Rockland commuters still deserve rail access to NYCFloyd Lapp |
Regarding "Can west of Hudson commuters get to NYC faster? $1M study to find out," lohud.com, Feb. 23:
Gov. Kathy Hochul is proposing to conduct a $1 million study to improve access into the Manhattan central business district for Rockland County residents.
There are many uninitiated or failed options that make Rocklanders automobile dependent for their commute into the Manhattan business district including:
The space between the eastbound and westbound portions of the Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge proposed as rail in 2018 to connect with the southbound rail routes into Manhattan.
The dedicated bus routes on the Cuomo bridge to connect with rail into Manhattan via the Tarrytown and White Plains rail stations. Unfortunately, once the bus leaves the bridge it gets stuck in local traffic and lacks connectivity.
A ferry service east from Nyack to the Tarrytown Railroad station. Because of the small size of Nyack, building a pier was not deemed feasible and this rail option was stopped in its tracks.
Many decades ago the Rockland-New Jersey railroad route into Manhattan was terminated.
There is still a need to provide Rocklanders with direct rail options into Manhattan rather than a mere bus along the Garden State Parkway into New Jersey's Route 3 and the Port Authority Bus Terminal at 42nd Street and Eighth Avenue.
Dr. Floyd Lapp, FAICP, has 65 years of experience in city, regional and transportation planning. He served as New York City Planning’s transportation director from 1991 to 2000 and was an adjunct faculty at Columbia University from 2003 to 2018, where taught courses on transportation.