Transportation on Long Island

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Nearly every major type of transportation serves Long Island, including three major airports, railroads and subways, and several major highways. The New York City Subway only serves the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens. There are historic and modern bridges, recreational and commuter trails, and ferries, that connect the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn to Manhattan, the south shore with Fire Island and Long Island's north shore and east end with the state of Connecticut.

Contents

Air

Map showing JFK (1) and LaGuardia (2) airports, both in Queens Airports New York City Map Julius Schorzman with Floyd Bennett Field.jpg
Map showing JFK (1) and LaGuardia (2) airports, both in Queens

Long Island is the location of three large airports with regularly scheduled commercial jet airline service. These are the John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport, both in Queens County (in New York City), and the Long Island MacArthur Airport, (sometimes referred to as the "Islip Airport"), a smaller airport in Suffolk County. MacArthur is the only airport in Nassau or Suffolk counties with regularly scheduled commercial flights, handling about 2 million passengers a year. There are also general aviation airports on Long Island, such as Brookhaven Airport, East Hampton Airport, Francis S. Gabreski Airport, Montauk Airport, and Republic Airport as well as the grass strip equipped Bayport Aerodrome.

Travelers heading to or from Kennedy Airport may use AirTrain to connect with the Long Island Rail Road in Jamaica or the New York City Subway in Jamaica or Howard Beach.

Roads

The Long Island Expressway, Northern State Parkway, and Southern State Parkway, all products of the automobile-centered planning of Robert Moses, make east–west travel on the island straightforward, if not always quick. Indeed, locals refer to Long Island Expressway as "The World's Longest Parking Lot".

Major roads of Long Island
West–East Roads

Ocean Parkway

NY-27A.svg Merrick Road / Montauk Highway

NY-27.svg Sunrise Highway *

Belt Pkwy Shield.svg Belt Parkway / Southern Pkwy Shield.svg Southern State Parkway

NY-24.svg Hempstead Turnpike

Grand Central Pkwy Shield.svg Grand Central Parkway / Northern Pkwy Shield.svg Northern State Parkway

I-495.svg Long Island Expressway

NY-25.svg Jericho Turnpike/Middle Country Road

NY-25A.svg Northern Boulevard

North–South Roads

I-278.svg Brooklyn-Queens Expressway

I-678.svg Van Wyck Expressway

Cross Island Pkwy Shield.svg Cross Island Parkway

Meadowbrook Pkwy Shield.svg Meadowbrook State Parkway

Wantagh Pkwy Shield.svg Wantagh State Parkway

NY-106.svg Newbridge Road/Broadway

NY-107.svg Cedar Swamp Road/Broadway

NY-135.svg Seaford-Oyster Bay Expressway

NY-110.svg Broad Hollow Road/New York Avenue

NY-231.svg Deer Park Avenue

Robert Moses Cswy Shield.svg Robert Moses Causeway

Sagtikos Pkwy Shield.svg Sagtikos State Parkway / Sunken Meadow Pkwy Shield.svg Sunken Meadow State Parkway

NY-111.svg Islip Avenue

Suffolk County Route 97 NY.svg Nicolls Road

Suffolk County Route 46 NY.svg William Floyd Parkway

Roads in boldface are limited access roads.  *Sunrise Highway is only limited-access from western Suffolk county eastwards.
Road map of Long Island Long Island Road Map.gif
Road map of Long Island

Bridges and tunnels

Until the completion of the Brooklyn Bridge in 1883, all travel to Long Island was by boat. The first trains to connect Long Island to Manhattan were elevated rail lines that travelled over that same bridge. The 7 train was the first and is the most notable of these elevated subway lines. There are currently ten road crossings out of Long Island: the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to Staten Island; the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, Williamsburg Bridge, Queens Midtown Tunnel, and Queensboro Bridge to Manhattan; the Triborough Bridge to either Manhattan or the Bronx via Wards Island; and the Whitestone Bridge and Throgs Neck Bridge to the Bronx.

All ten crossings are within New York City limits at the extreme western end of the island, making trips from Long Island to New England especially circuitous. Plans for a Long Island Sound crossing at various locations in Nassau and Suffolk Counties have been discussed for decades, but there are currently no firm plans to construct such a crossing.

