In Transit newsletter: Transportation frustrations bind Long Islanders

At 100 miles long and about 20 miles wide, Long Island may not look that big on a map. And Nassau and Suffolk's 1,200 square miles are filled with plentiful transportation options: a 70-mile-long expressway, a dozen state parkways, a massive commuter railroad with 126 stations, a commercial airport, two major public bus systems, and ferries linking to Connecticut, Fire Island and other destinations.

This is all to say, it shouldn't be that hard to get around. But when that transportation network has to handle 3 million people, it gets a lot more difficult.

Whether you're in Malverne or Montauk, the one shared experience living on Long Island may be the frustration of navigating it. Sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic on your way to the beach. Waiting for a delayed LIRR train during your commute. Walking across a particularly hectic intersection in Hempstead Village. Dodging speeding drivers on the Southern State.

That's where this newsletter comes in.

In the coming weeks and months, I’ll use this newsletter to explore our complex transportation system, the people who use it and the ideas that are out there for making it better. Even though much of Long Island's transportation infrastructure was designed and built when the population was a fraction of what it is now, it can be made better.

In addition to exclusive reporting and analysis, each week the newsletter will highlight transportation news and offer tips and advisories aimed at taking some of the stress out of your commute.

Many of the ideas for this newsletter have come from readers, and I encourage you to keep sending them along. What are your transportation frustrations? What are your ideas for solving them? Let me know at transit@newsday.com.

Thanks for coming along for this ride.

Transportation news

• A Long Island Expressway crash late Monday night killed two people and injured at least 20 others when a coach bus overturned and crossed over the median on a Queens stretch of the highway.
• The historic LIRR labor battle, which resulted in the first railroad union strike in more than three decades, is officially over, with the MTA approving new contracts that will pay workers almost 15% raises over four years. 
• Between the Knicks' championship win and the U.S. Open, sports fans have packed LIRR trains as of late. 
• These school districts wanted nothing to do with Hempstead's school bus camera program, but drivers have been hit with 36,000 tickets anyway. 
• Road and bridge improvements totaling $146 million — and the road closures that come with them — are on the way to Long Island. 
• Fellow transportation reporter Peter Gill and I look back on Newsday's Dangerous Roads project.

Travel watch

• The LIRR will run a regular weekday schedule Friday, July 3.
• Due to track maintenance and accessibility projects, midday LIRR trains will not stop at Kew Gardens and Forest Hills through Thursday. Westbound trains from Jamaica will also bypass Woodside.
• NICE Bus' N88 route service to Jones Beach will offer late-night return service to Freeport on Saturday from the West Bathhouse for up to 90 minutes after the fireworks show ends. Buses will only stop at the West Baththouse for the holiday weekend.
• Suffolk County Transit bus service to Captree and Robert Moses state parks is back for the summer. The No. 15 bus runs to and from the LIRR’s Babylon station every day through Labor Day.
• The Main Street Bridge entrance ramp to the southbound Van Wyck Expressway in Queens is closed for construction through Aug. 17.
• FIFA World Cup transportation information.

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.