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| Re: Staten Island Railway (489958) | |||
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Re: Staten Island Railway |
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Posted by Michael549 on Fri Sep 14 01:25:04 2007, in response to Re: Staten Island Railway, posted by Grand concourse on Thu Sep 13 23:20:43 2007. From a previous message:"Assuming it is $1bil per mile then how would a 5mi tunnel from SI to Manhattan be worth the cost when the city can't even fund a stubway in the busiest area of manhattan - the upper east side?" Could that be one of the major reasons why the Staten Island Ferry is still in operation after a couple of centuries of existence? Remember that the major period for subway building was from 1904-1930's (with smaller extenstions since). When the plans for the connection between the B&O Railroad and the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company fell through (the Malbone Crash simply did not help) - connecting the Staten Island rail system to the subway system at any point later was going to be very expensive. By comparison the cost of running the ferry system is so much cheaper. Subway construction is expensive - note that the plans for the #7 line expansion require that one station be built as a shell because they do not have the money to complete the work. Finding $ 5-billion dollars for a direct subway tunnel to/from Manhattan and Staten Island is simply not gonna happen. The federal government is simply not going to give up that kind of cash - all pipe dreams aside. It was a pretty map, but it is not gonna happen. Another advantage that the ferry has - is time. The ride is about 20-25 minutes long. Each of the various rail options have to "beat" that time. Since the R train can take 30 minutes or longer just to get from 95th Street to Whitehall Street, and a similar time frame exists for the N train as an express - just where is the benefit? At the current cost of a new pathway (separate rail tunnels, etc) the planners are going to want to make as many connections to other facilities. (See the various connections and options in the history and planning for the Second Avenue Subway as a guide.) High occupancy lanes and separate pathways on highways increase the frustrations of regular drivers who then plead for a relaxation of the restrictions. Travel through New Jersey to reach Manhattan. Well there is a rush hours only bus that most must travel west to meet, when they want to go east. After taking that bus there's the LRT to the Path trains, and then to use the Path trains to Manhattan. Just what are the time's savings? None. For the foreseeable future the Staten Island Ferry is the best option for a direct route to Manhattan. It works, it is cheaper than the other alternatives, and the time issue is tolerable. The ferry schedule - the frequency of boats is truly another matter. Mike |
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