Long Island

Transportation

The Future of Long Island - Transportation

With <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>'s dour economy, shrinking state revenues and strong "not-in-my-backyard" tendency, the prospect of new large-scale, government-funded transportation projects being launched anytime soon in the region appears bleak, experts said Sunday. 
Reacting to Newsday's special section Sunday focusing on Long Island's transportation woes, experts said smaller, less costly solutions funded locally are more likely in the near-term. 
"That's why a group like ours and some other planning groups are pointing to small-scale, transit-oriented developments and not the big-budget items," said Eric Alexander, executive director of Vision Long Island. 
He said it's hard to justify pushing for funds for big new mass-transit projects when the <a href="/topics/Metropolitan_Transportation_Authority">Metropolitan Transportation Authority</a> is cutting rail and bus lines it operates now. 
Maureen Michaels, chairwoman of the <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a> Commuter's Council, said the <a href="/topics/Long_Island_Rail_Road">Long Island Rail Road</a> third track project to accommodate reverse commuters and others riding between <a href="/topics/Floral_Park%2C_NY">Floral Park</a> and <a href="/topics/Hicksville%2C_NY">Hicksville</a> is necessary for the railroad's future. But she blamed political gridlock, inertia and the economy for its stagnation. 
"It'll never get approved in an election year, but it's got to happen," she said. "But given the history of the railroad, not much has changed in 175 years." 
The biggest political roadblock to the third track is state Sen. Craig Johnson (D-<a href="/topics/Port_Washington%2C_NY">Port Washington</a>), who has a seat on the <a href="/topics/MTA">MTA</a> Capital Program Review Board and is a staunch opponent. 
"We're not going to see any megaprojects in the foreseeable future," Johnson said. "The best thing is to try and ensure that we are reducing the spending that occurs with regard to any megaproject. Now is not the time to be contemplating the big projects." 
But U.S. Sen. Charles <a href="/topics/Charles_Schumer">Schumer</a> (D-N.Y.) said there is federal transportation money available. If the region's leaders can agree on a project, he said he will seek funding in the federal transportation bill due in 2011 - an appropriation that <a href="/topics/U.S._Congress">Congress</a> takes up every five years. 
"My advice to Long Island, both on the highway side and the mass-transit side is to get together and come up with some big ideas, because I think we have the clout to push them through," Schumer said. "They should know that they can think big and this is the year to do it." 
For projects under way, like the East Side Access tunnel connecting the LIRR to Grand Central Terminal, and the Second Avenue subway line in <a href="/topics/Manhattan">Manhattan</a>, short-term economics are less important because federal transportation projects have a dedicated revenue stream from the federal gas tax of 18.4 cents per gallon.

Nassau

LITRAN29

Experts: Dim future for big LI transportation projects

Freeport LIRR

We asked people to think outside the lane about <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>'s transportation future. Short of the transporter on <a href="/topics/Star_Trek">Star Trek</a>, or personal jet packs (though we are growing impatient for our jet packs), we asked for ideas that are not quite on the drawing board, yet inspiring. A few ideas: 
The <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> subway 
"The train comes out of the city under a river," said the chairman of Action <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>, a <a href="/topics/Melville%2C_NY">Melville</a>-based planning group. "Keep it there." 
Sackstein hopes to someday get a $1.5-million government grant to conduct a feasibility study for the plan. He sees a pilot project beneath the Route 110 corridor. 
Sackstein says people have warmed to his idea as they consider the benefit of having a train system below ground that could be expanded as needed. 
"It's take on a life of its own, and it's risen to 'Well, it's expensive.' Yeah, well, OK. But is it a bad idea?" 
Port somewhere 
This would be a deep-water port off the North Shore in <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> County. 
Michael <a href="/topics/Michael_White">White</a>, executive director of the <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> Regional Planning Council, said a port could significantly reduce truck traffic by having freight shipments arrive directly by ship instead of having to be trucked out here. 
"It's one of the solid answers as to how we'll move stuff on and off Long Island," said White. He says it could be built within 20 years. "There's no reason why it couldn't be." 
<a href="/topics/Connecticut"></a><a href="/topics/Connecticut">Connecticut</a> connections 
Under the category of get-us-off this-Island, said Lee Koppelman, director of the Center for Regional Policy Studies at <a href="/topics/Stony_Brook_University">Stony Brook University</a>, suggests "direct high-speed ferry service to New Haven from the <a href="/topics/Shoreham%2C_NY">Shoreham</a> nuclear site" or a bridge to <a href="/topics/Connecticut">Connecticut</a> from the northern end of the <a href="/topics/William_Floyd_Parkway%2C_NY">William Floyd Parkway</a>. 
White imagines a bridge to <a href="/topics/Connecticut">Connecticut</a> farther east in <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a>. 
"The connectors from Long Island to the mainland are totally overwhelmed," White said. 
Smart cars - and roads 
There's an entire very important field of human endeavor known as "intelligent transportation systems." Experts in this tell us that cars are already being developed that automatically brake or swerve to avoid accidents. 
The state Department of Transportation hopes to be at the forefront of vehicle technology. As part of the World Congress on Intelligent Transportation Systems held in <a href="/topics/Manhattan">Manhattan</a> last year, the DOT installed 46 sensors along the LIE that eventually will communicate with vehicles - potentially advising drivers if they should turn on their windshield wipers or adjust their speed. 
A phone app for the train 
Technology innovations also will change the way travelers pay for public transportation. 
The <a href="/topics/MTA">MTA</a> is exploring a "smart card" fare payment system that will replace the MetroCard and directly bill commuters for rides on trains and buses. 
<a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a> president Helena <a href="/topics/Helena_Williams">Williams</a> foresees a day when the only thing needed to pay for a train ride is a cell phone. 
"Your phone becomes your walking E-ZPass,"Williams said. "When you look into the future, I don't think we've even begun to see what the possibilities are." 
About those jetpacks 
At least a couple of companies are working on this and even marketing them. Operating with a single rotor, the jetpack developed by the Martin Aircraft Company in New Zealand delivers about 600 pounds of thrust and has a 31-mile range on five gallons of fuel. They can fly as high as 8,000 feet. So far, the company envisions the jetpack for use by emergency response workers or the military. 
Last month, the company announced it had signed a $12 million joint venture to begin production. Price: about $90,000. 
- ALFONSO CASTILLO and BILL BLEYER

