Category: Suburbs

Should The Outerbridge Crossing Be Replaced? Could It Have Transit In Mind?

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By Joseph Morales

The Outerbridge Crossing is a major travel artery between the South Shore of Staten Island and Perth Amboy, New Jersey. The bridge is one of three bridges connecting Staten Island with NJ, with the other two traveling out of the northern section of the Island. The Staten Island side of the bridge is located near major roads such as Arthur Kill Rd, Hylan Blvd, and the West Shore Expwy, which connects motorists to areas across Staten Island and the surrounding region. On the New Jersey side, the bridge provides motorists with direct access to both the Garden State Pkwy and the New Jersey Turnpike(I-95), which provide connections to destinations across the state of New Jersey. The bridge’s location near the southwesternmost corner of NYC and its proximity to the Garden State Pkwy might also make it popular with motorists from across NYC who wish to travel to the Jersey Shore. The bridge typically has served between 1-1.2 million motorists monthly since 2021, with higher numbers in the summer months, likely because of Jersey Shore travel. These numbers, with the exception of the summer upticks, compare closely to the numbers on the Holland Tunnel, which runs between Jersey City, NJ, and Lower Manhattan. 

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After Years of Service Cuts, Nassau County Bus Riders Are Receiving Major Service Upgrades This Fall

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By Joseph Morales

Nassau County is one of two counties in the Long Island region of New York. Most of the county, with the exception of Long Beach, is located within one of three towns, Hempstead, North Hempstead, and Oyster Bay, which consist of many villages, such as Valley Stream, Mineola, and Massapequa. While the county is mainly suburban, many pockets of higher residential and employment densities are seen in the heart of villages, such as in the Mineola/Garden City/Westbury area along with Downtown Hempstead, as well as along certain transportation corridors such as Sunrise Hwy/Babylon LIRR Branch.

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Service on CT Metro-North Branch Has Finally Resumed After Being Closed All Summer

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By Joseph Morales

The New Canaan Line is a branch of the Metro-North’s New Haven Line(NHL) that runs from Stamford to New Haven, CT. The line connects areas north of the Stamford station with the rest of the NHL, which offers riders ample connections to other areas of Connecticut along with Westchester County, NY, and New York City. Additionally, the branch’s terminus at the Stamford station provides riders with access to Downtown Stamford, which is one of Southern Connecticut’s most prominent economic and cultural hubs. The Stamford station is also home to Amtrak trains, with the Stamford Transportation Center being just a block away, providing riders with access to trains that traverse the northeast along with bus routes that traverse Fairfield County, respectively.

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The MTA is Making Major Accessibility Upgrades to Several Westchester County Metro-North Stations

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By Joseph Morales

Scarsdale is a town in Westchester County that is about 30 miles from Midtown Manhattan and serves as a major suburb of New York City.  The hamlet of Hartsdale in the town of Greenburgh and the hamlet of Purdy’s in the town of North Salem are also located about 30 and 50 miles from Midtown Manhattan, respectively.  People in all three areas use the Metro-North Railroad(MNR)’s Harlem Line to not only commute to The Bronx and Manhattan but also to get to other major locations along the line, such as White Plains, Mt. Kisco, and Brewster. In addition, both the Scarsdale and Hartsdale MNR stations have more significant commercial and residential density around their stations than they do in the rest of their towns. This includes Downtown Scarsdale, which is located directly adjacent to the Scarsdale MNR station, so riders from across the region may use the station to access shops, restaurants, and more.

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The Town of Greenwich Wants To Revamp The Area Around Its Metro-North Station

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By Joseph Morales

  The Town of Greenwich is a large town in the State of Connecticut with a population of around 63,500 according to the page on the U.S Census Bureau’s QuickFacts regarding Greenwich. Downtown Greenwich is located directly off the NY-CT border and is about a 50 min- 1 hour train ride to Grand Central Terminal. In addition to the railroad, Interstate 95, the Merritt Parkway and multiple CT Transit bus routes are located near Downtown as well. It is known for being a vibrant, walkable downtown with a variety of shops and restaurants including an Apple Store on Greenwich Avenue. 

                      Now, the town of Greenwich wants to utilize its assets in order to modernize the Greenwich Metro-North Railroad(MNR) station in Downtown Greenwich and its surrounding areas well as to create an inviting and accessible retail and restaurant complex. They will do this through utilizing their existing public-private partnership with the GP Holding Inc. who owns Greenwich Plaza. 

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White Plains Is The County Seat Of Westchester County And May Be Becoming A Regional Seat For Transit-Oriented Development

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By Joseph Morales

White Plains is the County Seat of Westchester County which is a densely populated suburban county north of New York City home to about 1 million residents.  It is also has a population of around 60,000 and is a major reverse commute destination. Thus, it is no surprise that Downtown White Plains has been one of the county’s major commercial centers known for its plethora of retail, dining and entertainment options as well as offices; including government offices and the offices of major corporations. 

                     It is also one of the main transit hubs in Westchester County, being served by many Bee-Line Bus routes that traverse the county as well as a CTTransit bus to Stamford, CT as well as several HudsonLink bus routes to Rockland County. In addition, it is home to the White Plains Metro-North(MNR) station, which provides both local and express service on the MNR Harlem Line to Grand Central Terminal in Midtown Manhattan as well as as far north as Wassaic, New York in Dutchess County. The station is about 40 minutes to Grand Central Terminal, making Manhattan very accessible from White Plains. Given the amount of activity in White Plains as well as proximity to other activity centers throughout the region including NYC, White Plains is the busiest MNR station in Westchester County and is one of the busiest MNR stations in the Metro-North system.

                        With all of these favorable transportation connections, White Plains wants to capitalize on it by developing a transit-oriented development(TOD) scheme that will help to increase economic growth and liveliness in the Downtown area. They will do this by creating a transit district in the immediate vicinity of the White Plains MNR station that emphasizes the principles of quality placemaking, open space, cycling/pedestrian infrastructure, sound economic development and parking. 

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Stamford’s Vision Zero Program Aims To End Pedestrian Fatalities In The Next Decade

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By Joseph Morales

On Tuesday September 20th, 2022, Stamford, CT Mayor Caroline Simmons signed an executive order for the City Of Stamford to invest money and resources in order to end all traffic fatalities on Stamford’s roads and streets by 2032. This comes as Stamford has recorded 22,622 traffic incidents between Jan. 1st, 2017 and Aug. 31, 2022 as stated by interim Public Safety Director Louis DeRubeis during a press conference. 459 of those incidents involved pedestrians and Stamford has recorded 4 fatal car crashes as of September 2022 which is its highest number of fatal car accidents in a year since 2017. The city also averaged seven pedestrian incidents a month in 2021. 

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Free Bus Service Is Making Huge Difference For Connecticut Bus Riders. Could It Be Sustained?

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By Joseph Morales

                  Public Transportation is a major part of how people get around in the state of Connecticut. According to the 2021 American Community Survey(2021 done by the U.S Census Bureau, the Bureau estimated that 8.4% of CT households and 19.4% of renter-occupied households did not have access to a car both with extremely slim margins of error. Connecticut’s bigger cities are even less car-dependent as the percentage of households without access to a car is high in certain places such as Hartford(29.5%), New Haven(10.7%) and Stamford(8.2%) also based on U.S Census ACS estimates. Even if they own vehicles, many CT residents may also use buses in order to get to the Metro-North Railroad(MNR) especially if their local station lacks adequate parking or if residents want to save money on parking permits or fees at certain stations. Rising gas prices may also motivate people who normally drive to use public transit for certain trips.

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