Staten Island West Shore Alternatives Analysis

Over the month of January 2020 we updated the following local community boards on the project's progress:

• Monday, January 6: Community Board 2's Traffic and Transportation & Public Service Committee
• Tuesday, January 14: Community Board 1 Full Board
• Wednesday, January 15: Community Board 3's Traffic and Transportation Committee

These presentations covered an overview of the study, the long list of alternatives, the factors used to screen the long list of alternatives, the proposed short list of alternatives, and the study schedule. 

We started with a long list of alternatives which included three travel corridors and four transit modes considered for each corridor. This list was then screened based on the following factors:

• If right-of-way was available
• Whether it crossed more than one bridge
• Whether it complemented other transit services
• If we could build it in stages
• Whether it was consistent with existing and planned land use
• If it served West Shore residents as well as jobs

This process resulted in two short list alternatives on two travel corridors, described below. These two alternatives use Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in the near term, but they would not rule out Light Rail Transit (LRT) in the future. These alternatives also connect to:

• St. George Ferry Terminal and the planned North Shore BRT system
• New Jersey Transit Hudson-Bergen Light Rail 8th Street Station
• Newark Liberty International Airport

• No-Build Alternative
• Transportation Systems Management (TSM) Alternative
• West Shore Expressway: Tottenville to Newark Liberty International Airport & North Shore BRT
• Korean War Veterans Parkway + Richmond Avenue: Tottenville to Bayonne

We have been meeting with stakeholders and elected officials throughout this study to get their input and keep them informed. Survey results helped us develop a study Purpose and Need Report.  Additionally, we have been gathering local input through the project's comment page.

We also held an Open House on Sept. 25, 2019. The goal was to introduce the public to our project and to give customers who live, work, and travel to and from the West Shore of Staten Island a chance to comment.

Pop-Up Public Events

• May 15, 2019 at the 8th St. Station of the Hudson Bergen Light Rail in Bayonne, NJ.
• May 22, 2019 at the Staten Island Mall
• June 15, 2019 at opening night of the Staten Island Yankees at the Richmond County Bank Ballpark

Flyers

• We handed out flyers about the study to 500 customers, residents, and visitors at the public events.

Surveys

A bus intercept survey in May 2019 of local and express bus riders in the study area was completed.  We received 3,600 completed surveys.

• What we learned:
  • One-half of all bus riders were traveling within Staten Island.
  • One-quarter of all bus riders were traveling within the West Shore.
  • Of bus riders traveling off Staten Island, the majority were going to Manhattan, followed by Brooklyn.
  • Most local bus riders who started their trip in the West Shore were traveling to non-West Shore areas of Staten Island.
  • Most local bus riders who ended their trip in the West Shore started their trip in non-West Shore areas of Staten Island. 

A web-based survey of employees and university students in the study area was ran from April to June 2019.  We received approximately 700 completed surveys. 

• What we learned:
  • One-quarter of the transit users who responded want more frequent express bus service.
  • One-third of non-transit users who responded cited travel time as a barrier to using transit. 

Over the past 15 years, Staten Island has grown. Because of that, advocates and local leaders have campaigned for more reliable mass transit. This Alternatives Analysis Study expands on previous efforts including:

• MTA NYCT’s North Shore Alternatives Analysis Study and Staten Island Bus Study;
• NYC Department of City Planning’s and NYC Economic Development Corporation’s Working West Shore 2030; and
• The Staten Island Economic Development Corporations’ West Shore Light Rail Phase II Study.

The Study Area for the Staten Island West Shore is roughly bounded by:

• I-278 to the north,
• The Arthur Kill waterway to the west,
• Tottenville (south of Amboy Road, west of Page Avenue) to the south, and
• A line roughly ½ mile south/east of the Korean War Veterans Parkway and Richmond Avenue north of Arthur Kill Road.

The Study Area includes SIR stations from Annadale to Arthur Kill.