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in Rensselaer County. Ridership has shown consistentgrowth on these services as their identity has becomeestablished with travelers in these areas.3. 2.effective form of transportation available to new jobsites. The broker arranges for these services via taxi orother means to the job site or to an access point for thefixed route system. These services have made itpossible for some participants to access employmentopportunities at hours when traditional public transitis not available.WELFARE TO WORK SERVICESThe Niagara Frontier Transit Authority operatesshuttle services in two cooperative efforts with the Erieand Niagara County Departments of Social Services.NFTA provides van service from the end point of fixedroute service to an industrial area of Orchard Park inNiagara County. The Authority is also providing afixed route shuttle service linking several communitiesto its fixed route service.3.3.BUS RAPID TRANSITA number of New York State transit operators arebeginning to implement elements of the Bus RapidTransit (BRT) service concept. BRT integrates a rangeof bus service improvement strategies to increase busspeeds in traffic and improve the accessibility andconvenience of bus services and facilities. By reducingbus travel times relative to other modes and improvingthe customer environment, BRT can dramaticallyimprove the attractiveness and competitive position ofbus service in major congested corridors.The Capital District Transportation Authority isproviding new service to Saratoga County, incooperation with the Saratoga County Department ofSocial Services. Modifications have been made toexisting fixed route service to reach developingemployment sites within the county. CDTA has alsocontracted with Upstate Transit to provide commuterservice from several points in Saratoga county to theAlbany Airport. The service allows County residentsthe opportunity to connect with the remainder ofCDTA’s fixed route network.Bus priority strategies can include: exclusiverights-of-way such as busways, exclusive lanes, signalpriority at key intersections or along corridors,reducing the number of stops or relocating stops to lesscongested areas. Reliability and on-time performancecan be improved by integrating improved fleetmanagement, via automatic vehicle location (AVL)systems. Improved fare collection technologies, suchas contactless Smart Cards, can speed up the boardingprocess.MTA LI Bus - In response to a request by the NassauCounty Department of Social Services, LI Bus hasextended the weekday and weekend operating hours ofan existing route servicing employment sites in NassauCounty. In addition the newly created service links tothe Hempstead Transit Center, providing improvedaccess to employment opportunities throughout theNYC Metropolitan area.BRT also integrates customer information elements ofIntelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) with moretraditional service “identity” and marketing strategies(such as color and image coordination) to improvecustomer awareness of service options. These strategieshelp reduce passenger anxiety about where and whenservice is available. Another traditional strategy that iswoven into the BRT concept is improving theintegration of customer waiting areas with surroundingland uses and streetscapes to make transit tripscomfortable, secure and convenient.Mobility Coordinators - A number of communitiesand transit systems, including Franklin and EssexCounties, CDTA and CNYRTA and have receivedTANF/JARC funding to employ “mobilitycoordinators.” A mobility coordinator typically worksclosely with employers, case workers, job placementcenters and new employees entering the job market toprovide transit training and route instructions.The CDTA Best Bus Program has been designated asone of the participating projects in the FTA BRTDemonstration Program. This project focuses on busroutes serving the 16 mile Central Avenue Corridorfrom Schenectady to Albany.Transportation Brokers - A TransportationBrokerage is a concept being implemented, withTANF/JARC funding by transit systems, includingCDTA, NFTA and Oneida County. New entrants tothe job market, who do not have access to the existingfixed route transit system, are provided the most costPlanned features of the service include: IntegratingV-4