In addition to the vehicular tunnels, there are eleven subway and railroad tunnels in Brooklyn and Queens crossing the East River. The most notable of these are the Northeast Corridor's East River Tunnels used by Amtrak and the Long Island Rail Road to connect to Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan. In addition, the proposed Cross-Harbor Rail Tunnel would greatly expand Long Island's access to the national freight rail system.

Bus service

The Nassau Inter-County Express provides bus transportation throughout Nassau County and the western portions of Suffolk County. This service was until the end of 2011 provided by the MTA as MTA Long Island Bus. Suffolk County Transit provides bus transportation throughout Suffolk County, except within the Town of Huntington, which is served by Huntington Area Rapid Transit.

All bus stops are in effect at all times unless otherwise indicated by signage.[ clarification needed ]

Sign colorType of service
Blue
Orange
  • N6 Limited pick-up and drop-off points within Nassau County.
White
  • Nassau Inter-County Express service in Nassau and Suffolk counties
  • Suffolk Transit service

Rail

Long Island Rail Road system map. LIRR map.svg
Long Island Rail Road system map.

The Long Island Rail Road is the second busiest commuter railroad system in North America, carrying in 2012 an average of 282,400 customers each weekday on 728 daily trains. [1] It was once the largest commuter rail in the U.S. but following three successive years of declines was replaced at the close of 2012 by the Metro-North railroad that services areas north of New York City. [2] Chartered on April 24, 1834, it is also the oldest railroad still operating under its original name. [3] By the close of 2014, the LIRR commutation statistics had recovered to an average weekday ridership of 298,448 and an annual ridership of 85,868,246 achieved by December 31, 2014. [4]

It is a publicly owned system, operated by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, under the name MTA Long Island Rail Road.

Ferries

The MV P.T. Barnum docked at Port Jefferson Portjeffersonferry.JPG
The MV P.T. Barnum docked at Port Jefferson

Ferries provide service between Long Island and Connecticut, notably the Bridgeport & Port Jefferson Ferry between Port Jefferson, New York and Bridgeport, Connecticut, and the Cross Sound Ferry between Orient Point, New York and New London, Connecticut. Some of the ferries that cross Long Island Sound carry automobiles, trucks and buses, as well as passengers.

There are also the two ferries which serve Shelter Island (see New York State Route 114), a summer-only ferry between Block Island and Montauk, and a number of ferries serving Fire Island.

In February 2015, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city government would begin NYC Ferry to extend ferry transportation to traditionally underserved communities in the city. [5] [6] The ferry opened in May 2017, [7] [8] with the Queens neighborhoods of Rockaway and Astoria served by their eponymous routes. A third route, the East River Ferry, serves various points in western Brooklyn as well as Hunter's Point South, Queens. [9] A fourth route, the South Brooklyn route, serves South Brooklyn, Sunset Park, and Bay Ridge in Brooklyn. [10] (For a more detailed list of ferries that connect the west end of Long Island, in the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, to Manhattan see the List of ferries across the East River.)

Additionally, there are several water taxi services.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long Island</span> Populous island in New York

Long Island is a densely populated island in southeastern New York State, constituting a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in terms of both population and land area. With over eight million inhabitants as of 2020, it is the most populous island in the United States and the 18th-most populous island in the world. The island begins at New York Harbor and extends 118 miles (190 km) eastward into the North Atlantic Ocean with a maximum north-south width of 23 miles (37 km). With a land area of 1,401 square miles (3,630 km2), it is the largest island in the contiguous United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Long Island Rail Road</span> Commuter rail system on Long Island, New York

The Long Island Rail Road, often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County on Long Island. With an average weekday ridership of 354,800 passengers in 2016, it is the busiest commuter railroad in North America. It is also one of the world's few commuter systems that runs 24/7 year-round. It is publicly owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which refers to it as MTA Long Island Rail Road. In 2022, the system had a ridership of 70,342,700, or about 253,800 per weekday as of the second quarter of 2023.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Metropolitan Transportation Authority</span> Public transportation organization in New York

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the New York City metropolitan area of the U.S. state of New York. The MTA is the largest public transit authority in North America, serving 12 counties in Downstate New York, along with two counties in southwestern Connecticut under contract to the Connecticut Department of Transportation, carrying over 11 million passengers on an average weekday systemwide, and over 850,000 vehicles on its seven toll bridges and two tunnels per weekday.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Q (New York City Subway service)</span> New York City Subway service

