Staten Island residents spoke out for public transit and reducing car dependency at an open house on the Staten Island Expressway major investment study last week.

DOT displays seemed designed to build a case for highway lane additions. A chart of traffic and congestion projections under various highway and transit proposals showed lane construction scenarios affording the greatest congestion relief. But when questioned by a Campaign representative, NYS DOT project leaders conceded that the projections assumed existence of a second Goethals Bridge and widening of the West Shore Expressway (the Staten Island Advance has also pointed out the linkage between widening the S.I.E. and plans for the Goethals Bridge "twin"). The projections were also formulated without provision for car and truck trips induced by the added road capacity, making the congestion reduction questionable.

A spokesman for NYC Councilman John Fusco called for light rail transit. "We're seeking to get people out of their cars. More concrete is not the answer. Whether we have five, six, seven, or eight lanes, it will all be a giant parking lot when it gets to the Verrazano: a funnel to nowhere." Expressing his opposition to park and ride lots at a future Grasmere transit center, Assemblyman Eric Vitaliano encouraged DOT project leaders to go beyond work done in past S.I. transit studies.

Citizens said they didn't want Staten Island to become a pit stop for through traffic. One citizen objected to pairing congestion relief pricing options with lane additions, and called for the measures to be analyzed independently. A Brooklynite said adding lanes to the SIE would only pile more cars onto the overburdened Gowanus Expressway. In response to one citizen's support for highway construction, a retired gentleman stated: "You won't get everyone on this island out of a car. But I've come to the reluctant conclusion that widening roads is not the answer."

NYS DOT officials appeared receptive to the input. In addition to this week's forum, the study's advisory committee and focus groups have supported transit options and been highly skeptical of the efficacy of adding more highway lanes.