LIBEYO28

Underground trains, bigger airport, seaport, smart roads

0KX1IXOC.JPG

Twenty-five years from now, if the experts are correct, nearly every major roadway on <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> - from <a href="/topics/Yaphank%2C_NY">Yaphank</a> to the <a href="/topics/Queens%2C_NY">Queens</a> line - will be at or beyond capacity during the morning and evening rush hours. 
And <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> and <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> drivers shouldn't expect any relief from construction of new roads. No land is available for that, or money either. 
Case in point: the <a href="/topics/Long_Island_Expressway%2C_NY">Long Island Expressway</a>, the road drivers love to hate. Its design capacity, like other expressways in the state, is 2,000 vehicles per lane per hour. The LIE often hits that level now during rush hour. 
State officials say they'll squeeze 10 percent more vehicles on the LIE by 2035. But the state expects traffic to almost double by then. 
So, Long <a href="/topics/New_York_Islanders">Islanders</a> will spend a lot of time listening to their radios and books on tape while they crawl to and from work. 
In 25 years, the number of hours that drivers sit in traffic will climb by 26 percent in <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a>, and by 59.1 percent in <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a>, according to the The <a href="/topics/New_York%2C_NY">New York</a> Metropolitan Transportation Council. Drivers in both counties will be delayed a combined 474,897 hours. 
"<a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> is going to continue to expand economically," DOT spokeswoman Eileen Peters said. "And highway congestion is a byproduct of success." 
But <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> can only stand so much of this "success," planners agree. 
Looking to the future, experts envision transportation planning that accomplishes three major goals: The <a href="/topics/Long_Island_Rail_Road">Long Island Rail Road</a> pushes more people west - into the city - and more people east, beyond <a href="/topics/Ronkonkoma%2C_NY">Ronkonkoma</a>. The bus system lays down strong north-south links to fill the gaps left by the trains. And trucks are taken off the clogged LIE by freight-rail yards, where trains deliver shipping containers for final delivery by trucks on local roads. 
More broadly, they suggest that decreasing vehicle traffic volume on <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> requires no less than a fundamental cultural change. Cars and the construction of new single-family homes - two fundamentals of the <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> postwar rise - must be de-emphasized. 
At the same time, planners favor a shift in development that nurtures downtowns built around train stations - just as early 20th-century <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> clustered around them - and integrates megaprojects such as the Lighthouse that can become key mass transit destinations. 
"What happened in the suburban pattern is that you just make roads and then development follows the roads," said Eric Alexander, executive director of Vision <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>, a <a href="/topics/Huntington%2C_NY">Huntington</a>-based smart-growth planning group. "We need to reverse-engineer the thinking. It's land use first, and the transportation planning second." 
The challenges are relatively simple to identify but far more difficult to solve. Government and transit agencies wrestling with an economic crisis struggle to maintain the mass transportation system already in place even as they advocate to expand it. 
"I'm not optimistic or pessimistic about the railroad," said <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a> Commuter Council chairwoman Maureen Michaels. "What you see is what you're going to get." 
The Island's political will to change is also not powerful enough to make enough of a difference, some transportation experts say. One recent example: the halting progress through the local government-approval process of the proposed Lighthouse development at the <a href="/topics/Nassau_Coliseum">Nassau Coliseum</a>. 
"The problem we have is that <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> needs better transportation . . . but every time we try to do something out here, there's opposition to it," said <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> Association Transportation chairman Larry Austin. "We are our own worst enemy." 
Interviews with everyday Long <a href="/topics/New_York_Islanders">Islanders</a> confirm the inadequacy of the current system and the hopes for the future. 
For laid-off carpenter Anthony De Jesus, the future of transportation on <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> must somehow include an expansion of bus service while keeping fares affordable. 
"I have to scrounge up quarters for the bus every day," said De Jesus, 43, of <a href="/topics/Freeport%2C_NY">Freeport</a>, as he waited for a bus at the <a href="/topics/Hempstead%2C_NY">Hempstead</a> transit station to take him to his nurse's aide class. "People like me who don't have a job, it's hard to get around." 
