Public Transportation
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3.1 Public Transportation 3.1 Public Transportation A. INTRODUCTION This section describes the characteristics of the existing trans-Hudson public transportation system and summarizes changes in the trans-Hudson public transportation system under the 2030 No Build and 2030 Build Alternatives. Service levels and ridership are presented for the following modes: NJ TRANSIT commuter rail, Amtrak, bus, ferry, and PATH. B. EXISTING CONDITIONS The New York/New Jersey metropolitan region is afforded a variety of public transportation services crossing the Hudson River into midtown Manhattan, including NJ TRANSIT commuter rail, Amtrak, NJ TRANSIT and private express bus, ferry and Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH), as shown in Table 3.1-1. TABLE 3.1-1: EXISTING TRANS-HUDSON PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SERVICES Public Transportation Mode/Facility Service Description NJ TRANSIT Main/Bergen/Port Jervis Runs from Suffern, NY to Hoboken, NJ. Main Line operates via Paterson, NJ. Bergen County Line operates via Fair Lawn, NJ. The two lines meet at Ridgewood, NJ. Service provided seven days per week. NJ TRANSIT runs service under contract with Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Metro-North Railroad from Port Jervis, NY to Hoboken, NJ. Each line has connections to Penn Station New York (PSNY) available at Frank R. Lautenberg Station. NJ TRANSIT Pascack Valley Line Runs between Spring Valley, NY and Hoboken, NJ. NJ TRANSIT serves three MTA Metro-North Railroad stations in NY. Connections to PSNY available at Frank R. Lautenberg Station. NJ TRANSIT Montclair-Boonton Line Runs between Hackettstown, NJ and Hoboken, NJ/Manhattan via Montclair-Boonton Line. Direct service to PSNY from Montclair, Glen Ridge, and Bloomfield, NJ. Riders boarding at Great Notch and points west for travel to PSNY change trains at Montclair State University (MSU) Station, NJ. NJ TRANSIT Morris/Essex/Gladstone Provides service to Hoboken, NJ and PSNY. The Morristown Line (Hackettstown to Hoboken/Manhattan via Morristown) and the Gladstone Branch (Gladstone to Hoboken/Manhattan) are separate lines. Service provided seven days per week on the Morristown Line from Dover and east, and on the Gladstone Branch. Service west of Dover, NJ operated on weekdays only. Direct service to PSNY provided only from Dover, NJ and east including the Gladstone Branch. Connections to PSNY at Summit, Dover, and Newark Broad Street, NJ for stations with limited or no direct PSNY service. 3.1-1 Access to the Region’s Core FEIS TABLE 3.1-1: EXISTING TRANS-HUDSON PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SERVICES (CONTINUED) Public Transportation Mode/Facility Service Description NJ TRANSIT Raritan Valley Line Operates from High Bridge to Newark Penn Station, NJ weekdays. Service operates weekends only from Raritan to both Newark Penn Station and Hoboken, NJ. Connections to PSNY available at Newark, NJ. NJ TRANSIT North Jersey Coast Line (NJCL) Operates between Long Branch, NJ and PSNY. Some trains operate between Bay Head and Hoboken, NJ. Service provided seven days per week. Connections to PSNY available at Long Branch and Newark Penn Station for riders south of Long Branch to Bay Head, NJ NJ TRANSIT Northeast Corridor (NEC) Runs between Trenton, NJ and PSNY. A branch line connects Princeton with Princeton Junction, NJ. Service provided seven days per week. Amtrak Northeast Corridor Operates daily intercity rail service into PSNY. Operates Acela Express and Regional service as well as Keystone service from Philadelphia, PA to PSNY and long distance service to the South and Midwest. Amtrak Empire Connection This northern approach to PSNY was placed in service on April 15, 1991, when Amtrak rerouted Albany and Buffalo trains from Grand Central Terminal (GCT) to PSNY. Only Amtrak trains travel the northern approach to and from PSNY, which uses a single-track tunnel under the West Side Yard to access the station. Penn Station New York (PSNY) A transportation hub embedded within the street- and underground levels of Madison Square Garden, spanning West 33rd to West 31st Streets and Seventh to Eighth Avenues in New York City. Built by the Pennsylvania Railroad, it is used by a number of passenger rail services, including Amtrak, MTA Long Island Rail Road, MTA New York City Transit and NJ TRANSIT. PSNY serves more than 350,000 arriving and departing rail passengers, with over 1,000 train trips on an average day. Exclusive Bus Lane (XBL) Dedicated contra-flow bus lane that operates weekday mornings between 6:15 AM and approximately 10:00 AM, as part of a network of transportation facilities that includes the New Jersey Turnpike, the Lincoln Tunnel and the Port Authority Bus Terminal in midtown Manhattan. Local Bus Lane (LBL) Provides expedited access to the Lincoln Tunnel each weekday from local streets in communities near the Lincoln Tunnel