There was discussion in 2 other threads in regards to linking JFK and lower manhattan. This becoming a major factor in delaying any type of connection between newark and lower manhattan (for obvious reasons). I'm not sure if it's safe to say that if (and hopefully when) there is any approval to link JFK to the WTC hub, followed by a path extention to newark liberty, there will hopefully be a ferry ride to la guardia. It would probably make more sense to start the 3 services simulataneously.
^ So hard to get efficient and speedy rail to New York airports !
Even much-maligned Heathrow enjoys 100 mph trains to the city:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathrow_Express
The other airports –further out—do even better:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gatwick_Express
http://www.stanstedexpress.co.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathrow_Express
And London City Airport (close as LGA) is linked by speedy light rail:
http://www.londoncityairport.com/ind...wStory&sId=936
I lived in London this summer and rode them all: they are all fantastic. I don't see why we can't run a BRT or IND subway line along the AirTrain tracks and call it a day. Maybe temporarily re-route the E train at Archer Ave in Jamaica. People want to get to Midtown anyway, the hell with Downtown. The E train takes another 10 minutes to Fulton from Times Square.
E train wouldn't be compatible. You can't configure the Lirr trains or Subway trains to run on the airtrain tracks, it would have to be the other way around. And thats one of the main reasons why they want a direct link, to get more people to want to go to downtown.
I'm almost sure I read that they deliberately made AirTrain JFK compatable with BMT/IND (not IRT) for future subway consideration. AirTrain Newark is certainly not.
An idea
maybe this is to ambitious or maybe this makes to much sense.....the same way that the downtown connect is to use LIRR tracks to JFK, why don’t they use the tracks which go to Penn or even Grand Central (in the Future) to run the Airtrain from the main business district to the main airport. They could even use the branch which goes to LIC to be the line which supports Airtain, then tunnel to Manhattan. It is the same proposal but it will gain a greater use, use an underutilize line, and create the same connection in a better location.
I apologize if I didn't make myself clear. The Airtrain can be made compatible with Lirr and subway tracks (The E or the A) but not the other way around. The airtrain stations are fit for light rail (4 carts at most). Theres no way (obviously only with expansion) to run 11 (or is it 9?) E or A train carts on the airtrain tracks. There was talk of having airtrain go to midtown as well (to either or both terminals). Besides, the point is to make a direct connection to a "lesser" location to make it less so. And I don't think there will be any point in having an airtrain link to midtown when you have Lirr taking you directly to penn, and soon to be grand central, already.
Yes, that's true. I never understood how 11 car trains were supposed to stop at every terminal.
Regarding your point about "lesser" areas, I would add that a light rail network should be extended across Southeastern Queens to Jamaica, to connect with the ends of the subway lines. Makes sense to build light rail in medium density areas (ie: Hudosn county). In other words, put a few stops between Jamaica and the terminals along the Van Wick, expanding transit service there, and perhaps build a few spurs off the tracks running along the Van Wick to Laurelton, St. Albans etc. That would intensify the use of the AirTrain tracks, make it more useful to the residents of the area. Only problem is, you'll have added capacity issues when people switch to the E at Jamaica.
Does anyone know what the plans are for the Cortland Street station on the #1 line? Is it gone permanently? I never see any mention of it in the WTC Transportation Hub discussions/plans.
South Ferry Station
Dec 29th
April 22nd
Great to see this progress here ...
I noticed last weekend that they're covering over the area that had been cut through Battery Park ...
May 23rd. Whoa. Blacktop.
Walkway to the ferry terminal was moved to the center so construction could continue along Whitehall St.
A related story on transit in Lower Manhattan -- the plan for new BUS ONLY LANES on Broadway south of Houston has taken further steps towards inception. This will cut the auto lane on Broadway from Houston south to The Battery to ONE LANE. Of course the real challenge will be enforcement -- which, if effective, will greatly reduce the number of cars moving down Broadway into southern Manhattan (or create such gridlock that casr simply will not move -- given the current situation on crosstwon Tunnel / Bridge traffic at Broome Street then if such gridlock occurs on Broadway it should not surprise anyone).
In the past few months new "Bus Bulbs" have been constructed at Broadway / Spring, Broadway / Grand and other intersections on Broadway south of Canal Street. This weekend they painted new solid white lines on Broadway starting south of Houston to delineate the BUS ONLY LANE (on both sides of the western-most lane).
More info:
On Right Bus Path
Cheers for Busway Lane to get Riders Moving
New York Daily News
By Pete Donohue
Trying to ease worsening traffic jams downtown, the city will create a nearly 2-mile, bus-only lane on Broadway this summer, officials said.
The lane will run down Broadway from W. Houston St. to the southern tip of Manhattan.
Along the route, the Department of Transportation will build sidewalk extensions that will serve as passenger loading bays - and shorten the time it takes to pick up and discharge riders, officials said.
Paul Steely White, executive director of the nonprofit Transportation Alternatives, described the plan as momentous. Mayor Bloomberg and other officials have been warning that the city's population will soar in the coming decades and the city must find ways to transport more commuters.
"This is a decision to give priority to the movement of bus riders and pedestrians," White said. "This is exactly the kinds of solutions that need to be applied. The DOT has smartly figured out how to improve bus service that's quick and affordable. If this works, they can apply it to any bus route in the city."
Construction on the new subway hub at Fulton St. has already narrowed that section of Broadway to two lanes, creating a bottleneck. And that's before the Metropolitan Transportation Authority starts to demolish existing buildings for the project this summer.
The sidewalk extensions will jut about 9 feet into an existing parking lane, and will be between 80 and 120 feet long, according to the plan.
Called "bus bulbs," the extensions will allow bus drivers to quickly stop and open their doors for passengers, without having to fight their way back into the traffic stream.
They will be built on the most northern segment of the bus-only route, between W. Houston and Franklin Sts.
"We're taking proactive steps to make sure that ... the streets continue to move in an area that thousands of pedestrians and motorists travel through every day," DOT spokeswoman Kay Sarlin said.
The Broadway bus lane will give bus riders the first glimpse of some of the components of the DOT's larger, $21million project to create "Bus Rapid Transit" routes in the city. The first two of five planned Bus Rapid Transit routes are expected to be unveiled in the fall.
© 1997-2007 Transportation Alternatives
These bus improvements are happening at exactly the right time for the congestion charge plan to move forward. London did the same.
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