ALBANY – A regional study to improve transportation on the West Side of the Hudson River has begun.
Governor Kathy Hochul and Congressman Pat Ryan announced the initiative to be led by the State Department of Transportation.
The majority of commuter rail service is on the east side of the river – the Hudson, Harlem and New Haven rail lines. They all end at Grand Central terminal in Manhattan.
West Shore service is on the Port Jervis to Hoboken and Pascack Valley lines, neither of which provides one-seat service to the Big Apple.
The transit study will focus on bus service improvements and connections to existing rail lines and ferries.
A study is long overdue, said Dan Depew, president of the Construction Contractors Association of the Hudson Valley.
Most people when they think of improved public transportation in the Hudson Valley are looking for some type of a cross-Hudson spur that would allow folks to pick up the rail line from Port Jervis down through the Town of Wallkill-Middletown and then maybe have a spur that runs across the river,” he said. “I think that’s really where we need to go.”
Ryan said the West of Hudson Transit Study will center on service improvements to bus networks, including local routes, regional commuter bus service, and microtransit.
He said it will also review ferry services and transit bus enhancements to existing rail corridors.
There is currently commuter ferry service across the river from Ossining and Haverstraw. Recently, Metro-North terminated its Newburgh-Beacon ferry service because of lack of ridership.
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