INTERMODAL TRANSFERS
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Why is this important?
Promoting effective train-bus connections increases transportation options and provides a reliable alternative to the use of cars. This reduction helps decrease traffic during peak hours and improves air quality overall for the region. Reliable intermodal connection also provides additional job opportunities to people who would not be able to access them without a vehicle. In addition, coordinated intermodal transportation allows “reverse” commuters from New York City to access jobs that are not currently located within walking distance of a train station.
How are we doing?
Long Island has one of the densest networks of suburban train stations in the country, with 98 LIRR stations in Nassau and Suffolk Counties. The region also has a rich network of buses with Long Island Bus providing 54 routes in Nassau, the City of Long Beach providing three routes within its boundaries, and Suffolk County Bus and the Huntington Area Rapid Transit System providing a combined 56 routes. While 84% of all LIRR train stations have an associated bus line, only 57% of the train stations have two or more bus lines which limits travel choices.
The average transfer times1 between bus and trains vary widely: 18 minutes in Nassau County, 25 minutes in Suffolk County; a high of 27 minutes for the Oyster Bay train line and a low of 11 minutes for the Hempstead and West Hempstead train lines.
Relying on a combination of buses and trains becomes a viable alternative to using a car if the schedules are closely coordinated making the time it takes to transfer from one to the other relatively quick. Using a transfer time of five to ten minutes gives a commuter a grace period for delayed trains or traffic. Based on these definitions, morning commuters are more likely to have a train to bus connection than the evening commuters, suggesting that getting home would be much more difficult than getting to the train station.
1Transfer time is defined as the time period between the arrival of a train at a train station and the departure time for a bus from that train station or the reverse (arrival time of a bus at a train station and the departure of the train from that station). This analysis is based on data for trains at stops in Nassau and Suffolk and the associated buses leaving between 7-9am and 5-7pm on weekdays only.