Back when the borough's expressways were laid out by master planner Robert Moses, sections of the service roads along the West Shore Expressway were never completed, leaving a bizarre quirk of the map -- a U-shaped dead end at Clay Pit Road in Charleston, and a stub off Bloomingdale Road leading into a space now occupied by a grocery-store parking lot in Rossville. (For more about Moses, whose impact on city development was enormous, visit silive.com/transportation.)

As Charleston's busy shopping centers and new housing developments take off, the state Department of Transportation has made connecting the service roads a priority, and the agency is working on plans to join the two sides.

Continue reading "'Road to nowhere' near Staten Island's West Shore Expressway" »

Despite the MTA's gloomy financial outlook, the future for Staten Island buses is better than it has been in decades, thanks to the two new bus depots on the horizon.

The Castleton Depot was originally intended to hold 135 buses, while Yukon was built for 250. Yet the borough's fleet numbers about 800, without nearly enough room to house them, or, more importantly, to fix them when they break down.

Continue reading "2 new Staten Island bus depots are on the way" »

Despite the improvements in the physical condition of the borough's buses, there are still plenty of gripes among commuters who complain about long waits between buses, on-board conditions during rush hours that resemble what it must feel like to be packed in a sardine can, and express bus riders who feel a $5 fare is a ripoff if they are forced to stand for an hour on a packed bus, especially after waiting for it at an uncovered shelter.

Continue reading "Intraborough travel: Life in the slow lane" »

By MAURA YATES and PHIL HELSEL
BYCRED: STATEN ISLAND ADVANCE

For decades, a third depot has been seen as critical to the reliability of the borough's bus-transportation network. It's set to open ahead of pace in January 2010; a lease deal for a fourth depot could be made soon.

A year ago, the borough's local bus fleet could be described as aging and decaying. Earlier this month, the first of 159 new hybrid buses to hit local routes here was unveiled.

Continue reading "Brighter journey for Staten Island bus riders" »

By MAURA YATES AND PHIL HELSEL

Whether it's due to the astronomical rise in gas prices, or out-of-control traffic that has made it next to impossible to predict how long a commute by car will take from one day to the next, more Staten Islanders are taking to the water to get around every day, with tens of thousands of passengers relying on the big, orange and iconic Staten Island Ferry.

Ridership is up 4.2 percent overall on the ferry, which now carries 19.7 million passengers a year, up from 18.9 million last year.

On an average weekday, the boats carry about 65,000 people.

Talk of opening a new South Shore route has some commuters from the borough's most far-flung neighborhoods hoping a trip by water will cut down on travel times that are now considered among the longest in the country.

Continue reading "Staten Island Ferry riders want more" »

It's been called the longest commute in the country, a daily hell through which South Shore residents must pass simply to get to work.

But as the city prepares to spend millions on a "fast ferry" from Prince's Bay to Manhattan that would halve a 90-minte trip, some veteran rail and ferry riders shrugged, "meh," last week.

"I guess I would try it out," said James Burgess of Charleston, on the 8:02 a.m. express train toward the ferry and his job at City Hall. "It's long, but other than that it's pretty good."

Continue reading "South Shore Ferry is not on the fast track" »

$1.4 billion price tag for North and West Shore lines proves daunting

The prospect of new North and West Shore rail lines that would form a transit triangle around Staten Island is either the only hope for the borough's car-choked roads, or a pie-in-the-sky proposal that will end up gathering dust on a bookshelf in some planner's office.

The faster travel speeds offered by rail, along with a proposed link to New Jersey, have been embraced by elected officials and business leaders who say they're the key to ensuring a smooth commute through a borough that is fast running out of growing room. It's also seen as a means to lure more businesses to the Island, and as a way to connect more residents to New Jersey's job market.

Click here
for a graphic.

Continue reading "Reality check for Staten Island's rail plans" »

Staten Island's claim to infamy used to be the former Fresh Kills landfill. No longer.

The Staten Island Expressway has overtaken the dump as the borough's sore-spot icon, fueled by its role as a major cog in the region's transportation network, and a relentless crush of trucks, cars, SUVs and buses.

The roadway, jammed to capacity with as many as 170,000 vehicles a day, has exacted an enormous toll on the Island, far beyond a few lost minutes every day and the $8-$10 tolls charged at the bridges at the expressway's east and west entrances.

Continue reading "Expressway crisis demands answers" »

We asked Island elected officials: What are the biggest problems facing the S.I. Expressway, and what is your office doing about it?

Here's what they had to say:

Continue reading "Staten Island pols on the Staten Island Expressway" »