Full Strategic Action Plan to Be Released by the End of 2022
Capital Improvements to Bring Bike and Accessibility Enhancements to Two MTA Bridges
Partnership with NYCDOT to Bring Bike Parking to 37 Priority Subway Stations
Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) officials today announced a series of initial actions being undertaken through its landmark Bike, Pedestrian, and Micromobility Strategic Action Plan, which include capital projects enhancing bike and pedestrian access to MTA bridges, additional bike parking infrastructure at subway stations throughout the system, and the initial commuter rail stations to pilot improved car-free connectivity to local communities. The Strategic Action Plan, first announced in May, will outline how pedestrians, cyclists, and micromobility users can better access MTA facilities and services in collaboration with local governments, advocacy groups, and stakeholders.
“Increasing access and connections to MTA services is one of my top goals,” said MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber. “Today’s announcement represents the first steps in a comprehensive strategy to provide more car-free access to transit across the New York region. As MTA ridership continues to rise, the actions we unveiled today will upgrade connections to transit for cyclists, pedestrians, and micromobility users and bring more riders back to the MTA’s subways, buses, and commuter railroads.”
“I am excited to have ten communities served by Metro-North and LIRR participate in our First-Mile/Last-Mile pilot program,” said Metro-North President and Long Island Rail Road Interim President Catherine Rinaldi. “These stations will provide a blueprint for how we can enhance car-free connections to commuter rail, and make rail travel a more accessible option for customers throughout the region.”
“The capital investments announced today will increase accessibility on MTA Bridges for cyclists and pedestrians,” said MTA Construction and Development President Jamie Torres-Springer. “As a cyclist myself, I know how important it is to have safe routes connecting communities. This commitment today will open two bridges to cyclists and bring ADA-compliant pedestrian ramps, making our bridges more welcoming and open to all New Yorkers.”
Cycling, walking, and other micromobility options provide affordable and environmentally-friendly ways for New Yorkers to access transit," said MTA Senior Advisor for Special Projects Jessica Mathew. "The actions announced today mark an important step forward to extend the reach of MTA's system, with much more to come as we finalize our strategic action plan."
“Providing convenient bicycle parking is critical to support the boom in cycling we’ve seen in New York City in recent years,” said New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. “We are working closely with the MTA to identify subway stations with a high need for bike parking, focusing on outer-borough, end-of-line areas that can better connect New Yorkers to transit. We thank the MTA for their collaboration to support sustainable and efficient transportation as part of our NYC Streets Plan commitment to make cycling safer and more convenient around the city.”
“The capital projects announced today are a transformative step towards building a more sustainable and accessible transportation system,” said State Senator Alessandra Biaggi. “These capital improvements will benefit thousands of commuting and working New Yorkers, and encourage thousands more to switch to cleaner forms of transportation. I am grateful to the MTA for prioritizing cyclists and pedestrians, and look forward to further working with them on this issue.”
“I’m so excited to hear today’s announcement and to know that it is the product of our work with advocates like Bike New York, Streets PAC, and many others,” said Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas. “This is what we envisioned when we passed the MTA Bike Access bill. We know that in order to have a healthy New York we need more transit options for pedestrians and cyclists. Today we start with these stations and tomorrow we will take New York forward and continue our advocacy to provide even more paths towards environmental, worker, and transit justice.”
“Combining cycling and transit is one of the most effective sustainable transportation strategies across the world” said Jon Orcutt, Bike New York advocacy director. “Opening more direct bike routes with new and improved bridge facilities in New York City will strongly support increased bike use for travel, fun, and commerce. The steps the MTA and its partners are taking to implement these connections will pay great climate-friendly and affordable transportation dividends for the city and downstate region for decades to come. Bike New York applauds and strongly supports the MTA’s new work in these directions.”
“Investing in greater pedestrian, bike, and micromobility access at MTA bridges and stations will make it easier to get around our region,” said Danny Harris, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. “With increased bridge access, more bike parking, and better multimodal trip planning, we can build on New York City’s bike boom and reduce reliance on cars. We look forward to the release of MTA’s full Micromobility Strategic Access Plan.”
“Transit is vital to a sustainable and thriving region, and that means getting riders to the MTA’s stations and facilities without having to drive,” said Lisa Daglian, Executive Director of the Permanent Citizen’s Advisory Committee to the MTA. “Prioritizing micromobility improvements — including better car-free access to commuter rail stations, more bike parking at subway stations, bike access to and over two additional MTA bridges, and multimodal trip planning on the MyMTA app — will help people travel around the region more easily, and will help them choose transit. Transit, bicycle, and pedestrian improvements work hand-in-hand to create a city and region where everyone can get where they need to go without driving, helping the climate and increasing access and opportunity for those without cars. We thank the MTA for including many of PCAC’s recommendations for improving bike and pedestrian access to MTA facilities and incorporating micromobility choices in the mix, and look forward to seeing their full strategic plan.”
