s population.

But what would happen if Long Island didn’t have a Long Island Rail Road? In a few days, we may find out. Five unions representing about half of the LIRR’s organized workforce have vowed to go on strike Saturday if they can’t resolve a three-year-long contract dispute.

The chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has said he expects the vast majority of commuters will be able to work remotely, and suggested that 10% or fewer of the LIRR’s daily riders will go to work — some taking public buses.

Still, by any measure, the disappearance of the LIRR would mean hundreds, or even thousands, of extra vehicles squeezing onto Long Island’s jam-packed roads, including on weekends. Even the MTA has predicted the extra traffic would trigger "severe congestion."

While they may not be moving very fast, all those extra cars on the road present new opportunities for car crashes, especially as some of those commuters aren’t used to driving in rush hour traffic.

And so, come Saturday, Long Islanders may have a new appreciation for the critical role the LIRR plays in our transportation network, whether they regularly ride the LIRR or not. Whether they’re headed to work, home or anywhere else, every passenger on a Long Island Rail Road train is a person who might otherwise be adding to the congestion, and potential dangers, of Long Island’s roads.

And for those who don’t drive at all, losing public transportation can mean losing transportation altogether.

Fortunately for my mom, I’m all too happy to have her in my passenger seat.

Readers speak up

State police have said that as the weather gets nicer they’re stepping up efforts to catch dangerous drivers in the act. But here’s another reader who believes the crackdown should be more sustained, and intense.

I don’t think the police are doing enough about dangerous drivers and it’s not just on the highways! ... The police should be on the roads, undercover, sting-operation style. So many times when you see one car, inevitably there will be a second bozo that wants to challenge the first. The race is then on while we, the "normal" drivers, are taking our lives in our hands just by trying to get from here to there.

Debra Schneider, Valley Stream

We want to hear from you

As I mentioned last week, we’re looking to expand this newsletter to address Long Islanders’ broader transportation concerns, including issues involving the LIRR and airlines. Send us your suggestions for topics you’d like to see covered, and any suggestions for a new name for the newsletter to roads@newsday.com.

By Alfonso A. Castillo

alfonso.castillo@newsday.com@alfonsoreports

Alfonso Castillo has been reporting for Newsday since 1999 and covering the transportation beat since 2008. He grew up in the Bronx and Queens and now lives in Valley Stream with his wife and two sons.