Would you support expanded LIRR Service/Intermodal for Brookhaven?

[Crookhaven]

Originally Posted by MikeyKid

Crooks - you have to have the lowest post to rep ratio I've ever seen. It should give you a bit of insight into your ideas... or maybe your approach. =P

I'd vote a big "no" for many reasons... First off that the LIRR couldn't run a toy train set. They're an absolute disgrace... Secondly, express service is targeted towards the workforce. One could argue that leisure ridership would want it - but if I'm traveling in to see the tree at Christmas or going in to see a play, 20 or so min extra isn't a deal breaker.

Technology advancements continue to disperse the workforce... telecommuting, telepresence - whatever you want to call it. People are less and less required to have a physical presence in "the office" these days. This trend is only going to grow more in the future and I'd rather see the LIRR take whatever funds you'd ear mark for this and clean-up the existing service offerings. Stretching them thinner would just be more fail.

I'd talk about the existing situation and potential feeding of more sprawl, but others covered it pretty well. People who are buying in Brookhaven know what they're getting into... The fact that there isn't express service into Penn is not something that surprises them. If commute is an issue, there is plenty of home inventory within very close proximity to express service.

P.S. "LIRR express" is an oxymoron.

...except it sucks and it looks like Queens.


Mikey...where ya been?
Welcome back.



Crooks

PS

This thread certainly got some mileage.

[checkmatechamp13]

Originally Posted by Crookhaven

The argument is pretty clear ...why should 65% of the service serve 45% of the people?

It doesn't matter that 55% of the people live in Suffolk. What matters is the fact that Suffolk has a much lower percentage of people commuting to NYC than Nassau does. It's simple: The further you live from an area, the less likely you are to work there. It's more likely that somebody in Suffolk works in an office park in Melville than an office in Midtown Manhattan simply because it's much easier to get to Melville.

Originally Posted by Johninwestbury

1) They should start with electrification to Speonk and Riverhead, with a new station built at Yaphank, built on the west side of the road.

2) Ronkonkoma should be TWO tracks all the way from Farmingdale.
Its funny how people argue that Nassau is "spoiled". If so, how come on weekends the LIRR makes it as hard as possible to travel between Nassau and the East End?

3) Buses and trains need total and complete priority over cars, then they will move faster, and people will think twice when the bus speeds past them while they sit in traffic.

1) What's the point in building a new station in Yaphank when they already have one?

2) I agree.

3) It depends on how well-used the bus is. Buses in LI really don't get a ton of ridership. It doesn't make sense to set aside a whole lane for a bus running every 30 minutes, even if the bus does get good usage once it comes.

Originally Posted by Jdawg8181

What they need to do is just make trains that run north & south...so if you want to go from Long Beach to New Hyde Park or something, you don't have to go to Jamaica first.

The thing is that there's not that much demand for north-south LIRR service. You just have to keep taking buses. From Long Beach to New Hyde Park, you could take the N15 to the N22/N24.

Originally Posted by Buscape

6) As for a light rail in Central Nassau. This is an absolute neccesity. Central Nassau has the density to support a system. The West Hempstead and Hempstead Line. Should be converted over to light rail. They should be extended through the collesium, mall, hofstra, NCC, and then branch off following the meadow brook or wantagh pkwy to Freeport/Baldwin Hicksville/Westbury.

10) I think Express Bus service would be better in Parts of Suffolk with low density and bad train service. Even Nassau can beenifit from Alternatives to the LIRRS commuter monoply. Like they do in NJ. Give them their own lane and let them go. If you have free time look into the bus service in Curitiba, Brazil. This is proven solution to some of your concerns.

Personally, I think the Hempstead Branch should be restored along its old route, which connects to Bethpage. You could route Ronkonkoma trains down there instead of clogging up the Main Line, while serving East Meadow and Levittown in the process.

As for express bus service, like I said, you should only have bus lanes if they move enough people to justify them.

Originally Posted by Buscape

You have to think smaller before you build these massive projects. Maybe start neighborhood circulator buses. Get people used to the idea of taking the bus. Then start weekend services on main arterial. Than develop something like Mineola.

Eh. They already do have buses, but they're not well-used in that part of Suffolk.

[DarkWolf]

If you restored the LIRR back to its 1930 state you could run more trains in both directions ,and at a faster speed.... Alot of branches and secondary lines have been cut up over the past 40 years resulting in capacity issues and other problems...