| Issue 257 | February 18, 2000 |
The paper, "Railroaded: How Poor Service, Decrepit Stations and High Fares Keep NYC Residents off the LIRR and Metro-North," finds that Brooklyn and Queens riders pay more on the LIRR than suburban riders do for similar trips, that there is little service and an abysmal state of repair at many city stations and that New York City pays a high share of the commuter railroads' costs.
"Railroaded" draws comparisons between NY service and that in cities like Paris, Tokyo and Philadelphia, where regional rail crosses the city center and complements urban rapid transit service. In Paris, regional RER lines serve essentially as subways - and charge a city transit fare - when they are within the city limits. It also contrasts the disjointed fare policy between MTA rail transit systems with the regional integration of highway toll collection policy the MTA has successfully pursued with the Port Authority, the NY State Thruway Authority and other agencies via the E-ZPass program.
The villains of the report are Long Island Railroad fares and the very low service frequency and bad physical condition of many city commuter rail stations. City riders heading into Manhattan on the LIRR pay $4.75-$5.50 during rush hour - monthly passes for such trips are also pricey. The LIRR charges east-bound commuters the same high fares it charges riders heading into the city. Fares do not reflect a strong effort to fill trains returning east from peak period runs into NYC. On the other hand, intra-Long Island trips are cheap - within Nassau County, fares are $1.75, and $50 for a monthly pass.
In contrast, Metro-North has deliberately lowered fares for north-bound trips from the Bronx, and has seen a strong ridership surge as a result. For $2, only 50-cents above the base city transit fare, Bronx riders can reach the White Plains job market by transit (monthly pass is $46) - fares to southern Westchester are even lower.
However, the Westchester job market is less accessible to Harlem residents who use the 125th Street station. There, Metro-North charges $4.75-$6.50 to Bronx and Westchester-bound riders, and $141 for a monthly pass to White Plains.
Metro-North's low fares from the Bronx has transformed Fordham Road into its fourth busiest station. Most Fordham riders head north to suburban jobs. 76 trains per day stop there. But busy, recently renovated railroad stations in the city are exceptions. Most are in a poor state of repair. Because there is no comprehensive survey of station conditions by the railroads, as there is for NYC Transit facilities, Green's office surveyed the city's 12 MNRR and 22 LIRR non-terminal stations. The study found only 27% of LIRR and no MNRR stations had adequate lighting. Hazardous conditions existed at 3 MNRR stations and 8 LIRR stations. Only 55% of LIRR stations have signs at their entrances.
Station conditions generally reflect levels of service. The most decrepit
stations see very few trains per day. "City stations are suffering from
a 'broken windows' problem," Green said at a press conference last week.
Melrose
and Tremont stations in the South Bronx see three and two trains during
the morning peak period, respectively. Morning rush period trains come
to Hollis only every 34 minutes.
| Best stations
(newly renovated) Woodside LIRR Far Rockaway LIRR Fordham Road MNRR |
Worst stations
Murray Hill LIRR Melrose MNRR Queens Village LIRR Tremont MNRR East NY LIRR Wakefield MNRR Hollis LIRR Riverdale MNRR |
"A rider who walks through a dim passageway, trips on crumbling stairs or can't find a bench or a working platform telephone will think twice about taking the railroad again." |
MTA planners estimate that some LIRR stations in Queens would see big increases in service with connection of the LIRR to Grand Central Terminal. Service could more than double at Queens Village, Hollis, St. Albans, Laurelton and Locust Manor, while trains stopping at Auburndale, Broadway and Murray Hill would increase about 50%. On the other hand, the LIRR may reduce service along the Atlantic Ave. line in Brooklyn when the Grand Central link is completed.
The study's most striking finding is that, despite crumbling stations and weak service at most of them, New York City pays a dramatically disproportionate share of commuter railroad operating budgets. In 1998, suburban counties paid $75 million, or 52% of all operating payments by local governments. NYC paid $68 million, or 48%. 90% of the railroads' riders are suburban. Much of the imbalance stems from a 1965 formula that bases payments not on ridership, but on location of stations. NYC gets billed for a high share because it has a large number of stations, however little used by city residents.
Green recommends the commuter railroads:
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