The Q Second Avenue/Broadway Express/Brighton Local is a rapid transit service in the B Division of the New York City Subway. Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored yellow since it uses the BMT Broadway Line in Manhattan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Proposed expansion of the New York City Subway</span>

Since the opening of the original New York City Subway line in 1904, and throughout the subway's history, various official and planning agencies have proposed numerous extensions to the subway system. The first major expansion of the subway system was the Dual Contracts, a set of agreements between the City of New York and the IRT and the BRT. The system was expanded into the outer reaches of the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens, and it provided for the construction of important lines in Manhattan. This one expansion of the system provided for a majority of today's system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company</span> Former transit holding company in New York City

The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) was a public transit holding company formed in 1896 to acquire and consolidate railway lines in Brooklyn and Queens, New York City, United States. It was a prominent corporation and industry leader using the single-letter symbol B on the New York Stock Exchange.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steinway Tunnel</span> Tunnel under the East River in New York City

The Steinway Tunnel is a pair of tubes carrying the IRT Flushing Line of the New York City Subway under the East River between 42nd Street in Manhattan and 51st Avenue in Long Island City, Queens, in New York City. It was originally designed and built as an interurban trolley tunnel, with stations near the current Hunters Point Avenue and Grand Central stations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transportation in New York City</span> Overview of urban transportation network

The transportation system of New York City is a network of complex infrastructural systems. New York City, being the most populous city in the United States, has a transportation system which includes one of the largest and busiest subway systems in the world; the world's first mechanically ventilated vehicular tunnel; and an aerial tramway. New York City is home to an extensive bus system in each of the five boroughs; citywide and Staten Island ferry systems; and numerous yellow taxis and boro taxis throughout the city. Private cars are less used compared to other cities in the rest of the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlantic Branch</span> Long Island Rail Road branch

The Atlantic Branch is an electrified rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. It is the only LIRR line with revenue passenger service in the borough of Brooklyn.

East Side Access (ESA) is a public works project in New York City that extended the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) two miles from its Main Line in Queens to the new Grand Central Madison station under Grand Central Terminal on Manhattan's East Side. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) project was originally scheduled to open in 2009 but was delayed by more than a decade. The new station and tunnels opened with limited service to Jamaica station in Queens on January 25, 2023, and full service began on February 27, 2023. The estimated cost of the project rose nearly threefold from US$3.5 billion to US$11.1 billion as of April 2018, making it one of the world's most expensive underground rail-construction projects.

The Lower Manhattan–Jamaica/JFK Transportation Project was a proposed public works project in New York City, New York, that would use the Long Island Rail Road's Atlantic Branch and a new tunnel under the East River to connect a new train station near or at the World Trade Center Transportation Hub site with John F. Kennedy International Airport and Jamaica station on the LIRR. It would allow for a one-seat, 36-minute-long ride between JFK Airport and Lower Manhattan, cut commuting times from Long Island by up to 40% and reduce crowding on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line, IRT Lexington Avenue Line, IND Eighth Avenue Line, and BMT Broadway Line in Manhattan.

Transportation in New York is made up of some of the most extensive and one of the oldest transportation infrastructures in the country. Engineering difficulties because of the terrain of the State of New York and the unique issues of New York City brought on by urban crowding have had to be overcome since the state was young. Population expansion of the state generally followed the path of the early waterways, first the Hudson River and then the Erie Canal. Today, railroad lines and the New York State Thruway follow the same general route.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Main Line (Long Island Rail Road)</span> Long Island Rail Road branch

The Main Line is a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. It begins as a two-track line at Long Island City station in Long Island City, Queens, and runs along the middle of Long Island about 95 miles (153 km) to Greenport station in Greenport, Suffolk County. At Harold Interlocking approximately one mile east of Long Island City, the tracks from the East River Tunnels and 63rd Street Tunnel into Manhattan intersect with the Main Line, which most trains use rather than continuing to Long Island City station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bay Ridge Branch</span> Long Island Rail Road branch connecting Queens and Brooklyn

The Bay Ridge Branch is a rail line owned by the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) and operated by the New York and Atlantic Railway in New York City. It is the longest freight-only line of the LIRR, connecting the Montauk Branch and CSX Transportation's Fremont Secondary at Glendale, Queens with the Upper New York Bay at Bay Ridge, Brooklyn.

