Authors

Zhexuan Tang, Malik Salman

Research Question

Should the full length of the LIRR Rockaway Beach Line be fully reintegrated into the existing New York City Transit subway system? What is the projected ridership of new subway stations on the IND Rockaway Beach Line, and what larger ramifications might they have on the New York City Transit subway network?

Background

This project addresses the absence of a direct north-south subway connection in Queens, which forces residents to use existing east-west subway routes inefficiently, leading to longer travel times and exacerbating congestion on municipal roads and highways.

Methodology

By presenting a quantitative point of view on the LIRR Rockaway Beach Branch reactivation with respect to the impact to stakeholders on the alignment and the larger subway network, “QueensLink Ridership Study: The Case for Full Reactivation and Integration of the LIRR Rockaway Beach Branch into the New York City Subway System” quantifies the benefits and makes the case for improved transit access, reduced congestion, and enhanced connectivity of underserved communities in Queens, the largest borough in New York City. Ridership projections—both by station and system-wide—are generated using the U.S. Federal Transit Administration’s Simplified Trips-On-Project Software (STOPS), a software designed for mixed-mode transit ridership estimation.

Deliverables

• An Academic Report lays out the history, past efforts, and current progress of the local grassroots proposal of the full reactivation of the LIRR Rockaway Beach Branch into the IND Rockaway Beach line of New York City subway. It contains a detailed methodology on the software application and usage, service design rationale, ridership findings, network impacts and analysis, operational expenditure comparison, and final recommendations based on the in-depth exploration of several variations of the subway service patterns running on the right-of-way and larger subway network.

Datasets