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Consideration Of Options To Improve Transit In Rockland County
By Jon Ross
One week of congestion pricing reinforces what has long been clear: Rockland riders need help! Not only does Rockland lack a one-seat train ride to the city, it also lacks a transit option that is convenient, frequent, reliable, cost effective, and traffic immune. Residents who travel to the city at all times of day face poor options: driving, traveling to Westchester or New Jersey for better connections, relying on slow trains that require a transfer in Secaucus, or on unreliable, infrequent buses that often get stuck in traffic.
We need to correct generations of neglect and we need to do so quickly.
A Tale Of Two Counties
Our eastern neighbor, Westchester County, is blessed with 43 rail stations, each with direct access to Manhattan, hourly or with more frequencies, and consistent express service. All stations have high-level boarding and most are ADA accessible. Westchester County is a model of suburban public transportation in the United States.
Meanwhile, Rockland County has only five rail stations, none with direct links to Manhattan and all plagued by infrequent, slow, and unreliable service. The Pascack Valley Line, home to three Rockland County stations, is single-tracked, which limits train frequencies and prevents regular express service. Only one express train per direction runs in each direction on weekdays and two on weekends, forcing all other riders to make thirteen local stops in New Jersey before reaching Secaucus. Stations are low-platform, requiring passengers to climb steps to board trains. Our highways are jammed with traffic because so few viable alternatives exist.
How Did We Get Here?
Rockland County may only have five passenger rail stations today, but in the 1930s it had forty-one. Even with this coverage, Rockland rail lines suffered from the same issue they face today: none brought passengers directly into Manhattan. Passengers had to transfer in New Jersey to a ferry or the predecessor to the PATH train to reach New York City. The opening of the Tappan Zee Bridge and Palisades Parkway in the 1950s transformed Rockland into a car-oriented suburb and led to commuters choosing to drive or ride the Red & Tan Bus to the city.
These factors coupled with declining rail use resulted in many railroad closures. These closures in Rockland occurred during a timespan of about thirty years from the 1930s to the 1960s. While ending this service may have seemed sensible at the time, it was a grave error to tear up precious infrastructure, which has prevented it from becoming reactivated. Even the West Shore Line, whose tracks are still active for freight traffic, removed one of its tracks after its passenger service ended, rendering it single-tracked and unable to accommodate both passenger and freight service. The result is more traffic and fewer options for Rocklanders.
What Can We Do?
MTA and statewide officials must develop strategies to improve transit for Rockland. Proposals for significant infrastructure such as new passenger rail service needs to be developed, but the state also must confront Rockland’s transit deficiencies with solutions that can be implemented as soon as possible. An incremental path to addressing Rockland’s inequities would provide both a relief to current riders and provide world class service for riders to come.
Short-Term Transit Band-Aids
For transit to be a viable alternative to driving, it must be frequent, convenient, reliable, time efficient, and cost effective. None of our current transit options check all of these boxes. We need more sidings built on the Pascack Valley Line so trains can run more frequently and express service can be expanded. We need more frequent Rockland Coaches bus service that is convenient and effectively communicates with riders. We need the Haverstraw-Ossining Ferry to run all times the train runs, not just during rush hour and select weekends.
And we need significant improvements to HudsonLink, the bus service which connects Rockland to Westchester train stations. The service is a shell of its original promise for bus rapid transit. It can be made more reliable and time efficient by installing bus lanes or allowing buses to safely use the Thruway shoulder when traffic is present. Scheduling and ticketing should be streamlined with Metro-North, and the system should be expanded to more Rockland communities.
A Promising Future
Rockland will finally get its first one-seat rail ride into Manhattan with the completion of the Bergen Loop, a key component of the Gateway Project, which will allow Pascack Valley and Port Jervis Line trains to directly access Penn Station. But we should not stop there. New York and New Jersey should revitalize passenger service on the West Shore Line. A second track can be restored, allowing for passenger and freight trains to coexist. This would bring rail service to the Palisades Center and to communities such as Orangeburg and Haverstraw.
Original proposals for the rebuilt Tappan Zee Bridge included commuter rail on the span and paralleling the Thruway. This concept must be revisited. The Thruway is highly congested and needs relief. An east-west rail line could connect all five of Metro-North’s routes and facilitate trans-regional trips. And, new ferry routes, such as direct routes to New York City and other trans-Hudson routes, should be considered as well.
The implementation of congestion pricing has highlighted the grave, longstanding inequities faced by riders on the west side of the Hudson River. With swift action and forward-looking planning, Rockland County can reach its potential as a vital economic engine for the region, with a system of high quality public transportation that can best serve its residents and visitors.
Jon Ross is the founder of RAD (Rocklanders For Alternatives To Driving)
RAD: Rocklanders for Alternatives to Driving