transit signal priority with the regional coordinatedsignal system, integration of AVL system informationto optimize bus signal priority and selective redesignof bus loading areas to facilitate faster boarding andshorter dwell times. The Best Bus project is expectedto improve service by providing shorter run times,higher frequency service, potential lengthening of spanof service, coordinated schedules with connectingroutes and improved schedule adherence.assessment study funded by NYSDOT through theRural Transit Assistance Program (RTAP). The fixedroute transit system, designed to serve an urban coremanufacturing-based economy, was not well suited toserve the more distributed employment and populationpatterns that have developed in recent years and hadexperienced a steadily declining ridership and risingcosts. The demand responsive service has nowsuccessfully been implemented using smaller buses toprovide easier maneuverability and cost efficiency.Staten Island Brooklyn Integrated MobilityProgram: TEA-21 discretionary funds are helping tofund this project, which includes a number of BRTelements to improve bus service in the Staten Islandand Brooklyn. The project will improve customerinformation and operational coordination at St. GeorgeFerry Terminal, provide bus priority treatment en-routeto the Ferry, along with installation of commuter businformation signs, passenger enhancements at parkand ride and MTA Staten Island Railroad (SIR)stations.Tourism Employment and Seasonal Services - In anumber of rural counties and small cities peak travelseason is accompanied by major congestion onconfined city and village street networks designed formuch lower traffic volumes. Seasonal trolley serviceshave been introduced providing a means for visitorsand employees to get back and forth to tourist sites,restaurants and shops. Public transportation is helpingto support the economies of areas that depend ontourism for financial stability. Examples of these typesof service include:This project, in coordination with other bus priorityinitiatives described below, will enhance the operationsof express bus service from Staten Island throughBrooklyn into Lower Manhattan, via a coordinatednetwork of priority facilities including:Essex County provides service in the LakePlacid area, including Whiteface Mountain.Equipped with ski racks and bike racks,Essex County’s public transit system is ableto conveniently carry seasonal visitors andworkers to their destinations.Staten Island Expressway (SIE) Bus MedianShoulder Lane: NYSDOT has implemented a busonly median shoulder lane on the SIE as an element ofa resurfacing project between the SIR and theVerrazano Narrows Bridge. This bus lane is the firstphase of a connected bus shoulder lane to beimplemented from Todt Hill Area to the VerrazanoNarrows Bridge.Cities of Oneonta and Kingston, each offerloop services around historic and other touristlocations during their peak tourist seasons.The City of Hudson provides trolley busservice year-round in its historic downtowndistrict.Gowanus Bus/HOV Lane Continuation: NYSDOTmaintains a Bus/HOV lane from the VerazzanoNarrows Bridge to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel.Originally designated as a temporary congestionmitigation measure during the construction of theGowanus/Prospect Expressway Interchange, this Bus/HOV feature has now become permanent.3.4.Public Transportation and Human ServiceTransportation Coordination: The NYS QualityCommunities Interagency Task Force identified a needfor increased efforts to coordinate public and humanservices transportation in rural and small urbanizedareas. The Passenger Transportation Division hasprovided assistance, formerly via the Rural PublicTransportation Coordination Assistance Program(RPTCAP) funding coordination studies, and now viamore informal coordination efforts, funded through theRTAP and other sources.RURAL MOBILITY:Amsterdam Community Transit - RestructuredService Model: The City of Amsterdam hasrestructured its formerly fixed route service as a dial-aride system in response to the findings of a serviceOne of the more successful systems emerging fromV-5

these efforts has been Schoharie County, whichinitiated service 25 years ago with two vans operatedby the Council of Senior Citizens. This service nowoperates as a County Department, housed in its owngarage. Schoharie County has made a transition fromclient-based service to being an open to the publicoperation, with commuter service, route deviation, anddemand responsive service throughout the County andinto neighboring urban areas. The Department, as partof the Quality Communities Initiative, will seek toreplicate the success of Schoharie County elsewherearound the State.3.5evaluation of a range of transit service strategies,including new services and Bus Rapid Transitconcepts.3.6FERRY SERVICE EXPANSIONOver the past several years, there has been a majorresurgence in the use of ferries in New York State. Inthe New