<a href="/topics/Merrick%2C_NY">Merrick</a> resident Ray Guarino says the overwhelming number of vehicles on <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>'s roadways must be reduced. "There are just too many cars and commercial vehicles and not enough roads," said Guarino, 52. 
And Connie Monteforte, 62, of <a href="/topics/Southold%2C_NY">Southold</a>, says the <a href="/topics/Long_Island_Rail_Road">Long Island Rail Road</a> must be brought up to the standard of the "beautifully run train systems" she has visited in Japan and <a href="/topics/Hong_Kong">Hong Kong</a>. 
"And we cannot afford to run the <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a> [meaning its electric cars] past <a href="/topics/Ronkonkoma%2C_NY">Ronkonkoma</a>? . . . Give me a break," said the lifelong Long Islander. 
Of all the options, the <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a> has the most potential to move people en masse - and perhaps to reshape Long Island's transportation future. The <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a> predicts ridership will climb nearly 20 percent in the next 10 years, and 36 percent in 20 years. To accommodate the increases, the <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a> is planning a number of improvements during the next decade. 
The most immediate project - the East Side Access project - is pegged for completion in 2016 and will connect the railroad to <a href="/topics/Manhattan">Manhattan</a>'s <a href="/topics/Upper_East_Side%2C_NY">Upper East Side</a> via tunnels between <a href="/topics/Queens%2C_NY">Queens</a> and Grand Central Terminal. 
Other improvements include a $1.5-billion third track on 10 miles of the <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a>'s Main Line between <a href="/topics/Floral_Park%2C_NY">Floral Park</a> and <a href="/topics/Hicksville%2C_NY">Hicksville</a>; and a $138-million second track between <a href="/topics/Farmingdale%2C_NY">Farmingdale</a> and <a href="/topics/Ronkonkoma%2C_NY">Ronkonkoma</a> stations, a stretch of 17.9 miles. 
Combined, those projects help to address the needs of reverse commuters and intra-Long Island commuters - populations predicted to grow substantially in the future, transit advocates say. 
But <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a> president Helena <a href="/topics/Helena_Williams">Williams</a> warned that some transit advocates are getting ahead of themselves. Before the <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a> shifts from its longtime mission of taking Long Island commuters to <a href="/topics/New_York%2C_NY">New York</a> City and back, more has to be done to make Long Island an economic and commercial destination. 
"It may be very important to Long Island's future," Williams said of reverse and intra-Island commuting. "But right now we don't have cities on Long Island that people want to come to." 
At least some of those commuters could be traveling to new developments that offer an alternative to suburban sprawl - initiatives such as the Lighthouse in <a href="/topics/Uniondale%2C_NY">Uniondale</a> and the Heartland Town Square in <a href="/topics/Brentwood%2C_NY">Brentwood</a>. 
"People and government are recognizing that stopping the sprawl is an opportunity to make sense of better connections between transportation and land use," said <a href="/topics/Michael_White">Michael White</a>, executive director of the Long Island Planning Council. 
Because putting new <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a> tracks where they don't now exist on Long Island is nearly an impossibility, transit experts expect an expanded and improved bus system to play a critical role in moving people around Long Island - particularly through north-south corridors. They could serve as better connectors between <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a> lines on the North and South shore. 
But all experts agreed that no amount of improvements to the region's public transportation system will ever persuade many Long <a href="/topics/New_York_Islanders">Islanders</a> to get out of their cars. And so a 21st century transportation network must look to improve the flow of automobile traffic. 
Reducing the number of trucks on the LIE is paramount, most experts agree. New infrastructure that would support moving freight by train rather than by truck could make a big difference, and is being studied by state transportation officials. 
Long Island may be past the era of epochal infrastructure projects such as those seen through by <a href="/topics/Robert_Moses">Robert Moses</a>, the visionary former state official who became the master builder of the metropolitan area in the 20th century. Instead, several smaller projects can combine to make a big difference, many experts say. 
A third track on the <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a>'s Main Line might take a few cars off the LIE. A better bus system might take off a few more. A tunnel off Long Island could whisk away even more. 
"There is no panacea," said Jeff Zupan, senior transportation fellow for the Regional Plan Association. "If we accept what there is and say, 'Well, this is the way it is,' then that's what we're going to get. If we want to think a little bit out of the box - but not too much - we can start to address some of the problems."

