A four-point plan for more efficient North Shore transportation

Staten Islanders have some of the longest commutes in the nation, a quality of life concern that many have begrudgingly accepted in favor of the benefits of living in this borough. For many North Shore residents, commuting conjures images of paying $6.75 to stand on an express bus that crawls slowly across the Verrazzano Bridge, or riding a local bus that, because of traffic on our roads, just misses your intended ferry.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

As Council Member, I will fight to create more efficient connections between Staten Island and centers of employment. Though the why may seem obvious to all who commute, it is worth stating up front that I have two motivations for fighting for better transportation:

• Commuting takes its toll on mental, physical and emotional health. Every minute spent behind the wheel or standing on a crowded express bus is a minute that you are not home with your family, your friends, or in solitude at home.
• But more importantly, our lack of public transportation severs North Shore residents from the economic opportunities of our region. For example, how feasible is it, with our current infrastructure, for a Mariners Harbor resident to commute to a job in midtown Manhattan? Or downtown Brooklyn? Or at Newark Airport? This is economic and environmental injustice.

We can solve these problems with the following:

• Rapid transit on the North Shore. For decades, we have been promised a reactivation of the North Shore right of way, connecting St. George to Mariners Harbor. For anyone who has sat on the S40 trying to make the next ferry, the reactivation of this line would be a game changer. While many of us would like to see light rail, the MTA has said that the only feasible option is bus rapid transit. Staten Islanders will bristle at the thought of another bus line, but across Latin America and Europe, bus rapid transit works like a train on wheels, with fully separate lanes to run unimpeded by automobile traffic, and platform boarding with wide sliding doors, just like a subway. As Council Member, I will ensure that our rapid transit moves as swiftly as a train.
• New ferry connections. We are a city of islands, and yet we only have one ferry connection to one other borough, and one new ferry connection coming this summer. These connections are important and efficient, but they fail to recognize growing population and employment centers. Brooklyn students studying at the College of Staten Island, or North Shore residents working in downtown Brooklyn must either make a time-consuming connection in Manhattan or, more likely, they opt to travel by car, adding to our immense Staten Island Expressway and Verrazzano Bridge traffic. The infrastructure is already in place for ferry connections to Brooklyn; we just need an administration willing to invest in the service. The next step in this ferry expansion needs to be a ferry from the western part of the North Shore — either Port Richmond or Mariners Harbor — to Manhattan. Residents in this part of the district deserve equal access to the economic opportunities of Manhattan.
• Bus service to New Jersey. Manhattan and Brooklyn aren’t the only job centers in our region. Jersey City, Newark and Elizabeth are also potential centers of employment for Staten Islanders and yet, without a car, they are out of reach to our North Shore residents. We must bridge the bureaucratic hurdles that keep us from having bus service across the Goethals Bridge to Elizabeth and Newark, and across the Bayonne Bridge to the Bayonne light rail. As Council Member, I will get everyone in one room and work out these hurdles and make this happen.
• An accessible bike share network. On a more micro level, we need bike share — including electronic-assist bikes for our hills — to encourage Staten Islanders to leave cars behind for smaller trips. The Jump and Lime pilot program was enormously successful, and I am frustrated that the city has still not been able to bring us a bike share program while it continues to extend Citi bike across other parts of the city. As we work to expand bike infrastructure, we must also ensure safe spaces for pedestrians and cyclists. No one should fear for their safety because they make a choice for a greener, healthier form of transportation.

When I am representing the North Shore of Staten Island in the City Council, I will work to move all these initiatives forward. At the same time, I will continue to fight for increased local and express bus service, especially as population increases and people return to work from the pandemic. Smart investments in efficient transportation will pay great dividends, in our health, our quality of life, our economic development and in a greener future for our children.