Purpose and Need Statement

March 2019 | DRAFT

LaGuardia Airport Access Improvement Project Environmental Impact Statement

Prepared for: Federal Aviation Administration

Prepared by: RICONDO

. FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION MARCH 2019

DRAFT DELIBERATIVE MATERIAL FOR DICUSSION PURPOSES

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Purpose and Need Statement ...... 1-1 1.1 Introduction ...... 1-1 1.2 Purpose of the Proposed Action ...... 1-1 1.3 Need for the Proposed Action ...... 1-1

LIST OF TABLES Table 1 Existing Trip Origins and Destinations of LGA Passengers and Employees ...... 1-2 Table 2 Projected Average Roadway Travel Times to and from LaGuardia Airport (2025) ...... 1-2

LGA Access Improvement Project EIS | i | Purpose and Need Statement FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION MARCH 2019

DRAFT DELIBERATIVE MATERIAL FOR DICUSSION PURPOSES

1. PURPOSE AND NEED STATEMENT

1.1 INTRODUCTION FAA Order 1050.1F states that the purpose and need of an EIS “briefly describes the underlying purpose and need for the Federal action. It presents the problem being addressed and describes what the FAA is trying to achieve with the Proposed Action. It provides the parameters for defining a reasonable range of alternatives to be considered. The purpose and need for the Proposed Action must be clearly explained and stated in terms that are understandable to individuals who are not familiar with aviation or commercial aerospace activities. Where appropriate, the responsible FAA official should initiate early coordination with cooperating agencies in developing purpose and need.”

1.2 PURPOSE OF THE PROPOSED ACTION The purpose of the LaGuardia (LGA or Airport) Airport Access Improvement Project (“Proposed Action”) is to provide a time-certain transportation option that connects passengers and employees to LGA, as travel times to and from the Airport continue to increase and become more unpredictable. Additionally, this transportation option should ensure adequate parking for Airport employees.

1.3 NEED FOR THE PROPOSED ACTION The Proposed Action is needed to address unreliable, unpredictable, and increasing travel times to and from LGA while also addressing space constraints for employee parking. Specifically: . Increasing and unreliable travel times to and from key locations within New York City.1 — The majority of LGA passengers are traveling to and from key locations within New York City (see Table 1). . Approximately 77 percent of LGA origin and destination (O&D) passengers (those passengers not connecting or transferring from flight to another at LGA) start and/or end their trip within New York City. . More than half of LGA O&D passengers with origins and destinations in Manhattan are traveling to/from midtown. As a percentage of total passengers, 26.3 percent of LGA O&D passengers travel to/from midtown Manhattan. — Because of congestion, travel times are unpredictable for automobiles, taxis, for-hire2 vehicles, and buses, and vary between peak and non-peak periods of the day. Additionally, traffic volumes and consequently congestion and roadway travel times are expected to increase over time. Table 2 shows projected auto travel times between key New York City locations and LGA.

1 All statistics under this bullet are from the 2017 LGA Ground Access Survey and 2014-2016 LGA Customer Satisfaction Surveys, as reported in AirTrain LGA, LGA Ground Access Mode Choice Model and AirTrain Ridership Forecast 2025-2045, Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, 2018. 2 For-hire vehicles can include, but are not limited to: limousine services, livery cabs, and app-based, on demand services such as Uber and Lyft.

LGA Access Improvement Project EIS | 1-1 | Purpose and Need Statement FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION MARCH 2019

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TABLE 1 EXISTING TRIP ORIGINS AND DESTINATIONS OF LGA PASSENGERS AND EMPLOYEES

ORIGIN/DESTINATION PERCENT OF PASSENGERS PERCENT OF EMPLOYEES

New York City 77.2 78.8

Manhattan 48.6 6.1

Queens 11.6 47.2

Brooklyn 10.4 13.0

Staten Island 1.0 0.9

The Bronx 5.6 11.6

Long Island 7.2 14.3

Other New York State/Connecticut 11.8 3.3

New Jersey and Pennsylvania 3.7 3.6

Total 100.0 100.0

NOTE: Totals may not add due to rounding. SOURCE: Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, 2017 LGA Ground Access Survey and 2014-2016 LGA Customer Satisfaction Surveys, as reported in AirTrain LGA, LGA Ground Access Mode Choice Model and AirTrain Ridership Forecast 2025-2045, 2018.