LIMAIN28

Experts: New transportation solutions needed on LI

The Problem: Accommodating "reverse commuters" and those commuting within <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>. 
The Fix: A track from <a href="/topics/Floral_Park%2C_NY">Floral Park</a> to <a href="/topics/Hicksville%2C_NY">Hicksville</a>; another between <a href="/topics/Farmingdale%2C_NY">Farmingdale</a> and <a href="/topics/Ronkonkoma%2C_NY">Ronkonkoma</a>. 
&nbsp;Anticipating that <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> may become the destination - and not just origination - for many more commuters in the future, the <a href="/topics/Long_Island_Rail_Road">Long Island Rail Road</a> is planning for two major projects aimed at carrying reverse commuters. 
The Main Line Corridor Improvement project is described as essential to create enough capacity to carry the growing eastbound commuter population - already 19,670 commuters ride in reverse each day, a 58 percent rise in the past decade. The project entails building an additional track on about 10 miles of its main line between <a href="/topics/Floral_Park%2C_NY">Floral Park</a> and <a href="/topics/Hicksville%2C_NY">Hicksville</a>. 
The third track, as it's commonly called, "is probably the number one project" in terms of necessity on <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>," said Peter Haynes, founder of the <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a> Commuters Campaign, who said the project would "create more slots to fit in trains." 
But, as it has been for years, the $1.5-billion project remains stalled by financial and political roadblocks. Many residents and politicians near the affected portion of the <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a> system have fought the project, which will require the <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a> taking over some private property. Despite repeated requests by transit advocates and residents potentially affected, the <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a> has declined to say how many properties might be taken or encroached upon. 
Among the project's most vehement opponents is state Sen. Craig Johnson (D-<a href="/topics/Port_Washington%2C_NY">Port Washington</a>), who sits on the <a href="/topics/MTA">MTA</a> Capital Program Review Board and would have veto power over the plan. 
"It's just not necessary, and I think it would really tear up the fabric of the main line community for decades," Johnson said. 
LIRR officials say the soonest they might begin work on the project is between 2015 and 2019. But, they say, some improvements are planned over the next five years along that stretch of the system, including bridges, that would accommodate a third track. 
LIRR president <a href="/topics/Helena_Williams">Helena Williams</a> said the railroad remains committed to the project, which she said is necessary to "achieve a true reverse commute from <a href="/topics/Manhattan">Manhattan</a> out to <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> and <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> county." 
A less divisive project is the LIRR's planned $138-million construction of a second track between <a href="/topics/Farmingdale%2C_NY">Farmingdale</a> and <a href="/topics/Ronkonkoma%2C_NY">Ronkonkoma</a> stations - a 17.9-mile stretch of the system that is mostly single track right now. The second track would allow the LIRR to run more trains in both directions and avoid the major service disruptions that happen when a train breaks down on a single-track portion of the system, and other trains cannot go around it. 
The added capacity would help move people to such destinations as <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> MacArthur Airport and, possibly, a reopened Republic Station in <a href="/topics/East_Farmingdale%2C_NY">East Farmingdale</a>, at the heart of the Route 110 business corridor. 
&nbsp; 
Status: The <a href="/topics/Floral_Park%2C_NY">Floral Park</a>-<a href="/topics/Hicksville%2C_NY">Hicksville</a> track is stalled by opposition; the other track 
probably won't be started until 2015.

LITRAC28

Projects aim to ease reverse commuting

The Problem: Getting 166,000 
<a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>ers to <a href="/topics/Manhattan">Manhattan</a>'s East Side 
The Fix: A new train tunnel 
to Grand Central Station. 
In the next decade, the transit project that could most dramatically improve Long <a href="/topics/New_York_Islanders">Islanders</a>' commute to Manhattan is the East Side Access project, which will take 166,000 <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a> riders directly to Grand Central Terminal via a series of newly bored tunnels from <a href="/topics/Queens%2C_NY">Queens</a>. 
<a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a> president <a href="/topics/Helena_Williams">Helena Williams</a> described the $7.3-billion project, pegged for completion in 2016, as likely to have the most compelling impact of any transportation project for the Island in decades. 
The <a href="/topics/New_York%2C_NY">New York</a> Metropolitan Transportation Council, a consortium of transit planners and providers, lists East Side Access as one of the four "foundation" projects of the next 25 years and says it will "dramatically shorten" the travel time for Long <a href="/topics/New_York_Islanders">Islanders</a> commuting to Manhattan's East Side by around 20 minutes. 
The project also promises to ease crowding on trains to and from Penn Station, increase East River rail tunnel capacity, and take thousands of cars off the road, <a href="/topics/MTA">MTA</a> officials say. The <a href="/topics/MTA">MTA</a> Capital Construction project is funded by <a href="/topics/MTA">MTA</a>, state and federal dollars and through bond sales. 
By 2030, largely as a result of the access, the <a href="/topics/Long_Island_Rail_Road">Long Island Rail Road</a> expects to be running 331 trains to and from Grand Central each weekday - boosting the total number of <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a> trains being operated each day by nearly 48 percent. 
The project even promises to change living patterns on Long Island and increase property values, as all of the <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a>'s stations will serve as a "gateway to Manhattan like they've never been before," said Jeffrey Zupan, senior transportation fellow for the Regional Plan Association. 
"I think that's probably the single biggest thing that's definitely going to happen," Zupan said. 
The other three projects classified as "foundation" projects for the next 25 years are the No. 7 subway extension to Manhattan's west side (project completion date 2013), the Second Avenue Subway (2017); and the NJ Transit link to Penn Station (2017). 
Most of the digging for the tunnel is already complete, but there is still plenty of work ahead - including the construction of a 10-block-long, 350,000-square-foot LIRR customer concourse at Grand Central. 
&nbsp; 
Status: Completion date, 2016.

