By Joseph Morales

  The West Shore of Staten Island comprises the communities on the west side of Staten Island and accompanies about 20% of Staten Island’s total land. The West Shore includes neighborhoods such as Tottenville, Rossville, Travis-Chelsea, New Springville and more. Major destinations in and just outside of the West Shore include, the Staten Island Mall, The Teleport Office Complex, an Amazon Distribution Center and so much more. The West Shore has a large amount of things that can contribute to job growth such as a plethora of green space and other natural areas, suburban-style livable communities and a high density of potential employment hubs. The area also has solid highway access with the West Shore Expressway(NY-440), Staten Island Expressway(I-278) and Korean War Veterans Parkway all traveling through the West Shore. The Outerbridge Crossing and the Goethals Bridge both connect the West Shore of Staten Island to New Jersey. 

                 The one major thing missing from the West Shore is access to quality public transportation. The West Shore is served by many local bus routes however, the Staten Island Bus Network is centered around the St. George Ferry Terminal on the northeastern side of the island, as the bus network was designed to get people to the ferry which takes them to Manhattan. Thus, there is no transit hub on the West Shore and most residents taking public transit have limited route options to choose from upon leaving their homes. The Staten Island Railway does have several stations in the Southern portion of the West Shore but those only travel along a single rail corridor and are not always frequent. No matter what transit options exist, West Shore residents will always be challenged by geography when trying to travel by mass transit further east into Staten Island, as the West Shore is on the westernmost end of the borough. These travel conditions lead to most West Shore residents being car-dependent as all three community districts that are a part of the West Shore have car-ownership rates between 73-95%. It is important to note that while these are larger districts that cover areas further east than the West Shore, given the West shore’s suburban-style density and the fact that the median income of communities on the West Shore is between $67,215 and $109,457 it is likely that the vast majority of residents on the West Shore own cars.

                  Thus, the MTA is making plans to expand transit on the West Shore that could help increase transit options for those who live and visit the West Shore. For years, advocates on Staten Island from all parts of the borough have pushed for better mass transit to support population and job growth in Staten Island as well as connect Staten Islanders to other areas. 

The Staten Island Economic Development Corporation(SIEDC) has pushed for a light rail or bus rapid transit system along the West Shore Expressway to serve the West Shore Expressway/Richmond Avenue corridor for over 15 years saying that such a system is necessary in order to provide stronger connections to New Jersey as well as transit services to Manhattan. They said the project is also crucial as the West Shore becomes a nationwide leader in maritime transportation services as well as last-mile logistics. 

                  The MTA has proposed three potential options to improve mass transit on the West Shore. One which is unlikely to be implemented is known as a No-Build Alternative which would be to do absolutely nothing. This was likely only the list because No-Build Alternatives are required by federal law to be evaluated by transit agencies in order to serve as a comparison for other alternatives. There are two alternatives that would allow for a Bus Rapid Transit System to be operated. Only the one that runs along the West Shore Expy will include a connection to the proposed North Shore BRT. However, the S59 bus route runs adjacent to what would be the Korean War Veterans Pkwy/Richmond Ave route and would still be able to provide riders here with a connection to the North Shore BRT. One would utilize the West Shore Expressway and travel between Tottenville and Newark Liberty International Airport and make stops along the West Shore Expressway corridor. It would have a dedicated median right of way on the West Shore Expressway between Tottenville and Old Place-Western Ave and operate in mixed traffic between the Goethals Bridge and the airport in Newark. The other route would run from the Arthur Kill SIR Station and make stops along the Korean War Veterans Memorial Pkwy as well as the Richmond Avenue/Dr. MLK Jr Expy corridor and terminate at the 8th Street Hudson-Bergen Light Rail station in Bayonne, NJ. This route would have its own median right of way on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Pkwy, Richmond Avenue and the Dr M.L.K Jr Expy and operate in mixed traffic from the Bayonne Bridge to the light rail station. 

West Shore Expressway near what could be a BRT Station at South Avenue.

