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"You’ll
get where you want when you want."
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| What is East
End Shuttle* and How Does It Work? East
End Shuttle
is proposed as a new, coordinated shuttle train and bus network for the
five East End towns. It will provide reliable public transportation
from Speonk to Montauk on the South Fork and from Ronkonkoma to Orient
Point on the North Fork. Here’s how it will work:
Shuttle trains on existing railroad tracks will arrive at train stations in the five East End towns as often as every thirty minutes during peak periods, seven days a week, year round. There will be twenty-one rail shuttle stations in the new system - fifteen existing stations, five reactivated stations and one new station. Seamless transfers will occur from trains to shuttle buses waiting at the stations to transport passengers to stops close to their final destinations along shuttle bus routes in surrounding villages and hamlets. Shuttle buses will also pick up passengers at stops and bring them to the train stations. Enhanced bus stops will have parking facilities and a shelter with benches. The Shuttle network will replace Long Island Rail Road trains and Suffolk County Transit buses on the East End. Shuttle trains will connect at Speonk and Ronkonkoma with LIRR trains destined for stops farther west on Long Island and Manhattan. How much are the fares? The goal is to design The Shuttle to be very affordable — comparable to the $1 average fare charged by Suffolk County Transit buses for the use of the shuttles on the East End. Who will pay to operate The Shuttle? Right now, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which owns the LIRR, collects more than $60 million in taxes each year from East End taxpayers. The Shuttle network is estimated to cost less than $40 million annually to operate and will be paid for from a portion of these existing MTA taxes. Who will operate The Shuttle? A proposed East End Transportation Authority comprised of representatives of the five East End towns will be created to contract out and oversee the actual operation of The Shuttle. * The proposal of an East End Shuttle was validated by the Volpe Center, U.S. Department of Transportation, in Cambridge, Massachusetts in its June 2009 final report. The report was paid for by New York State. Efforts are now underway to finance the next steps through the U.S. Congress and the New York State legislature. Cape Cod Has an
RTA System that Works
Cape Cod has a
transportation system The Shuttle
would like to emulate. Please visit their site: Cape Cod Regional Transit
Authority.To see how people there use their system, try these films: Retirees Workers Young People |
Recent Updates
Five Town Rural Transit Press Release 2/22/2010 - Becoming "Transit Independent " on the East End Five Town Rural Transit Press Release 2/9/2010 - Five Point Plan to take Responsibility for Public Transit Assemblymen Thiele's and Alessi's Bill for a Non-Binding Referendum for a Peconic Bay Regional Transit Authority and Senator LaValle Companion Senate Bill Volpe Final Report 2009 Volpe Existing Conditions Report, July 2008 Five Reasons to Support The Shuttle 1. It will help reduce traffic and parking congestion. The Shuttle will be designed for East End residents, workers, second homeowners and visitors alike. If, as expected, 10% to 15% of drivers use the new system, it will significantly reduce gridlock now existing on the East End. Everyone will bene lit, even those who don’t use the system. 2. The Shuttle will provide service as often as every 30 minutes, seven days a week, year round. The Shuttle will operate every day year round, not just during the summer months. 3. The Shuttle will be affordable. The Shuttle is a far more efficient use of our MTA taxes than the present LIRR trains. This more efficient use of taxes will help keep fares low. 4. It will protect the environment. Less road traffic means less pollution. The Shuttle will take thousands of cars off our roads every day — reducing fuel consumption and pollution. 5. It will improve transportation on the East End. The Shuttle will provide, for the first time, local control over public transportation on the East End. It will replace LIRR trains and Suffolk County Transit buses. It will allow passengers to move around the East End faster and easier while reducing car traffic. |
| The
East End Shuttle concept has
been developed by: Five Town Rural Transit. Inc. Officers and Board of Directors Kathleen Cunningham Faraone (East Hampton), President Patricia Shillingburg (Shelter Island), Treasurer Margaret Brown (Southold), Secretary Josephine DeVincenzi (Southampton), Board Member James Ellwood (Riverhead), Board Member John Rooney (Southold), Board Member Tom Ruhle (East Hampton), Board Member Vince Taldone (Riverhead), Board Member Five Town Rural Transit, Inc. was first established as a citizen committee of residents from the five East End Towns in early 2004 and then incorporated as a non-profit organization in early 2005. The organization’s mission is to research and develop improved public transportation concepts for the East End.  Five Town Rural Transit, Inc. P.O. Box 3032 Shelter Island Heights, NY 11965 Tel: 631-749-3028 • Fax: 631-749-3031 email:Katheen Cunningham Faraone, President |
The following
documents are available here as .pdf files: East End Transit Survey - Executive Summary East End Transit Survey - Full Report East End Shuttle Development Proposal Presentation East End Shuttle Development Proposal Narrative, with Appendixes Our Press from December 12, 2005 to January 19, 2006 SEEDS Demographic Analysis December 12, 2005 Press Release, Announcing December 12, 2005 Launch of East End Shuttle Development Proposal July 28, 2005 - Press Release, Announcing Results of Survey September 18, 2006 - Press Release - Announcing the Recept of the New York State Shared Municipal Services Grant for Feasibility Study of the East End Shuttle April 2, 2007 - Press Release Announcing a meeting with the LIRR Suffolk Life - November 11, 2007 U.S. Department of Transportation Volpe Center - Synopsis of Work Why Improve Public Transit on the East End of Long Island? (A White Paper PDF) Community Transportation Magazine Article, Spring 2007 |