LIEAST28

East Side Access project expected to have major impact

The problem: Slow, bulky buses; 
inconvenient system with weak north-south links on <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>; poor funding. 
The fix: Sleek buses with low floors to ease boarding; bus-only lanes; more north-south routes; two-county bus 
system under <a href="/topics/MTA">MTA</a>. 
Moving Long <a href="/topics/New_York_Islanders">Islanders</a> smoothly through north-south corridors will require in the coming decades the creation of a robust and fast-moving bus system in both counties, transit experts say. 
So-called bus rapid transit systems have already changed the face of transportation in several American cities, including parts of <a href="/topics/New_York%2C_NY">New York</a>. 
Unlike the slow, ungainly buses that most <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>ers are used to, rapid transit systems can include dedicated lanes, devices that allow buses to change traffic lights, a system to collect fares before riders board buses, and sleeker buses with low floors, so riders can board more quickly. 
"They're 21st century transportation options," said Kate Slevin, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign. "They look more like trains, in some ways, than buses." 
The <a href="/topics/MTA">MTA</a> already has some bus rapid transit systems in place, including in the <a href="/topics/Bronx%2C_NY">Bronx</a>, where the "Select Bus" line that offers more peak hour buses and prepaid fares reduced the travel time of riders by nearly 20 percent. A similar system along <a href="/topics/Manhattan">Manhattan</a>'s 34th Street, implemented last year, has also sped up bus service some 17 percent there. 
<a href="/topics/MTA">MTA</a> board member Mitchell Pally said he expects bus rapid transit to be in place in some parts of <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a> in the next seven to 10 years. No one has done current cost estimates for the plan, which would be funded in future MTA capital plans. 
One likely candidate to get such a system is Route 110, where the MTA is working with local, state and federal governments to create a transit hub at the site of a Republic Airport <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a> station that would be reopened. The MTA hopes to begin work on the so-called "transit village" in the next five to 10 years. 
The state-of-the-art bus system could help carry commuters up and down the busy Route 110 corridor, where an estimated 20 percent of <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a>'s workforce is employed. 
A faster and more reliable bus system on Long Island could help address limited transportation options between the North and South shores, making it easier, for example, to transfer between the <a href="/topics/Ronkonkoma%2C_NY">Ronkonkoma</a> and <a href="/topics/Babylon%2C_NY">Babylon</a> lines at several points on Long Island, transit experts say. 
But some bus advocates say such improvements will require a major overhaul in the way Long Island's two county-owned bus systems - Long Island Bus and <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> County Transit - operate. Financially strapped and ill-equipped to run a transit agency, officials in both counties have long sought to unload their bus systems on the MTA, which already operates and helps fund Long Island Bus. 
And so transit advocates say the future must include an MTA regional bus authority that would absorb both systems - and possibly also Westchester's Bee Line - under one streamlined agency funded through a combination of fares, taxes and other government funding. 
The MTA already has funded a feasibility study expected to take place this year for such a program, and advocates say the system could begin to come together within the next five years. 
But <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a> County Executive <a href="/topics/Steve_Levy">Steve Levy</a> is not optimistic. He said the window of opportunity closed when the State Legislature failed to act on the recommendation of a governor-appointed panel. 
"The money doesn't seem to be there," <a href="/topics/Steve_Levy">Levy</a> said. 
For now, <a href="/topics/Steve_Levy">Levy</a> said he would settle for an increase in state funding to put his system on the same footing as <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a>'s Long Island Bus, which he said received $57 million in state aid in 2008, while Suffolk got only $22 million. 
Status: Progress hampered by the system's fundamentally difficult finances.