TABLE 2 PROJECTED AVERAGE ROADWAY TRAVEL TIMES TO AND FROM LAGUARDIA AIRPORT (2025)

ORIGIN/DESTINATION TRAVEL TIME TO LGA (MINS) TRAVEL TIME FROM LGA (MINS)

Grand Central Terminal 41 44

Penn Station 50 51

Financial District 51 49

Union Square 47 47

Downtown Brooklyn 45 48

Long Island City 35 32

SOURCE: Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, 2017 LGA Ground Access Survey and 2014-2016 LGA Customer Satisfaction Surveys, as reported in AirTrain LGA, LGA Ground Access Mode Choice Model and AirTrain Ridership Forecast 2025-2045, 2018.

— Travel times for on-road vehicles from LGA to Times Square has increased between 2014 and 2017:3: . Average Annual Travel Time: 4 up 20 percent from 36 to 43 minutes . Annual Average Daily Maximum Travel Time: 5 up 20 percent from 54 to 65 minutes

3 Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, 2017 LGA Ground Access Survey and 2014-2016 LGA Customer Satisfaction Surveys, as reported in AirTrain LGA, LGA Ground Access Mode Choice Model and AirTrain Ridership Forecast 2025-2045, 2018. 4 Average Annual Travel Time – the average travel time experienced over the course of a year. 5 Number of Days When a Trip Took More than 70 minutes – the number of days experienced over the course of a year with at least one trip taking 70 minutes or longer.

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DRAFT DELIBERATIVE MATERIAL FOR DICUSSION PURPOSES

. Number of Days per Year When a Trip Took More than 70 minutes: 6 up from 21 days to 114 days — Average taxi travel times from midtown Manhattan to LGA increased nearly 22 percent between 2014 and 2017, from 33 minutes to 41 minutes, while average taxi travel times from LGA to midtown Manhattan increased nearly 17 percent, from 29 minutes to 34 minutes.7 . Passenger and employee access to LGA is limited to roadway access. — The Airport is currently only accessible by on-road vehicles via surface roads and streets. . 87 percent of passengers travel to and from LGA in low occupancy vehicles, such as private vehicles, rental cars, taxis, or for-hire vehicles. 56 percent of employees use private vehicles, taxis, or for-hire vehicles to access the Airport. . 40 percent of Airport employees and 6 percent of Airport passengers use the bus, subway, or Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) for their travel to/from the Airport.8 Passengers and employees traveling on the subway or LIRR must transfer to a bus to access the Airport. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) provides bus service between LGA, Manhattan and Queens, with additional locations served via a subway or LIRR connection. . Select Bus Service on M60 and Q70LaGuardia Link provides access to the regional transit system:

— The scheduled travel time for the M60 bus from 106th Street and Broadway in Manhattan to LGA is approximately 55 minutes; from 125th Street and Lexington Avenue in Manhattan approximately 36 minutes.9 However, based on data provided by New York City Transit (NYCT), actual travel times for the M60 bus exceeds the scheduled travel time on 94 to 98 percent of the eastbound (to LGA) trips and on 17 to 63 percent of the westbound (from LGA) trips10. In many cases, the actual travel time exceeds the scheduled travel time by more than five minutes.11 — The scheduled travel time for the Q70 bus from 61st Street/Roosevelt Avenue subway/LIRR station in Woodside, Queens to LGA, a distance just over 3 miles, is approximately 15 minutes; the scheduled travel time from 74th Street/Roosevelt Avenue subway station in Jackson Heights, Queens, a distance of 3 miles, is approximately 9 minutes.12 However, based on data provided by NYCT, the actual travel time exceeded the scheduled travel time

6 Number of Days When a Trip Took More than 70 minutes – the number of days experienced over the course of a year with at least one trip taking 70 minutes or longer. 7 NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission, Taxi Trip Record Data, 2014-2017. 8 Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, 2017 LGA Ground Access Survey and 2014-2016 LGA Customer Satisfaction Surveys, as reported in AirTrain LGA, LGA Ground Access Mode Choice Model and AirTrain Ridership Forecast 2025-2045, 2018. 9 Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Bus Timetable, M60 Select Bus Service, effective as of September 2, 2018, http://web.mta.info/nyct/bus/schedule/manh/m060scur.pdf (accessed March 5, 2019). 10 Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, LGA Airport Access Improvement Project, Purpose and Objectives and Analysis of Alternatives Report, October 2018. 11 Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, LGA Airport Access Improvement Project, Purpose and Objectives and Analysis of Alternatives Report, October 2018. 12 Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Bus Timetable, LaGuardia Link Q70 Select Bus Service, effective Summer 2018, http://web.mta.info/busco/schedules/q070scur.pdf (accessed March 5, 2019).

