Here are 14 possible ways to get to LaGuardia in the future

buses, subways, light rail, a ferry — here's what the Port Authority pitched [FORWARD TO A FRIEND]( [VIEW IN BROWSER]( [DONATE]( [WNYC Politics Brief] After scrapping Cuomo's AirTrain, Port Authority releases 14 other options for transit to LaGuardia Plus: Double-parked cars are sabotaging good bus service. The MTA's chair wants to be able to ban repeat offenders from the transit system. And the retired R-32 subway cars had their final ride ... down a Sunset Park street. By James Ramsay --------------------------------------------------------------- 🚆 --------------------------------------------------------------- [a rendering of one option for a subway extension to LaGuardia] Port Authority of New York and New Jersey One of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s first moves in office was to pause her predecessor's plans for a $2 billion AirTrain to LaGuardia Airport, and to ask the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to come up with other options. On Wednesday, the Port Authority [released sketches for 14 alternative ways]( to get to the airport via public transit[.]( The ideas include several new bus routes, which advocates have said are a low-cost, efficient way to get people to the airport, and could be put in place far quicker than the time it would take to build new rail lines, for examples. The proposed bus lines include a new dedicated route along the Q70 line, which connects to the 7 train’s Roosevelt Avenue station in Jackson Heights; a route for the M60 from Manhattan across 125th Street, the RFK Bridge and down Astoria Boulevard to LaGuardia; and a dedicated shuttle bus lane running between the airport and the Astoria Boulevard N/W subway stop. Other options include light rail routes that would run above and below ground through Woodside, Jamaica Station, Astoria and Jackson Heights, and one that would connect to the Mets-Willets Point 7 train stop, along a similar route as the original AirTrain proposal. A proposal to extend the NYC Ferry system would involve a line that goes from Wall Street to E. 34th Street to E. 90th Street before crossing the East River and heading to the airport. And there's a pitch to extend the N/W subway line from 30th Street Station, or Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard, to LaGuardia, though that would likely be among the most costly options. Finally, the Port Authority left open the possibility that new technologies that haven’t been proven effective may still be considered, such as "narrow tunnels with electric vehicles" — an idea pushed by Tesla founder Elon Musk. "There are a lot of promising options before us, but I’ll reiterate what I said when we were fighting the original plan: this needs community input," said State Senator Jessica Ramos. "I need to hear more from my neighbors, so before I endorse a particular option, my office will conduct additional outreach and host opportunities for my community to discuss each of the plans in turn." The Port Authority said a questionnaire about these options was sent to 70 "key stakeholders," including elected officials and community organizations. In March, there will be two public meetings to discuss these 14 pitches. — [Reporting by Stephen Nessen]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 🚆 --------------------------------------------------------------- Six years in, advocates say this bus service improvement plan still has a ways to go [the M11 bus stops on the West Side of Manhattan] DW Labs/Shutterstock The progress created as a result of the Better Buses campaign, which launched in 2016, has stalled, according to advocates who rallied outside Brooklyn Borough Hall this week along with the borough presidents of Brooklyn, Queens, and Manhattan. "There’s so much double parking around the areas of business," said Pablo Valdez-Rivera, a Bed-Stuy resident who's part of the group Riders Alliance. "The bus often has to let us out on the street because the bus is not able to reach the curb." Among this coalition's demands: Restart bus network redesigns, invest in expanded and more frequent service, start all-door boarding to speed up routes, improve traffic and parking enforcement in bus lanes, and upgrade bus stop amenities and pedestrian connections. In August of 2021, the MTA and the city Department of Transportation launched a joint initiative to improve bus service with measures that included automated ticketing for drivers blocking the bus lanes. MTA Chair Janno Lieber said he would continue prioritizing bus service as a "key component" of the agency's commitment to transit equity. "The bus network is especially critical to those who live farther from the subway, and bus riders tend to be from New York’s economically disadvantaged communities," Lieber said. "We need more bus lanes and busways, better signal priority, strategic bus system redesigns, and more camera enforcement." — [Reporting by Stephen Nessen]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 🚆 --------------------------------------------------------------- Here's What Else Is Happening The NYC Department of Transportation plans to elevate 100 crosswalks a year in an effort to stop drivers from hitting people crossing the street. Of the city's 40,000 intersections, only 17 currently have raised crosswalks, which are accompanied by signs telling drivers to slow down to 15 mph. Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said the city is committed to installing 100 raised crosswalks each year, with the most dangerous intersections being prioritized. The city also said it will increase enforcement for drivers who fail to yield to pedestrians. ([The New York Times]( The MTA will fix more than 250 of its newest express buses to create more leg room. The new blue and yellow express buses that hit the roads in 2020 have less leg room than the previous models, but after fielding complaints about the issue, the MTA has agreed to reconfigure the seats to make more space. Advocates stressed the need for improving express bus conditions as workers from outer boroughs start to return to their Manhattan offices. ([THE CITY]( MTA Chair Janno Lieber wants the transit agency to be able to ban repeat criminals. After a 42-year-old man with a record of attacking subway riders allegedly threw a bag of feces at a woman in Bronx subway station last month, the head of the MTA said Thursday that the agency should be allowed to ban people like this suspect from entering the system again. As of now, state judges are allowed to ban people from the subways and buses for three years if they're convicted of a sex crime against a transit worker or rider. ([AM New York]( The head of NYC's Taxi and Limousine Commission resigned yesterday as news broke that she cussed out her coworkers in a meeting last month. Aloysee Heredia Jarmoszuk, who'd been appointed by former Mayor Bill de Blasio, told employees in a Zoom meeting not to "bitch and complain" about working weekends, and said she'd "fucking come for" one worker for allegedly messing with the mute function on the conference call. She resigned just hours after the New York Post, which obtained a recording of the meeting, called the city for a comment. ([New York Post]( New Jersey could soon lift its ban on drivers pumping their own gas. A bipartisan group of lawmakers in Trenton has introduced a bill that would allow people to fill up their own gas tanks, something that hasn't been permitted in 73 years. They argue that by getting rid of the law that forces drivers to have an attendant pump their gas, drivers will save money at the pump, and gas stations will be able to save money on payroll. ([NJ.com]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 🚆 --------------------------------------------------------------- And Finally: The iconic R-32 train cars took their final ride ... on a Brooklyn street [a subway car moves across a street]( Mr. Railfan/[YouTube]( The R-32 subway cars, also known as Brightliners because of their shiny soup-can-looking exteriors, were retired from use earlier this year after serving the subway system for nearly 60 years. Now, they're destined for a scrap heap in Ohio. But to get there, they had to reach a barge and cross the Hudson River, a process that involved driving the train cars through Sunset Park, Brooklyn, where old train lines are still embedded in the waterfront streets. See the trains in action in the video above. — [Reporting by Jen Carlson]( --------------------------------------------------------------- 🚆 --------------------------------------------------------------- Support WNYC + Gothamist Make a donation to support local, independent journalism. Your contributions are our largest source of funding and pays for essential election coverage and more. [DONATE]( [Facebook]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [Instagram]( [WNYC]( [WQXR]( [NJPR]( [GOTHAMIST]( [WNYC STUDIOS]( [THE GREENE SPACE]( Copyright © New York Public Radio. 160 Varick Street, New York, NY 10013 All rights reserved. [Terms of Use.]( Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your [preferences]( or [unsubscribe]( from this list