Suffolk

LIBUS28

Enhanced bus systems could offer smoother, faster ride

The problem: Major roads 
overwhelmed by traffic. 
The fix: "Toll lanes" to ease car traffic; to reduce truck numbers, better 
freight-rail links to Long Island. 
&nbsp; 
It's a simple matter of math. 
Twenty-five years from now, Long <a href="/topics/New_York_Islanders">Islanders</a> will face roads that are more crowded than ever, with more cars and no more roadway, planners predict. So battling traffic congestion will require rethinking the way drivers use those roads. 
Eileen Peters, spokeswoman for the state Department of Transportation, said it is not "economically, environmentally or socially feasible" to build a new major road on Long Island for the next several decades. 
Neither adding roads nor adding new lanes to existing major roads - the Long Island Expressway, Southern and Northern State parkways, and Sunrise Highway - are even on the radar for the next quarter century. 
And so the DOT says its mission is to ease traffic congestion using the roads already in place and new tools such as congestion pricing. 
TOLL LANES.Peters said the DOT would consider adding "priority lanes" on the Northern and Southern State Parkways, reserved for those willing to pay a toll for a faster commute. Car poolers might be able to use it for free. 
So-called HOT lanes - high occupancy/toll - lanes are already in many states, including in <a href="/topics/California">California</a> on <a href="/topics/San_Diego">San Diego</a>'s Interstate 15 and in <a href="/topics/Florida">Florida</a> on Interstate 95 in <a href="/topics/Miami">Miami</a>. In those cities, the lanes have not only successfully reduced traffic congestion, but have also generated important revenue to support transportation, experts said. 
Lisa Tyson, executive director of the Long Island Progressive Coalition, said they may be a tough sell on Long Island, where some drivers may see them as "<a href="/topics/Lexus">Lexus</a> lanes." 
"They'll say, 'Why is it that because you have money you're able to get to work on time?' " Tyson said. 
The DOT says it has studied creating such priority lanes on Long Island roadways, but has no plans to implement them because of financial and environmental obstacles. In the interim, the DOT is considering changing the occupancy standards on the LIE's existing high occupancy vehicle lanes from two people to three. "We're at the point now where the HOV lanes have congested periods," Peters said. 
In <a href="/topics/Miami">Miami</a>, where congestion pricing was introduced northbound in December 2008 and southbound two months ago during rush hour, almost 10 million vehicles have used the high occupancy toll lanes. Speed on the regular non-express lanes has increased from 20 mph to 42 mph northbound and 52 mph southbound. 
As of the end of January, the express lanes have generated almost $6 million to pay for operating the system and mass transit improvements. Tolls range from 25 cents to $5. Almost 8,000 vehicles have registered to use the lanes; 67 percent of I-95 commuters have used the express lanes. It's free for those in a registered car-pool, which requires three or more licensed drivers living and working in the same areas. There are more than 1,840 carpools and van pools using the road. 
&nbsp; 
TRUCKS BE GONE.Another important piece of the puzzle, most experts agree, is to get as many trucks as possible off the LIE. A rail tunnel from New Jersey to Brooklyn could give Long Island a direct connection to the nation's freight rail network. The Port Authority is studying such a plan. 
Once delivered here by train, shipments would have to be loaded onto trucks at one or more facilities out on Long Island. The <a href="/topics/US_State_Department">State Department</a> of Transportation is exploring building such facilities, along with new lanes for trucks to bypass the Sagtikos State Parkway when traveling south off the LIE. 
The status: Toll lanes not likely but under study; proposed rail-freight yards have faced major opposition, but the idea persists.

LILIE28

Toll lanes, rerouting trucks suggested for major roads

The problem: Bad traffic; too many trucks; lack of options to get off <a href="/topics/Long_Island%2C_NY">Long Island</a>. 
The fix: A 17-mile tunnel under Long Island Sound, from <a href="/topics/Oyster_Bay%2C_NY">Oyster Bay</a> to Rye. 
Imagine a world where, for $25 each way, you could get off Long Island quickly and easily. That world may be only 15 years away. 
Long Island's most ambitious and polarizing transportation proposal may be the Cross Sound Link, which promises to connect <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> County to Westchester via the longest road tunnel in the world. If approved, the 17-mile tunnel could be completed by 2025, according to its planners, <a href="/topics/Garden_City%2C_NY">Garden City</a>-based Polimeni International Llc. 
But, they acknowledge, that's a pretty big "if." 
"There really isn't an obstacle that exists that we won't have to go through," said Michael Polimeni, who listed digging beneath some <a href="/topics/Syosset%2C_NY">Syosset</a> homes as among the challenges. "It's NUMBYism - 'Not under my backyard.' " 
The $13-billion project, proposed three years ago, is at a standstill as developers wait for state approval to conduct a traffic study. 
The plan calls for three tunnels to be dug 150 feet below Long Island Sound, connecting the <a href="/topics/Seaford-Oyster_Bay_Expressway%2C_NY">Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway</a> (Route 135) in <a href="/topics/Syosset%2C_NY">Syosset</a> with the intersection of Interstates 287 and 95 in Rye. 
Two of the tunnels would carry three lanes each of traffic. The center tunnel could be built to accommodate trains - potentially creating a link between the <a href="/topics/Long_Island_Rail_Road">Long Island Rail Road</a> and Metro-North Railroad. 
For a cost of $25 each way, Polimeni said, drivers could cut a 45-mile trip by nearly two-thirds and avoid the frequently congested <a href="/topics/Throgs_Neck%2C_NY">Throgs Neck</a>, <a href="/topics/Bronx%2C_NY">Bronx</a>-Whitestone or <a href="/topics/Robert_F._Kennedy">Robert F. Kennedy</a> bridges. 
The tunnel would take an estimated 60,000 to 80,000 cars and trucks off Long Island roadways each day, and save 24 million gallons of fuel each year, according to planners. 
Polimeni said innovations in tunnel-boring technology would allow the passageways to be mined with minimal disruption to neighboring communities. Designers have used major tunnels constructed in the last decade, including <a href="/topics/Norway">Norway</a>'s 15-mile Laerdal tunnel, as inspiration for their plan. 
The project's potential benefits have won over several transportation advocates and environmentalists who believe the project will have no significant impact on the Sound. 
"He's right-on with the vision," said <a href="/topics/Michael_White">Michael White</a>, director of the Long Island Regional Planning Council, who says that a new link on and off Long Island - if not two of them - is essential to the Island's sustainability. "And what the government should do is foster that vision." 
A connection between <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> and Westchester counties has been proposed and debated in various forms for decades, dating back to a state plan proposed in the 1960s for a bridge between <a href="/topics/Bayville%2C_NY">Bayville</a> and Rye. 
State Sen. Carl Marcellino (R-<a href="/topics/Syosset%2C_NY">Syosset</a>) said he has yet to hear much opposition from constituents to the Polimeni organization's latest incarnation of the notion - in part, because few of them believe it could ever happen. 
"I don't think people ever took it all that seriously," Marcellino said. "But it's something you have to . . . take seriously. Because the people who want to build it are serious." 
Status: Stalled, as developers await OK to do traffic study.

