New rail cars which would have more standing room and more doors to facilitate higher riders per car.Increasing service from 6-7tph split between local and express trains to 10-12tph with a single, local train running the entire way.Providing free transfers to the subway and bus network.Pairing the fares to the subway and buses.With enhancements, the new Port Washington Regional Rail Line would serve 35,000 riders per hour, half of what the 7 train handles. The second recommendation is to convert the LIRR Port Washington Line into a pilot Regional Rail line.Bus lanes on crosstown lines are needed as well, but these will primarily serve riders going to the subway and have less of an impact on reducing congestion on the 7 train. This will reduce the need for riders to transfer to the 7 train on their way to LIC and Manhattan, providing a faster alternative to local trips. A bus lane along Northern Blvd from Queens Plaza to Douglaston is the logical first step. The first recommendation is for enhancing both radial and crosstown bus lines, running parallel or perpendicular to the 7 train, with bus lanes. ![]() While this can lighten the burden at some subway stations by spreading the load, since the 7 train is the only subway line running to Flushing, all bus lines will still end up dropping riders off at the train. A smart design element of the working plan is to create better crosstown bus lines which connect neighborhoods with subway lines. Currently, the MTA is looking at redesigning the bus network within Queens. Many bus lines run on routes of former streetcars and have not been updated to reflect current needs. Transportation advocates have focused on fixing New York’s outdated bus network. But given the existing capacity constraints on the line, we must first look at ways to decongest the 7 train so that it will be able to handle the existing ridership which will be attracted by such an extension. The original aim of this report was to explain how the 7 train could be expanded deeper into Flushing. Map of proposed Flushing subway extensions and LIRR Regional Rail While these projects have merit, they have left residents of the outer boroughs with the same levels of service they’ve had for generations. Over the past two decades, all major transit projects in New York City have focused on Manhattan The 7 train extension to Hudson Yards, the 2nd Ave Subway, East Side Access, the Fulton St Transit Center, and Moynihan Station have all been big ticket projects that only focus on riders experience within the city center. But expanding our current network is hampered by existing bottlenecks, existing capacity issues, and a lack of will on the part of the city to utilize transit expansion to facilitate development. ![]() Rail lines are great at creating dense, walkable neighborhoods. Flushing has relatively good highway access via the Long Island Expy, Whitestone Expy, Clearview Expy, Cross Island Pkwy, Throgs Neck Bridge, and Whitestone Bridge.Īs we enter a world of warming temperatures, the number one thing we can do to reduce global warming is to change our land use and transportation policy to create more sustainable neighborhoods. Since the last extension of the subway system into Flushing was built a century ago, much this quadrant of New York has developed into the typical post-war auto-centric suburb. Under that program, developers of properties adjacent to subway stations can build higher than existing city zoning regulations if they also construct an elevator to make the station accessible.A large section of Flushing is classified as a transit desert. The project will run in tandem with another to create a new, fully accessible entrance at the station’s north flank, in partnership with Grubb Properties under the Zoning for Accessibility program. The overall project, on the south side of the station, will cost about $74 million and is expected to be complete in 2024, at which point the station will be fully ADA-accessible. When complete, the project will provide critical accessibility upgrades, security updates, and customer experience improvements throughout the station.” “Accessibility is such an integral part of mass transit, especially for a city like New York where mass transit is essential for many. “The improvements coming to Queensboro Plaza will greatly benefit tens of thousands of riders,” said NYC Transit President Richard Davey in a statement.
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