The Long Island Rail Road is a railroad owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in the U.S. state of New York. It is the oldest United States railroad still operating under its original name and charter. It consolidated several other companies in the late 19th century. The Pennsylvania Railroad owned the Long Island Rail Road for the majority of the 20th century and sold it to the State in 1966.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockaway Beach Branch</span> Former Long Island Rail Road branch (closed 1962)

The Rockaway Beach Branch was a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in Queens, New York City, United States. The line left the Main Line at Whitepot Junction in Rego Park heading south via Ozone Park and across Jamaica Bay to Hammels in the Rockaways, turning west there to a terminal at Rockaway Park. Along the way it connected with the Montauk Branch near Glendale, the Atlantic Branch near Woodhaven, and the Far Rockaway Branch at Hammels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of transportation in New York City</span> Aspect of history

Transportation in New York City has ranged from strong Dutch authority in the 17th century, expansionism during the industrial era in the 19th century and half of the 20th century, to cronyism during the Robert Moses era. The shape of New York City's transportation system changed as the city did, and the result is an expansive modern-day system of industrial-era infrastructure. New York City, being the most populous city in the United States, has a transportation system which includes one of the largest subway systems in the world; the world's first mechanically ventilated vehicular tunnel; and an aerial tramway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brooklyn Manor station</span> Former LIRR station (closed 1962)

Brooklyn Manor was a station on the Long Island Rail Road's Rockaway Beach Branch located on the south side of Jamaica Avenue at 100th Street, straddling the border between Richmond Hill and Woodhaven in Queens, New York City. The station name referred to the nearby Brooklyn Manor section of Woodhaven, originally a 603-lot development bounded by Woodhaven Boulevard to the west, 96th/98th Streets to the east, Forest Park to the north, and Jamaica Avenue to the south. The station opened in January 1911, and was constructed as a replacement for the Brooklyn Hills station, which was located 3,000 feet (910 m) to the north. This station closed along with the rest of the Rockaway Beach Branch in 1962, and was subsequently demolished.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East 34th Street Ferry Landing</span> Ferry terminal in Manhattan, New York

The East 34th Street Ferry Landing provides slips to ferries and excursion boats in the Port of New York and New Jersey. It is located on the East River in New York City east of the FDR Drive just north of East 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan. The facility, owned by the city, received Federal Highway Administration funding for improvements for docking facilities and upgrading the adjacent East River Greenway in 2008. A new terminal building was built and opened in 2016.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Program for Action</span> New York City Subway expansion program (1968–1989)

Metropolitan Transportation: A Program for Action, also known as simply the Program for Action, the Grand Design, or the New Routes Program, was a proposal in the mid-1960s for a large expansion of mass transit in New York City, created under then-Mayor John Lindsay. Originally published on February 29, 1968, the Program for Action was one of the most ambitious expansion plans in the history of the New York City Subway. The plan called for 50 miles (80 km) of tracks to be constructed, and more than 80% of the new trackage was to be built in the borough of Queens. The $2.9 billion plan also called for improvements to other modes of mass transit, such as the present-day Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad commuter rail systems, and further integration between mass transit and the New York City-area airport system.

References

  1. Castillo, Alfosnso (January 23, 2012). "LIRR no longer U.S.'s largest commuter rail". Newsday. p. A2.(subscription required)
  2. LIRR no longer U.S.'s largest commuter rail, Newsday, January 24, 2012
  3. "MTA LIRR - About the Long Island Rail Road". Archived from the original on January 22, 2010. Retrieved January 22, 2010.
  4. The MTA Network - MTA Long Island Rail Road, statistics as of December 31, 2014, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, retrieved April 10, 2016
  5. McGeehan, Patrick (June 15, 2016). "De Blasio's $325 Million Ferry Push: Rides to 5 Boroughs, at Subway Price". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved June 28, 2016.
  6. "New York City's Ferry Service Set to Launch in 2017". NBC New York. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  7. "NYC launches ferry service with Queens, East River routes". NY Daily News. Associated Press. May 1, 2017. Archived from the original on May 1, 2017. Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  8. Levine, Alexandra S.; Wolfe, Jonathan (May 1, 2017). "New York Today: Our City's New Ferry". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved May 1, 2017.
  9. "Route Map" (PDF). NYC Ferry. 2017. Retrieved July 13, 2017.
  10. "Routes and Schedules: South Brooklyn". NYC Ferry.