After the federal government in 2011 decided to “fast-track” the replacement of the aging Tappan Zee Bridge, the dream of including a rail right-of-way on the new bridge was all but squashed, and the provision of a full bus rapid transit corridor became the objective for transit advocates.
The bridge that was supposed to have a rail line?
— Rɪᴄʜᴀʀᴅ Fᴀꜱꜱᴇᴛᴛ (@rfassett) September 21, 2017
A Tappan Zee Mass Transit Task Force was formed (thanks to the doggedness of TSTC’s outgoing Executive Director Veronica Vanterpool) in 2012, and it resulted in a 2014 report which recommended an enhanced-but-not-quite-true-BRT bus service. Included in those recommendations was the provision of a dedicated bus lane over the bridge.
More than three years since the Task Force released its recommendations, questions about the new bus system remain. For example, in a press release announcing a pair of public Open House events in the Lower Hudson Valley next week, the New York State Department of Transportation is referring to that dedicated bus lane as a potential dedicated bus lane:
PUBLIC INFORMATION MEETING ABOUT POTENTIAL DEDICATED BUS LANE ON THE GOVERNOR MARIO M. CUOMO BRIDGE
The New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) will host two Open House events to present findings from the analysis of a potential dedicated bus lane on the Governor Mario M. Cuomo Bridge (GMMCB). These events will highlight the findings from the analysis and potential implementation of the dedicated bus lane.
Two Open House events are scheduled. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about the project. The public is encouraged to drop in anytime during an Open House at the most convenient location and date, as the format and agendas will be the same:
The first Open House will take place in Rockland County on Tuesday, September 26, 2017, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Palisades Center, Alder Room, 4th Floor, 100 Palisades Center Drive, West Nyack, NY, 10994.
The second Open House will take place in Westchester County on Wednesday, September 27, 2017, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Greenburgh Public Library, Multipurpose Room, 300 Tarrytown Road, Elmsford, NY, 10523.
TSTC will be represented at both Tuesday and Wednesday’s events. We hope you’ll be there too.
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It should have been part of a rail line from Suffern NJT / Metro-North station to White Plains Metro-North Station and maybe beyond to an appropriate point on the New Haven line with fares and schedules integrated with the bus system.
It was my understanding that at least two transportation companies had bid on the new bus contract for the bridge. This would replace the Tappan Zee Express buses with much larger buses with extended routes in Rockland and Westchester. There seemed to be delays getting the bid out, this will certainly delay implementation. The bew buses will take about a year to be built and delivered. Why did it take so long?
NY Traffic is a night mare. I used to live in Tarrytown, and all over NY.
The reason I do not live in New York is that I hate the congestion and traffic.
To me and many others it will always be the Tappan Zee Bridge. I will never call this the Mario Cuomo Bridge. This was a political naming by Andrew Homo. Some names will never stick examples the Hugh Carey Tunnel its always going to be the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, Ed Koch Bridge- always going to be the Queensboro Bridge.
[…] faulted Mr. Maloney for not pushing harder to include rail transportation in the new Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, saying it would have shortened commutes, improved the […]
[…] faulted Mr. Maloney for not pushing harder to include rail transportation in the new Gov. Mario M. Cuomo Bridge, saying it would have shortened commutes, improved the […]
I’m figuring that part of the lack of rail tracks is that the toll would’ve been $17 with them. Something must be done to improve public transportation between Rockland and Westchester because traveling from the Bronx or Westchester to Manhattan to get to NJ to get to Rockland is ridiculous and exorbitantly inconvenient. I used to hate taking the subway to Manhattan to get to Rockland via NJ and vice versa, which is one reason I got a car. But nobody else had seemed to have ever voiced this.