[HN Gopher] Brooklyn Queens Connector streetcar could be a trans...
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Brooklyn Queens Connector streetcar could be a transit equalizer
Author : jger15
Score : 11 points
Date : 2020-02-14 12:31 UTC (10 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (brooklyneagle.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (brooklyneagle.com)
| bobthepanda wrote:
| The BQX is a bad idea. It is parallel to a subway line that could
| be upgraded with much higher frequencies and trains double the
| length. The bus routes it would replace are also nowhere near
| overcrowded or at their frequency limit.
|
| Mostly it serves as an exercise at diverting money from public
| transit serving working class commuters being pushed farther and
| farther out from Manhattan, to the property developers
| gentrifying the New York waterfront, and who were allowed to do
| so without any sort of meaningful infrastructure investment
| there.
| oh_sigh wrote:
| Back in 2013 the MTA said this about simply making G trains as
| long as the platforms would allow, which is how most other
| trains in the MTA work:
|
| > "Longer trains are not in the cards however. The report
| notes: "Given that increasing the length of G trains to 600
| feet at current ridership levels would be a misallocation of
| NYC Transit resources and could lead to reduced service
| frequency and crowded transfers, other means were examined to
| address concerns associated with short trains."
|
| And yet, it sounds like they want to spend billions on this
| streetcar project.
|
| Having said that, the routes aren't excessively overlapping.
| The proposed BQX hugs the water, whereas the G train goes
| inland quite a ways north of Prospect Park.
| mc32 wrote:
| It seems like few things get built in NYC if they don't also
| line the pockets of interested parties.
| vanusa wrote:
| _The BQX is a bad idea._
|
| Yup. The article is extremely superficial, and ignores the many
| obvious flaws in the BQX proposal.
|
| It reads more like marketing material for the property
| developers that everyone knows are the real backers of the
| project - rather than a news article.
| 1986 wrote:
| The ferry is just as, if not more, egregious in this regard -
| it's the most heavily subsidized form of public transit in the
| city, at over $10 per ride actual cost, and based on my
| experience on the East River route, seems to largely serve
| tourists and people who live in Williamsburg and work on Wall
| Street.
| vanusa wrote:
| My take -- as someone who fits neither category, and who uses
| the ferry quite frequently -- is that it helps to make the
| overall system more usable, by making certain areas more
| accessible. For certain trips (East Midtown to Greenpoint;
| Lower Manhattan to the western edge of Red Hook, for example)
| it quite definitely is the shortest hop.
|
| It's also much more pleasant (and healthier) ride than the
| subway. One of the negatives of life in NYC is the
| significant amount of time spent underground (or on buses,
| swimming in the exhaust and street noise). Ferry trips
| provide a significant respite from all of that.
|
| So it's a "sunk cost" but adds value overall. Though I
| realize this is a nuanced value proposition. And that valid
| questions can be raised about which communities are getting
| the most benefit from the service.
| m_ke wrote:
| Yeah I agree, it's a vanity project for De Blasio and the real
| estate developers who have new developments along the proposed
| route.
|
| I live in Greenpoint and have no need for this, the G and the
| ferry are good enough to get me to any of the points along the
| proposed line. If they really want this they could just
| allocate a dedicated bus lane that could potentially double as
| a bike lane.
|
| A "great transit equalizer" would be an expansion of the M to
| LaGuardia and the N/W to the Bronx.
| 1986 wrote:
| The state of public transit to/from LaGuardia is terrible,
| but unfortunately it's hard to imagine any notable subway
| expansion happening any time soon given Byford's recent
| resignation (in the face of Cuomo's constant meddling) and
| the constant back and forth bickering between Cuomo and de
| Blasio.
| m_ke wrote:
| I agree, I don't think there's a chance of that actually
| happening.
|
| There were some rumors that Andrew Yang might run for
| governor in NYC, would actually be interesting to see him
| run for Cuomo's seat. A competent governor would unify the
| MTA, NJ Path and LIRR under one system and potentially add
| a few extra stops in Queens.
| prostheticvamp wrote:
| "Residents are left with no choice but to take the subway to
| Manhattan and back ... or take the bus, where ridership has
| continued to decline."
|
| So, there is an existing alternative that doesn't involve
| absolutely fucking up traffic, and...? People aren't using it.
|
| So, this sounds like bullshit.
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