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on 63 to 77 percent of northbound bus trips (to LGA) and on 58 to 75 percent of the Q70 southbound (from LGA) trips. . Local bus service from Queens is provided to/from the neighborhoods of Glendale, Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, East Elmhurst, Rego Park, Corona, and Flushing via bus routes Q47, Q72, and Q48: — The scheduled travel time for the Q47 Bus from 74th Street/Roosevelt Avenue subway station in Jackson Heights to LGA, a distance of 3 miles, is approximately 23 minutes.13 — The scheduled travel time for the Q72 from 63rd Drive/Rego Park subway station to LGA, a distance of approximately 5 miles, is approximately 31 minutes.14 — The scheduled travel time for the Q48 bus from Main Street/Roosevelt Avenue subway station in Flushing, Queens to Terminal B at LGA is approximately 31 minutes.15 . The existing MTA bus service uses the local roadway network and is subject to traffic congestion. Although the bus service operates on a schedule, local traffic can lead to delays resulting in an uncertain travel time. This applies to any on-road vehicle. — LGA is the only major commercial New York City area airport without a direct connection to the local rail system.

. The JFK AirTrain connects to Jamaica Station, which provides connections to the E, J, and Z subway lines and the LIRR; and connects to Howard Beach, which provides connections to the A subway line. . The EWR AirTrain connects to the Newark Liberty International Airport Rail Link Station and provides connections to NJ TRANSIT and Amtrak. . Traffic congestion on off-airport roadways near the Airport contributes to Airport access travel times. — Off-Airport access roadways are congested.

. Main access to LGA is from the GCP, an 8-lane roadway that handles approximately 180,000 vehicles per day.16 . In 2014, eastbound flows on the GCP were satisfactory during the morning and evening peak periods (Level of Service [LOS] C or D) but westbound flows were failing (LOS E or F) during those peak periods.17 . Given the current congested traffic operations along the GCP, especially during the peak periods, some of the traffic from the GCP tends to use local roadways such as the Northern Boulevard, Astoria

13 Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Bus Timetable, Q47 Local Service, effective Winter 2019, http://web.mta.info/busco/schedules/q047cur.pdf (accessed March 5, 2019). 14 Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Bus Timetable, Q72 Local Service, effective Spring 2018, http://web.mta.info/busco/schedules/q072cur.pdf (accessed March 5, 2019). 15 Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Bus Timetable, Q48 Local Service, effective as of July 1, 2018, http://web.mta.info/nyct/bus/schedule/queens/q048cur.pdf (accessed March 5, 2019). 16 http://www.nycroads.com/roads/grand-central/ http://www.nycroads.com/roads/grand-central/ (accessed March 5, 2019). 17 U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, Final Environmental Assessment and Section 4(f) Evaluation, Central Terminal Building Redevelopment Program at LaGuardia Airport, November 2014.

LGA Access Improvement Project EIS | 1-4 | Purpose and Need Statement FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION MARCH 2019

DRAFT DELIBERATIVE MATERIAL FOR DICUSSION PURPOSES

Boulevard and other local streets. These traffic diversions are creating congested travel conditions on some local and residential streets. — Based on the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council’s Best Practice Model, congestion on the highway systems near the Airport will increase by a daily average of 10 percent from 2017 through 2045, and local road congestion will increase by a daily average of 11 percent. Based on the Bureau of Public Roads Volume-Delay Function used in the Best Practices Model, an increase of 5 to 10 percent in volume on an already congested road can result in 10 to 50 percent increase in travel times without an alternative travel mode option.18 — The Airport has limited drop off and pick up locations for passengers and employees. An off-Airport drop off location for passengers and employees with a direct link to the terminals would help reduce travel times for certain passengers and employees. . Limited on-airport options to provide adequate employee parking and maintenance activities. — LGA is land constrained, occupying 680 acres, and as activity increases, land needs to be reserved for aviation uses that must be located adjacent to the aircraft operations area (AOA). — Employee parking is not required to be located near the AOA. At LGA, employee parking spaces in Lot P10 that are adjacent to the AOA could be provided elsewhere. The aviation industry continues to evolve, requiring airport operators to be agile in addressing those evolving needs. Space constraints inhibit the flexibility required for efficient performance of routine maintenance activities.

18 Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, LGA Airport Access Improvement Project, Purpose and Objectives and Analysis of Alternatives Report, October 2018.

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