New LaGuardia AirTrain Will Actually Increase Travel Times, Anthony Weiner Weighs In
Get ready to have your bubble burst. As it turns out, Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposed AirTrain to LaGuardia would actually increase the time it takes to get to the airport, and for some areas, almost double travel time. The Transport Politic enlightened (and dispirited) hopefuls yesterday in an analysis that highlighted the fact that the new train would would deliver commuters to the 7 subway station at Willets Point, which is further away from Manhattan than the airport. In light of the findings, Anthony Weiner threw in his two cents this morning, penning an op-ed in the Daily News, saying “if we are going to solve this problem, we should do it right.” The former congressman also threw a proposal of his own into the ring.
Weiner wrote: “Instead of a train to an already-mobbed Flushing line and its 16 local stops, the better approach is to extend the N/Q terminus in Astoria, so we can have a true one-seat ride and eight stops to ‘the city.’ While the 7 is one of the most fun and interesting lines to travel…it makes little sense to shuttle people and their bags a mile and a half in the wrong direction only to have them get off and hop on a subway.”
Weiner, however, doesn’t totally discount the idea of an AirTrain serving the Queens airport. He suggests extending the JFK AirTrain to LaGuardia.
The cost of the new AirTrain is estimated at $450 million. Many speculate that Cuomo’s decision to route the AirTrain in such a complicated way has to do with the governor trying to avoid opposition from naysayers who don’t want a train running through their neighborhood. As it stands, the line winds along the highway and through an industrial area of Willets Point.
[Via NYDN and The Transport Politic]
