MTA Head: Island's Concerns Are Being Heard
NY1 - December 8, 2010While the MTA has thrown toll hikes, service cuts and fare increases at Staten Islanders, the chairman of the agency says the transit picture is not all bad news for residents. NY1's Amanda Farinacci filed the following report.
Jay Walder wasn't dressed as Santa Claus when he addressed the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce Tuesday morning in Snug Harbor. But he might well have been, for all the gifts he thought he was bringing.
While he didn't promise more bus service or lowered tolls, he did say there are some things the agency is planning for Staten Island that will improve the mass transit experience for residents.
"The idea of having the information on your cell phone or your smart phone that tells you when the next bus is coming is not something that's tremendously difficult to be able to do, we can achieve it," Walder said. "Does it make a difference to people? Well I think it makes a heck of a difference to people."
Another pilot program being proposed is using surveillance cameras to make sure that bus lanes are used only for buses. It's currently being tested in Manhattan but Walder says the program could also make its way to roads like the Staten Island Expressway, where drivers often clog the bus lane in an attempt to avoid traffic.
Staten Islanders face some of the longest commutes in the country and don't have a way off the island by train. Still, Walder says his agency does hear residents when making financial decisions.
"While I can't tell you that the EZPass toll did not go up, it went up by 14 cents each way for Staten Island residents. That was completely the result of the work that came out of this borough and the way we were thinking about it," Walder said.
Walder also announced the opening of the Charleston Bus Depot. He says the project, some 20 years in the making, is another example of how seriously the MTA is taking the Island's transit concerns.
"This is the fastest growing borough in the city, this is the second fastest growing county in the entire State of New York. And it's time that we think differently, creatively, expansively, about the transportation system that exists in this borough," Walder said.
One project being floated is the North Shore Rail Line, which the MTA is currently studying. If approved, that project would reactivate rail service along the abandoned North Shore rail tracks and give residents one more mass transit option.