York City area 15 ferry routes are nowoperated daily carrying approximately 100,000passengers. The longest established of these services,the publicly operated Staten Island Ferry, is by far thelargest of these services, carrying 65,000 persons ona daily basis. Newer private operators, all of whominitiated service after 1986, currently carryapproximately 35,000 daily commuters.TRANSIT SERVICE RE-STRUCTURINGSTUDIESA number of transit operators in New York State haveresponded to changing market conditions byundertaking ambitious efforts to study the potential forservice re-structuring to aid in better meeting changingtravel needs in their service areas.New York Metro Area Commuter Ferry NetworkThese efforts have been particularly active upstate,where shifting population within service areas haspresented the greatest operational challenges. Studiesundertaken by NFTA (Hublink) and CNYRTA (ReMap) and ongoing service evaluation activitiesundertaken by CDTA and R-GRTA, have includedexpert route analysis, market research and publicoutreach to customers to help devise new responsiveroutes and route extensions, oriented to non-traditionalmarkets, such as growing suburban employmentcenters. These studies have provided the foundation fordesigning and implementing new services in responseto the Welfare to Work market.Chemung County Transit has begun a route analysisstudy that will provide an assessment of options forroute and service restructuring to more efficiently meetthe changing conditions of their market area.During the last ten years a number of new private ferrycompanies started operations and existing companiesgreatly expanded their services. These ferry serviceshave expanded into a range of new markets includingcommuter services, tourism (excursions, events,recreations), and interstate connections.Downstate the Long Island Bus Study, led by a multiagency working group, followed a similarmethodology. This study led to the introduction of newservices by both MTA Long Island Bus and SuffolkCounty Transit, serving suburban employmentlocations and parking constrained LIRR stations.Many excursion routes have been created around theNew York City area to connect with the popular touristdestinations (West Point, Tarrytown), shuttle servicesfor special events (Yankee, Mets and West Pointgames) and seasonal recreational activities (SandyHook beaches, New Jersey). Several new interstateroutes have been started from Montauk and Glen CoveNYSDOT Region 10 has led a broad ranging effort,Long Island Transportation Plan (LITP 2000), to lookat multi-modal mobility issues on Long Island over a10 year horizon. Included in this study is anV-6

on Long Island, connecting New York with three otherstates across Long Island Sound.beginning in the late 1980's.4.The most significant development and growth in ferryservices has been in the area of commuter service. Theoperations of most of these services is not publiclysubsidized.TRANSIT SUPPORTIVE ACTIONSIn addition to supporting the introduction of new andinnovative transit services to improve mobility in theState, there are a number of supportive actions thatNew York State’s transit operators, NYSDOT andother transportation stakeholders are taking to improvethe quality and customer convenience of publictransportation, making it a more viable travel option inchanging markets.However, in most instances the government has playedan important role by funding capital infrastructureimprovements and providing boat landing facilities.The Federal Ferry Boat Discretionary (FBD) Program,along with TEA-21 Flex funds, have been dedicated todeveloping land-side facilities to support thisimportant and growing mode of public transportation.4.1.The re-emergence of ferry operations as a commuterservice began with the initiation of service by NewYork Waterway in 1986 with their Trans-Hudsonservice from Weehawken, New Jersey to MidtownManhattan. In 1986, its first year, total private ferryridership was 6,584 passengers. By 1990 ferry servicehad seen a dramatic increase in ridership with NewYork Waterway’s two routes serving nearly 3 milliontrips.METROCARD FARE POLICIES ANDINCENTIVESIn July, 1997, the Metropolitan TransportationAuthority (MTA) began implementing the MetroCardprogram on a system wide basis for services operatedby the MTA, private bus services sponsored by theNew York City Department of Transportation(NYCDOT) and suburban bus service operated inNassau County by MTA Long Island Bus.The MetroCard program, a series of fare discountsoffered by MTA, has been remarkably successful inincreasing transit ridership throughout the New Yorkmetropolitan region. Fare discounts/incentivesimplemented