All Aboard L.I.R.R. Shuttle

A long hoped-for local shuttle-transport service, involving light diesel trains that would coordinate with buses and taxis, may be in place as soon as next year.

New York State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele Jr. announced recently that the Long Island Rail Road had agreed to explore a South Fork shuttle service similar to one that ran with success on a trial basis in 2007 and 2008.

“This is a major breakthrough, getting the L.I.R.R. to agree to this as a goal,” Supervisor Larry Cantwell said at an East Hampton Town Board meeting on Tuesday. Representatives from the five East End towns are expected to attend a strategy meeting with Patrick Nowakowski, the L.I.R.R. president, in Riverhead early next month.

A commitment on the part of Suffolk County and the local governments to provide connecting transportation services, marketing, and public outreach, in a campaign to gain riders, is key to the plan’s success, Mr. Thiele said. The initial goal would be to establish two morning shuttles and one in the afternoon.

“I view this as the first positive development for increased South Fork service in years,” said the assemblyman, who met with Mr. Nowakowski last month. “However, it will take a concerted effort among the L.I.R.R., local government, business leaders, and the community to make this successful. I look forward to leading this effort.”

With local governments, Mr. Thiele has worked to expand public transportation here for some years. Five Town Rural Transit, a grassroots organization, was instrumental in getting the pilot shuttle program on line. Mr. Thiele successfully pushed for the inclusion of $37.5 million in the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s 2013 budget for the purchase of lighter diesel trains to be used for shuttling, but the L.I.R.R. could not find such trains that were both compatible with their system and also met federal requirements.

Instead, diesel trains already owned by the railroad will be used, and the L.I.R.R. will use the $37.5 million for other capital projects.

Last Thursday, the town board voted to endorse the state’s proposed creation of a Peconic Bay Transportation Council, facilitating cooperation on public transport among East End town governments. According to the resolution, “Traffic congestion has resulted in increased trip delays, declining air quality, adverse impacts to historic and rural resources in  the region’s villages and hamlets, parking problems, [and] adverse impacts to residential communities and neighborhoods resulting from the diversion of traffic from major highways and arteries to rural residential streets and roads.”