Two MTA Bridges to Receive Widened and Improved Shared-Use Paths
The MTA Board today approved the award of a capital project recommended by the Strategic Action Plan to improve cycling and ADA access on the Cross Bay Bridge.
With this project, the MTA will renovate the south approach of the bridge’s shared use path with an ADA-compliant ramp. This capital project is funded in the 2020-2024 Capital Plan and the construction contract will be awarded by the end of 2022. In addition, effective this month the MTA is allowing for cycling across the bridge’s main span through a temporary shared use path where the width safely allows. Cyclists must continue to dismount at the south side until the completion of the new ADA compliant ramp.
In addition, on the Henry Hudson Bridge the MTA will widen the existing lower-level walkway so that it is suitable for shared use and will construct ADA-compliant ramps on both the north and south approaches to this shared use path. This project is funded in the 2020-2024 Capital Plan and the construction contract will be awarded in 2023. Upon completion of the project in 2025, the ban on cycling across the Henry Hudson Bridge will be lifted.
In Partnership with NYC DOT – Investment in Biking to Transit, Including Bike Parking at 37 MTA Priority Locations
In collaboration with the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT), bike parking infrastructure will be installed at 37 subway stations that currently lack bike racks within 100 feet of station entrances. The MTA provided NYCDOT with this priority list to help focus DOTs ongoing efforts to add bike parking at important transit hubs and stations. The list includes details on suitable locations for bike racks, focusing on outer borough stations near end-of-line areas. The installation of bike parking at these stations will help fill gaps in bike connectivity to transit and reach the authority’s goal of bike parking at 100% of subway stations. MTA and DOT will continue this collaboration by exploring opportunities to grow the bicycle network and provide secure covered bike parking near transit.
A full list of stations can be found at the MTA's Bike, Pedestrian, and Micromobility Strategic Action Plan webpage.
Piloting Car-Free Connectivity to Commuter Rail Stations
The MTA’s First-Mile/Last-Mile study, commenced earlier this year, has focused on analyzing existing station access and targeting gaps in walking, biking, rideshare, and transit with strategies to improve customer access to stations in our suburban Metro-North Railroad and Long Island Rail Road territories. As commuter railroad ridership continues to surge after Labor Day, improving access to rail stations will help grow ridership and increase connectivity. The MTA developed a First-mile/Last-mile Toolkit for our county and municipal stakeholders to assess their local stations and design pilot programs to improve connectivity. Ten interested communities across the MTA’s commuter rail territory have been selected for pilot projects as part of this study. The MTA's consultant on this study, VHB, will complete station assessment and design of the 10 Pilots, using the FMLM Toolkit, by the end of December 2022, and MTA will continue to coordinate with local stakeholders on their implementation plans.
The stations participating in the pilot are:
- Riverhead Station in the Town of Riverhead
- Port Jervis Station in the City of Port Jervis
- Nanuet Station in the Town of Clarkstown
- Tarrytown Station in the Village of Tarrytown
- Scarsdale Station in the Village of Scarsdale
- Fleetwood, Mount Vernon West and Mount Vernon East Stations in the City of Mount Vernon
- Hempstead Station in the Village of Hempstead
- Poughkeepsie Station in the City of Poughkeepsie
- Floral Park and Bellerose Stations in the Village of Floral Park
- Valley Stream Station in the Village of Valley Stream
Multi-Modal Trip Planning Function Coming to MyMTA App
To further encourage connectivity to MTA services, MTA was awarded a NYSERDA grant to develop a multi-modal trip planning function within the MyMTA App. This function will be rolled out beginning in 2023.
Process and Next Steps
As the MTA announced in May, the final Bike, Pedestrian, and Micromobility Strategic Action Plan will be released by the end of 2022. The Strategic Action Plan will build on the initial actions announced today and will address how the MTA can improve access to its services and facilities for bikes, pedestrians, and micromobility services. The plan will help to support the growth of sustainable transportation modes, and boost transit ridership by increasing access points to the MTA’s services and facilities. We are working with local governments and other agencies in our service area, such as NYC DOT, to develop this plan. We are also soliciting input from other partners, including our customers, advocacy groups, and bike share and micromobility companies.