under the MetroCard program since 1997have included:Since 1990 ferry services have continued this dramaticgrowth, playing an increasingly important role inaccess to Manhattan. Two more companies (New YorkFast Ferry and Seastreak) began services from fourterminals in New Jersey during this time. New YorkWaterway expanded services, creating new routes fromNew Jersey to Manhattan and one service across theHudson River (Haverstraw-to-Ossining), to connectpassengers with Metro-North Rail Road.Currently ferry operators provide service from 18terminals: 4 in Manhattan, 12 in New Jersey, 1 inRockland County and 1 in Westchester County. Totalannual ridership in year 2000 surpassed 9,000,000passengers with the number of daily riders between30,000-35,000 passengers. Ferry ridership has grownin each quarter over the 10 year period from 1990 to2000.Ferry services are making a tremendous and growingcontribution to serving the commuter needs the NewYork City area. This level of innovation is even moreremarkable when it is considered that, aside from thewell established and heavily utilized Staten IslandFerry, there was no significant ferry service in theregion prior to the re-emergence of the private carriers Free bus to subway or subway to bus transfer effectively eliminating the two fare zone; Elimination of the fare for pedestrianpassengers on the Staten Island Ferry; Establishment of an 11 for 10 discountprogram, whereby an individual whopurchases 10 rides will automatically get the11th ride for free; Reduction of express bus fares by 25% (from 4.00 to 3.00). Implementation of 30-day, 7-day and 1-dayfun passes providing unlimited rides.These fare incentives have greatly contributed to thedramatic ridership increases experienced byparticipating systems. For example, comparing thefirst half of 1997, before the MetroCard fare incentivesV-7

went into effect, with the first half of 1999, after all theMetoCard fare incentives went into effect, shows thatNYCT ridership went up 19%.Automated Vehicle Location Systems - Many of NewYork State’s transit operators have begun to deployautomated vehicle location systems (AVL). TheseAVL systems provide dispatching and control centerswith real time information on bus location, on timeperformance and support opportunities for improveddynamic dispatching, timing of transfers betweenroutes, traffic signal priority for buses and real-timebus arrival information for customers at bus stops andon board the transit vehicle.Similar ridership increases occurred on NYCDOTprivate bus and MTA-Long Island Bus services.Comparing 1996 annual ridership with 2000 annualridership shows that NYCDOT ridership went up by33.8% and MTA-LIB ridership went up by 16.6%.4.2.TRANSITINTELLIGENTTRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS (ITS)The investment in this AVL infrastructure permitsongoing improvements in the efficiency and customerfriendliness of the transit network in New York State.Among the operators who are implementing thistechnology are MTA NYC Transit, NFTA, CDTA, RGRTA, CNYRTA, MTA LI Bus and WestchesterCounty Bee-Line.Sustaining and increasing high levels of ridership inNew York State requires careful attention to the needsof transit riders as customers. Providing reliableservice that is convenient, comfortable service and easyto navigate is essential to sustaining ridership amongcustomers with transportation choices.TRIPS 123 - TransitAdvisor: As a major projectcomponent of TRIPS 123, the New York/NewJersey/Connecticut federally funded ITS ModelDeployment Initiative, Transit Advisor will provide anInternet-based transit trip itinerary planning system forthe public. Transit Advisor will allow travelers, viathe Internet or at kiosks, to specify their travel origin,destination and time of travel preferences and receivea custom itinerary drawing from all of the transitservices that are available in the New YorkMetropolitan region. This user-friendly one-stopInternet resource for customized schedule informationis a major step forward in making the complex transitNew York State transit operators, supported byNYSDOT, have sought to improve the customerenvironment by applying emerging informationtechnologies to improve service efficiency andreliability, as well as to better communicate traveloptions to the customer.Transit Intelligent Transpor

The State Innovative Mobility Demonstration (IMD) Program, established through two State appropriations in SFY 1993-94 and SFY 1994-95 totaling 1.5 million, supports up to two years of supplemental operating funding for innovative services that increase mobility by providing viable alternatives to automobile travel.