in Hudson County. The LBL, unlike the XBL, is a pavement-marked, same- direction bus lane. Port Authority Bus Terminal (PABT) Main gateway for interstate buses into Manhattan, located in midtown Manhattan, one block west of Times Square, between Eighth and Ninth Avenues and West 40th and West 42nd streets. Serves both daily commuter bus routes (majority operated by NJ TRANSIT) and intercity buses, such as Greyhound. Direct underground passageways connect with New York Subway lines A C E N Q R S W 1 2 3 and 7. George Washington Bus Terminal Commuter bus terminal located at the Manhattan end of the George Washington Bridge in Washington Heights. The terminal connects with the A train at the 175th Street subway station 3.1-2 3.1: Public Transportation TABLE 3.1-1: EXISTING TRANS-HUDSON PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SERVICES (CONTINUED) Public Transportation Mode/Facility Service Description Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) This rapid transit system has two branches connecting midtown (33rd Street) and lower Manhattan with Hoboken, Jersey City and Newark, NJ. PATH’s branch to lower Manhattan was out of service for over two years following the World Trade Center terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. Currently, PATH operates service between New Jersey and a temporary WTC Terminal. A permanent terminal would be built as part of the redevelopment of the WTC site. Ferry A privately owned company, operating commuter ferry service from west of the Hudson to midtown Manhattan. Scheduled ferry routes operate between Pier 78 at West 38th Street, and six New Jersey ports. Other private ferry operators and ferry services operate to lower Manhattan only. Source: NJ TRANSIT, 2006 PASSENGER RAIL SERVICE Passenger rail service (which includes both commuter and intercity rail) into midtown Manhattan operates on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor (NEC). The NEC serves midtown Manhattan through the trans-Hudson North River Tunnels. Only electric-powered trains are permitted to operate through these tunnels into PSNY. Only four of NJ TRANSIT northern area services—NEC, North Jersey Coast Line, Morris & Essex Lines and Montclair-Boonton Line—are equipped to provide direct, one-seat rides into PSNY. The remaining NJ TRANSIT commuter rail lines utilize diesel equipment. Passengers riding diesel-only service must transfer to electric NEC service at Newark Broad Street Station, Newark Penn Station or Frank R. Lautenberg Station. Current Amtrak and NJ TRANSIT rail service to PSNY, Newark Penn Station and Hoboken is shown in Table 3.1-2. In the AM peak hour (7:30AM – 8:30 AM), three Amtrak trains and 20 NJ TRANSIT trains serve PSNY, for a total of 23 trains per hour (TPH). The NJ TRANSIT rail network is depicted on Figure 3.1-1. TABLE 3.1-2: EXISTING AMTRAK AND NJ TRANSIT PEAK HOUR SERVICE 2006 Existing AM Peak Hour Service (Trains/Hour) to Newark Penn Line PSNY Station Hoboken TOTAL Amtrak Northeast Corridor 3 3 NJ TRANSIT Northeast Corridor 10 10 North Jersey Coast Line 4 1 5 Gladstone Branch 1 2 3 Dover/Summit 4 3 7 Montclair-Boonton 1 4 5 Raritan Valley 6 6 Pascack Valley 4 4 Main/Bergen 7 7 Port Jervis 3 3 TOTAL 23 6 24 53 Source: NJ TRANSIT, January 2007 3.1-3 Access to the Region’s Core Final Environmental Impact Statement Figure 3.1-1 Existing NJ TRANSIT Rail Network Source: NJ TRANSIT, 2008 Not to Scale 3.1: Public Transportation The NEC, which extends from Washington, DC to Boston, is the most-heavily traveled passenger rail corridor in the United States (“A Recommended Approach to Funding the Estimated Capital Investment Needs of the Northeast Corridor Rail Infrastructure,” BGL Rail Associates prepared for the Amtrak Reform Council, April 2002). Morning operations on the NEC are characterized by the following peak conditions: • AM Peak Hour (7:30 AM to 8:30 AM) is the hour with the highest train frequency and passenger demand for arrivals into New York. Twenty-three eastbound revenue trains (20 NJ TRANSIT and 3 Amtrak) operate into PSNY in the AM Peak Hour. • AM Peak Two Hours (7:00 AM to 9:00 AM) is the highest two-hour train frequency and passenger demand for arrivals into New York. Forty-four eastbound revenue trains (40 NJ TRANSIT and 4 Amtrak) operate into PSNY in the AM Peak Two Hours. Approximately 73 percent of NJ TRANSIT’s current total AM peak period peak ridership is accounted for in that two-hour timeframe. • AM Peak Period (6:00 AM to 10:00 AM) includes the two AM peak hours, plus two one-hour “shoulders,” one before and one after the two AM peak hours. Seventy-five eastbound revenue trains (65 NJ TRANSIT and 10 Amtrak) operate into PSNY in the AM Peak Period. Some passengers travel outside of the peak two hours because the level of service at that time is constrained by available capacity and demand. The morning commutation period was analyzed because it reflects the relatively compressed starting times of most jobs in midtown Manhattan.