Buses arrive to buttress regional transit BY KATHY KAHN

Buses arrive to buttress regional transit
BY KATHY KAHN

Take the car to the park-and-ride lot please! That’s the hope of many county planning and transportation departments across the Hudson Valley.

“Our counties have historically focused on getting people to points south of here,” said David Markowitz, travel demand manager for the New York State Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Region 8. His seven-county bailiwick includes Columbia, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Ulster and Westchester.

As the population of the mid-Hudson region grows, so has the need for public transportation providers to gear up to meet demand. The DOT and Metro-North have established two ferry crossings Newburgh to Beacon and Haverstraw to Ossinng so those on the west side of the Hudson can connect with Metro-North and travel as far south as Grand Central Station.

As part of the carrot to encourage people to take the ferry-to-train service, “We have established a ‘guaranteed ride home’ program,” said Markowitz. “For people holding a monthly uni-ticket, if they need to leave work early or stay late, they can present a voucher to the cab company and get back to their park and ride. We do monitor the system, and it is not being abused.” The guarantee of a ride back to the commuter’s park-and-ride location has helped increase the use of public transportation. “Let’s face it, nobody wants to have to stay late at work and realize they have no way to get home,” he said. “This insures them a ride back to their car at no extra expense or worry.”

Mark Debald, planner for the Poughkeepsie-Dutchess Transportation Council, said when bus-to-train service is established between Ulster and Metro-North’s Poughkeepsie station, the same “guaranteed-ride program” will be offered. “We don’t want anyone to feel they will be stuck if they miss the last bus,” said Debald. Debald noted the intercounty transportation service will start out using three buses. “If we see it is popular, we expect service will be expanded and new buses added.”

Transportation planners aren’t just preaching to the public. Some are taking their own advice. Cynthia Ruiz, head of the Ulster County Transit Center in Golden Hill, drives to the park and ride near her home and takes the bus to work three times a week. “It saves me a tank of gas,” said Ruiz. “That’s a lot of money, even if you are driving a compact car.”

Ulster’s three new park and rides for transfer to Poughkeepsie will be in Rosendale, New Paltz (near New Paltz Auto Plaza) and at the intersection of Routes 299 and 9W. All three are opened and in use; only the New Paltz stop needs to be blacktopped, “but it’s usable,” said Ruiz.

Markowitz said that DOT and Adirondack Trailways are working together to increase service from the Highland and New Paltz park-and-ride stops, and that the current park and ride in New Paltz will be expanded to hold 140 cars by September 2007. “They are already at capacity,” said the DOT travel demand manager.

Farther south in Orange County, two new buses have replaced the Main Line Trolley that ran along the 17M corridor, and county transportation planners are hopeful that the new streamlined buses and expanded schedule will also benefit residents and encourage their use. “The goal is to get cars off the road,” said Richard Mayfield, press secretary to County Executive Ed Diana.

“Transit Orange” is the new logo for buses that will travel the Harriman-to-Middletown route, replacing the quaint-but-underused Main Line Trolley service.

Short Line’s recent announcement of expanded service and free park-and-ride lots in Orange County will also help boost public transportation use, said Mayfield.

“All the counties are definitely trying to fill a need,” said Markowitz. “As this region grows, local leaders are recognizing the need for people to be able to travel not just within their own county but county to county.

For a growing segment of the population, public transportation is more than just convenient. In some cases, it’s a must for those who can no longer drive.

“Nothing happens overnight,” said Ruiz. “We do have a bus that goes from Ulster to Newburgh right now, but we have a long road ahead of us before we see true regional transportation available.”

Markowitz said various transportation studies are factoring in the issue of underserved intercounty transit. “The study results confirm what we knew just from intuition and census data. In our Newburgh-Beacon connection, for example, the primary purpose is not to bring commuters to Beacon train station but to serve Stewart International Airport and downtown Newburgh.”

Newburgh’s 17K park-and-ride lot is serviced by the DOT, as is the ferry. “Both of these services have a good deal of potential to carry passengers who aren’t only going down to the city to work,” said Markowitz. “We are trying to promote them for county-to-county to travel to school or recreation, not just to get to jobs.”

Markowitz said he’s not sure which of the seven counties under his jurisdiction has the best system of in-county service: “They are all doing a tremendous job of trying to meet the demand of their communities.”

Like New York City’s five boroughs, the counties in the mid-Hudson DOT Region 8 share similar problems. “Every county in the metro area has its own system of transportation, and then they have to link up with neighboring boroughs. We face a similar challenge here,” said Markowtiz, “only we are more spread out and have less population demanding public transportation. But the Region 8 population is growing and so is demand for service.” Intercounty cooperation has been “tremendous,” said Markowitz, “But I think it will take another 10 years before we have streamlined intercounty transportation nailed down.”

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