LITUNN28

Cross-Sound tunnel may be only 15 years away

Newsday asked its readers in February to discuss their ideas, concerns and thoughts about the future of travel on Long Island. 
Here are some responses: 
<h2>Bus transportation</h2> 
“I would like to see more frequent buses. You have to wait a long time. I’d like for the fare not to go up more. The train fare is so high it’s hard to afford it. The Metro card is $92 a month and I don’t have that kind of money right now. I have to scrounge up quarters for the bus every day....People like me who don’t have a job, it’s hard to get around. I don’t have a car now. — Anthony DeJesus, 43, <a href="/topics/Freeport%2C_NY">Freeport</a>. He’s a laid-off carpenter going to school to become a nurses aide. 
“Right now the critical area is to try to save our routes, without them suspending service. I’ve been riding the bus for thirty years. It’s convenient and cheap. I can’t afford a car.” — Wendy Corley, 53, of <a href="/topics/Roosevelt%2C_NY">Roosevelt</a> is retired hospital clinic housekeeper. She takes the bus every day. 
<hr> 
<h2>Long Island traffic</h2> 
“The way that traffic on the LI Expressway, and other roads, could be relieved would be to create a number of intermodal (freight train to truck) transportation centers throughout <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a> and <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a>... .Rail freight would be an asset to Long Island and allievate the truck traffic coming in and out over the bridges. You’d just have local deliveries.” — John O’Hara, 50 of <a href="/topics/Bayport%2C_NY">Bayport</a>, is a commercial real estate broker. For freight-rail centers, he suggest the former Grumman facility in <a href="/topics/Hicksville%2C_NY">Hicksville</a> for <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a>, and the Pilgrim State Hospital site in <a href="/topics/Suffolk_County%2C_NY">Suffolk</a>. 
“There always seems to be a bottleneck somewhere... I think if there were incentives given to companies to stagger work hours and implement telecommuting...more flexibility around the rush hour could help and wouldn’t cost anything. Theodora Georgopoulos, 30, of <a href="/topics/Bellmore%2C_NY">Bellmore</a> is a biological products researcher. She commutes drives from <a href="/topics/Bellmore%2C_NY">Bellmore</a> to <a href="/topics/Port_Washington%2C_NY">Port Washington</a>. 
<hr> 
<h2>Train travel</h2> 
"Any planner will tell you that only running trains East and West all across a 100-mile span without a hub or North/South interphase is foolish...If you had north shore and south lines looping through, you’d have trains in constant motion, so you’d have trains where you want them more frequently going both ways. Sean Gregg, 44, of <a href="/topics/Bayport%2C_NY">Bayport</a> is a business consultant. He takes the during weekdays. He also say the <a href="/topics/LIRR">LIRR</a> should create express trains from <a href="/topics/New_York%2C_NY">New York</a> to the East End so companies would be more willing to locate here. &nbsp; 
<hr> 
<h2>Lack of mass transit presence</h2> 
“We’re car based and never been mass transit based. I grew up on Long Island and I don’t think I’ve ever been on a bus here.” — Ray Guarino, 51, of <a href="/topics/Merrick%2C_NY">Merrick</a>, is a college faculty member and drives on Meadowbrook Parkway to <a href="/topics/Garden_City%2C_NY">Garden City</a> from <a href="/topics/Merrick%2C_NY">Merrick</a>. 
“I feel like the Long Island transportation system should be more like the <a href="/topics/New_York%2C_NY">New York</a> City system, where if you get up at six you don’t need to worry about waiting in the cold.” — Devahn Cooper, 24, <a href="/topics/Uniondale%2C_NY">Uniondale</a>, works in retail sales. 
<hr> 
<h2>Monorail system</h2> 
“Create a monorail system in <a href="/topics/Nassau_County%2C_NY">Nassau</a>'s Hub allowing people to go to Hofstra, the Coliseum, <a href="/topics/Roosevelt%2C_NY">Roosevelt</a> field mall, the Source mall and Eisenhower Park without having to drive to each one.” Erik MacEwen, 30, of <a href="/topics/West_Islip%2C_NY">West Islip</a>, works for the Port Authority of NY and NJ and drives to work.

