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MTA's Capital Plan Includes $5M for a Staten Island Bus Rapid Transit

By Nicholas Rizzi | October 29, 2015 12:54pm
 The MTA's five-year Capital Plan includes $5 million for design and environmental work on the North Shore Bus Rapid Transit System in Staten Island.
The MTA's five-year Capital Plan includes $5 million for design and environmental work on the North Shore Bus Rapid Transit System in Staten Island.
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MTA

STATEN ISLAND — The MTA's approved five-year Capital Plan includes $5 million for a rapid transit bus system that could cut Staten Island's commute times in half.

The $29 billion plan, approved by the agency Wednesday, includes money to fund design and environmental work for the North Shore BRT, which elected officials and groups pushed the agency to add to the budget earlier this year. 

"For more than two years now, my constituents and I have been talking about a North Shore Renaissance that will not only transform our waterfront, but also give an economic boost to all of our neighborhoods," Councilwoman Debi Rose said in a statement.

"Our years of relentless advocacy to the MTA are starting to pay off, with the agency finally taking the first steps to fund bus rapid transit from Mariners Harbor to St. George, a link critical to the future growth of Staten Island," she continued. "For my constituents today, this is a necessity, not an amenity."

The proposed BRT would link the St. George Ferry Terminal to the West Shore Plaza by a dedicated busway, paving over the former North Shore rail line, according to a 2012 MTA study on the system.

The project would cost the city an estimated $371 million to build, according to MTA plans.

This $5 million, while appearing to be a drop in the bucket, is a great start because realistic speaking we do need to know — particular after Sandy — what a BRT would look like," Assemblyman Matthew Titone said. "It's a huge win for the North Shore."

In January, after the MTA failed to include the project in its draft Capital Plan, the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce teamed up with the New York League of Conservation Voters to start a petition to fund the BRT, which gathered nearly 800 online signatures.

"It means a lot of us," Linda Baran, president and CEO of the Staten Island Chamber of Commerce, said. "It'll a do a lot to help Staten Islanders who really have a hard time getting around."

Aside from the BRT, the plan also includes $231.7 million to replace the Staten Island Railway's 64 cars, which date back to the early 1970s, as part of $386 million in improvements for the line.

"We are thrilled about the $300 million for the new cars," Borough President James Oddo, who pushed for them since 2005 with then Councilman Vincent Ignizio, said in September. "The MTA got their money's worth out of the existing fleet."

The improvements to the SIR include new power substations to increase power supply for the new cars, $17.4 million to replace tracks, the rehabilitation of the Amboy Road Bridge and funds to install real-time train arrival monitors at every station along the route.

The plan also budgeted $530 million in improvements to the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, including reconstruction of approach ramps and reconfiguring the Brooklyn approach, according to the plan.

MTA Capital Program 2015-19