Urban Public Transportation System of New York City and Its Operation and Use by People

摘要

The New York transportation system is defined by a little thought about fact: of the five boroughs that make up New York City, only the Bronx is attached to the mainland of the United States. While creating wonderful vistas for the appreciation of Manhattan Island, it has nonetheless made transportation access unusually expensive and complicated. New York City has eleven major bridges and four major auto tunnels reaching within its borders. There are 685 miles of subway and 468 subway stations in New York City. There are more than 3,000 miles of bus routes in the Greater New York Metropolitan Area (GNYMA). Access to the transit system is further complicated by the fact that the GNYMA constitutes three states: New York, New Jersey and Connecticut and like most metropolitan areas in the world, its borders are constantly being redefined outward in every direction. As a result of geographic realities and a complicated history of ownership, the New York transportation system has evolved into a hodgepodge of separate authorities and agencies governing overlapping and shared routes, often with competing agendas and objectives and a wide range of fare structures, schedules and operations. In the case of rail operations the situation has been further complicated by the agreements of predecessor railroads: Above it all, lurk the ghosts of the nineteenth century railroad barons and Robert Moses, whose visions, dreams, forward thinking and conceits still largely define how we get to, from and through New York. Project Planning & Analysis, 56 Juniper Lane, Southport, CT 06490-1062 The recent emphasis of many transportation systems capital projects in the GNYMA has been on the improvement of mobility and customer access. This paper will focus on a description of the current structure and organization of mass transportation in the New York region and discuss one of the more interesting attempts to rationalize and modernize the system, move it beyond its nineteenth century origins and make it more seamless and agreeable for the customer: The effort is work relating to Grand Central Terminal and it actually includes three projects in one: The recently completed renovation of Grand Central Terminal; the expansion of access from the GCT train shed to the north (North-End Access), currently under construction, and the plans to construct a separate tunnel to Grand Central to serve riders from Long Island, utilizing the 63rd Street Tunnel. These projects are particularly challenging because they are being undertaken in the most densely populated and transit dependent city in the United States and involve the most widely used transit station in the country, which is also its premiere urban landmark.