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Crews were working Friday to repair a large sinkhole near Exit 49 of the LIE in Melville that partially swallowed a car on Thursday. Two lanes remain closed.

Mess on the LIE

A recent string of major service disruptions at Penn Station raises new concerns about the station's ability to handle the heavy demand from riders. Newsday transportation reporter Alfonso Castillo explains.

'Several major service disruptions'

Beefed up security measures are in place around Madison Square Garden in preparation for President Trump's attendance at Game 3. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie reports.

'Avoid the MSG area tonight if you do not have tickets'

Dr. Luis Maldonado, of Commack, lost his wife and father-in-law when an LIRR train struck her car. The LIRR said she drove around the gate, but a jury found the railroad negligent. Newsday transportation reporter Alfonso Castillo reports.

'Worst day of my life'

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The ridership on June 18 set a post-pandemic record and was 33% higher than the average Thursday.

Ridership on LIRR sets record during Knicks parade, U.S. Open

The MTA chairman and CEO said doing so could open the door for developers to "tear up" the LIRR's recently renovated concourse.

MTA head rejects partnership with Trump administration on Penn rebuild

The ratification ends a historic labor dispute that culminated in the LIRR's first union strike in more than three decades last month.

MTA approves 4-year, 15% raises for LIRR workers who went on strike

Newsday transportation reporters Alfonso Castillo and Peter Gill discuss how the last 15 months of coverage has changed how we looks at traffic crashes.

How 15-months of Dangerous Roads coverage changed how we look at crashes

The contract gives workers annual raises averaging 3.5% over four years.

5 LIRR unions that went on strike ratify new 4-year contract

After running two additional morning trains to Shinnecock, the MTA said it would monitor afternoon travel to see if more are needed.

LIRR trains added to try to keep up with U.S. Open demand

Transportation Video Playlist

Nassau County's police department gave out around half the number of core safety-related tickets as it did in 2019. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn and Newsday transportation reporter Peter Gill have more.

'Enforcement a priority'

A runway at LaGuardia Airport was closed due to a sinkhole. NewsdayTV's Ken Buffa has more.

Sinkhole closes runway at LGA

Commuters on Tuesday spoke about how they dealt with the strike and how they feel about being back on LIRR trains. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn reports.

'I would not want to do that on a regular'

The LIRR strike has ended and trains are back in service. Newsday transportation reporter Alfonso A. Castillo explains some of the details of the deal that ended the strike.

'There are things in there that make it more affordable'

Kevin Sexton, from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, announced on Monday night a deal has been made between the MTA and LIRR unions.

'The parties have reached an agreement'

Commuters faced heavy delays on the Long Island Expressway on Tuesday morning, as the LIRR wont be back to full strength until later. NewsdayTV's Carissa Kellman reports.

'Hoping tomorrow everything will be good'

The MTA and the LIRR unions have reached an agreement to end the 3-day transit strike. NewsdayTV's Pat Dolan reports.

Service restarts at noon Tuesday

With the end of the LIRR strike and some trains set to start running at noon Tuesday, commuters faced one more early morning slog taking shuttle buses to subway lines in Queens reach their destinations. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie speaks to commuters at the Hicksville train station.

End to chaotic morning commute in sight

Some Long Islanders described a tiring commute to work, while picketing LIRR employees continued to make their voices heard. NewsdayTV's Shari Einhorn reports.

'It's really tough'

Without the LIRR as an option because of the strike, Long Islanders in Plainview Monday felt frustrated about the amount of traffic and higher gas prices. Newsday travel writer Carissa Kellman reports.

'It's definitely annoying'

Frustration was mounting on Day 3 of the LIRR strike Monday, as commuters at the Hicksville station faced taking shuttle buses and subways to reach their jobs in New York City. NewsdayTV's Virginia Huie reports.

'It's hurting everybody, the strike'

Drivers might want to allot extra time for their morning drive on Monday during the LIRR strike as traffic builds on the Long Island Expressway. NewsdayTV's Carissa Kellman reports.

Traffic building on LIE during morning drive

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The average LIRR employee made $32,988 in overtime last year — behind only MTA Bridges & Tunnels workers, who made $53,626 in OT on average, data shows.

328 LIRR workers made more than $100,000 in OT last year, reports says

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