Southern Brooklyn Transportation Investment Study Kings County, New York P.I.N. X804.00; D007406 Technical Memorandum #2 Existing Conditions DRAFT June 2003 Submitted to: New York Metropolitan Transportation Council Submitted by: Parsons Brinckerhoff In association with: Cambridge Systematics, Inc. SIMCO Engineering, P.C. Urbitran Associates, Inc. Zetlin Strategic Communications TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY..................................................................................................... ES-1 A. TRANSIT SYSTEM USAGE AND OPERATION.................................................................. ES-1 B. GOODS MOVEMENT...................................................................................................... ES-2 C. SOCIOECONOMIC CONDITIONS ..................................................................................... ES-4 D. ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS .................................................................................... ES-5 E. ACCIDENTS AND SAFETY.............................................................................................. ES-5 F. PEDESTRIAN/BICYCLE TRANSPORTATION.................................................................... ES-6 CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................I-1 A. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................I-1 B. PROJECT OVERVIEW..........................................................................................................I-1 CHAPTER II: PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION ..................................................................... II-1 A. EXISTING TRANSIT INFRASTRUCTURE............................................................................ II-1 1. Subways................................................................................................................... II-1 a. Background and System Characteristics ................................................................. II-1 b. Subway Line Characteristics ................................................................................... II-1 c. Service Span & Frequency ...................................................................................... II-4 d. Stations and Yards................................................................................................... II-4 e. System Ridership..................................................................................................... II-7 f. Existing and Future Constraints .............................................................................. II-7 2. Buses...................................................................................................................... II-10 a. Background and System Characteristics ............................................................... II-10 3. Bus Depots............................................................................................................. II-12 a. Summary of Route Statistics ................................................................................. II-12 b. Future Projects and Development.......................................................................... II-15 4. Ferries ................................................................................................................... II-15 a. Background and System Characteristics ............................................................... II-15 b. Service Span & Frequency .................................................................................... II-16 c. System Ridership................................................................................................... II-16 d. Future Projects and Development.......................................................................... II-17 5. Commuter and Jitney Vans.................................................................................... II-20 a. Background ........................................................................................................... II-20 b. Street Observations................................................................................................ II-21 6. Park and Rides ...................................................................................................... II-24 7. Preliminary Issues................................................................................................. II-26 a. Lack of Rapid Transit Service Along Major Corridors in Southern Brooklyn ..... II-26 b. Underutilization of Express Subway Track Capacity............................................ II-26 c. Planning for Manhattan Bridge Subway Service .................................................. II-26 d. Increased Transfer Opportunities Between Subway Lines.................................... II-29 e. Bus Route Crowding ............................................................................................. II-29 f. Slow Bus Operating Speeds .................................................................................. II-29 g. Bus Stop Amenities ............................................................................................... II-29 h. Jitney Services....................................................................................................... II-29 i. Ferry Service in Southern Brooklyn...................................................................... II-31 j. LIRR Brooklyn Branch Reverse Commute Service.............................................. II-31 k. Connections to JFK International Airport ............................................................. II-31 l. Service to Gateway Mall ....................................................................................... II-31 PARSONS i BRINCKERHOFF E:\SBTIS\TM2\Tech Memo 2.doc\S\12-28-05 Table of Contents m. Underutilization of Park and Ride Lots................................................................. II-31 8. Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) Projects ................................................ II-31 CHAPTER III: GOODS MOVEMENT.................................................................................III-1 A. OVERVIEW ..................................................................................................................... III-1 B. PHYSICAL SYSTEM ........................................................................................................ III-1 1. Highway Infrastructure .......................................................................................... III-1 a. Truck Routes .......................................................................................................... III-1 b. River Crossings ...................................................................................................... III-3 2. Rail Freight Infrastructure..................................................................................... III-4 a. Bay Ridge Branch................................................................................................... III-4 b. Rail Facilities Adjoining the Study Area................................................................ III-6 3. Air Cargo Facilities................................................................................................ III-7 4. Marine Cargo Facilities......................................................................................... III-8 C. OPERATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS AND DEMAND ....................................................... III-11 1. Commodity Flows................................................................................................. III-11 a. Commodity Flow Analysis Methodology ............................................................ III-11 b. Goods Movement Patterns ................................................................................... III-14 c. Top Commodities by Tonnage and Value............................................................ III-14 d. Commodity Directionality.................................................................................... III-15 e. Mode Split by Tonnage and Value....................................................................... III-17 f. Truck Commodities.............................................................................................. III-18 g. Water Commodities.............................................................................................. III-20 h. Rail Commodities................................................................................................. III-21 i. Air Cargo Truck Drayage..................................................................................... III-23 j. Trade Patterns....................................................................................................... III-23 k. Origin and Destination Regions ........................................................................... III-26 l. Through Trip Origin and Destination Pairs.......................................................... III-27 2. NYMTC Best Practices Model Data for Trucks ................................................... III-28 3. Freight Generators............................................................................................... III-30 D. SYSTEM ASSESSMENT ................................................................................................. III-30 1. Summary of Public Outreach Findings Related to Goods Movement.................. III-31