West Shore Expressway near what could be a BRT station at Victory Blvd.

              Both routes would provide connections to many other major cross-Staten Island bus routes as well as new regional public transit connections that have never existed before    Only the route that runs along the West Shore Expy will include a connection to the proposed North Shore BRT. However, the S59 bus route runs adjacent to what would be the Korean War Veterans Pkwy/Richmond Ave route and would still be able to provide riders here with a connection to the North Shore BRT. Both routes would provide connections to many other major cross-Staten Island bus routes. The MTA has also said that while the current route proposals are for BRT they are not ruling out upgrading the BRT system into a light rail(LRT) system in the future.

               These would also both be the first transit projects in New York City to be located along highway medians as well as be one of only a handful of BRT routes that operate on highway medians in the United States. The last alternative would be Transportation Systems Management(TSM) which would mean to improve existing transit options, however this may also be getting evaluated for comparison purposes to the BRT proposals as there are zero transit routes that serve the same trips as the BRT routes. 

                In a call to action published by the SIEDC in January 2021, the SIEDC projected that ridership on a light rail they proposed that would have a similar route to the MTA’s BRT proposals would have a daily ridership of 12,990 daily round-trip riders or 25,980 trips on such as system. An MTA survey of 3,600 West Shore bus riders in May 2019 found that 50% of all bus riders were traveling within Staten Island and 25% of the bus riders were traveling within Staten Island’s West Shore. Of those traveling to destinations outside of Staten Island, the majority of those riders were going to Manhattan. These are all trip patterns that would be made faster by the new BRT system. In addition, as Staten Islanders have advocated for better transit on the West Shore for quite a while, it’s likely that many of them will take the BRT instead of driving even when making trips within Staten Island and the West Shore . This will reduce congestion as well as emissions on West Shore roads. The BRT will also allow Staten Islanders to save money on gas as well as tolls on bridges to NJ, which can be a great expense especially with gas prices still elevated.

               As Staten Islanders have been waiting for decades for access to quality mass transit, the BRT routes finally being studied is a huge step toward bringing high quality transit to the island. If the project is completed as proposed, it can create regional transit connections that can create an endless amount of opportunity for Staten Island’s residents and visitors.

Works Cited

Bascome, Erik. “Bus Rapid Transit, light rail: MTA to resume outreach on West Shore transit study.” SILive.com, 11 January 2022, https://www.silive.com/news/2022/01/bus-rapid-transit-light-rail-mta-to-resume-outreach-on-west-shore-transit-study.html. Accessed 12 November 2022.

“No Build.” Department of Transportation, https://webapps.dot.ny.gov/no-build. Accessed 12 November 2022.

Staten Island Economic Development Corporation. “Transportation & Resilience Initiative.” Squarespace, 2021, https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5b7455833917eea0cc03d384/t/6227b0e424b45c2965e48ecf/1646768357764/Erica%2Bbooklet%2BJan%2B19_converted-compressed.pdf. Accessed 15 January 2022.

“Staten Island West Shore Alternatives Analysis.” MTA, 2020, https://new.mta.info/document/14016. Accessed 12 November 2022.

“Staten Island West Shore Alternatives Analysis – NYC.” MTA, 2022, https://new.mta.info/project/staten-island-west-shore-alternatives-analysis. Accessed 12 November 2022.

New York City Economic Development Corporation, and New York City Department of City Planning. “Working West Shore 2030- Creating Jobs, Improving Infrastructure and Managing Growth.” nyc.gov, 2011, https://www.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/plans-studies/west-shore/wsfinalreport.pdf. Accessed 12 November 2022.

“Median Incomes.” Citizens Committee for Children New York, https://data.cccnewyork.org/data/map/66/median-incomes#66/39/6/107/62/10309/a. Accessed 12 November 2022.

New York City Department of City Planning. “Car Ownership of NYC.” Tableau, https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/dcptransportation/viz/ACSProfiles/Dashboard1. Accessed 12 November 2022.