In the past two decades, one single issue loomed over the region's transportation network: capacity. Shifts in commuting patterns, the distribution of the population and the focus of job growth in and around Manhattan have led to dramatic increases to every form of transportation. Bridges and tunnels are plagued with congestion. NJ TRANSIT's rail ridership has quadrupled since 1984. Trains are very crowded and there is no room to grow. This crisis threatens the economic prosperity of both New Jersey and New York and the region's ability to attract good employers, and diminishes the quality of life for commuters and residents alike. Something needs to be done.
For a long time, the idea of doubling commuter rail capacity between New Jersey and New York with the ARC Tunnel existed more as a concept than a possibility. It remained as a decade-long planning effort that struggled to generate interest in New Jersey and throughout the region. This general ambivalence ignored reality, which showed a remarkably consistent surge in traffic at the Hudson River crossings and ridership on NJ TRANSIT trains in and out of New York.
This year alone, NJ TRANSIT will provide 46 million passenger trips to Penn Station New York, a staggering 150-percent increase in just the last 10 years. As in many instances, sober realities accompany progress and expansion. With rising gas prices driving record high ridership, the NJ TRANSIT rail network has reached its practical capacity during peak periods, and we must now come to terms with the limitations of the century-old infrastructure that carries all commuter rail trains between New Jersey and New York.
The numbers, the projections, the various planning scenarios all have pointed to one conclusion: ARC must be built.
In years past, proposals to build more tracks under the Hudson River were raised, but gathered no momentum, due primarily to a lack of regional collaboration.
Fortunately, we find ourselves at a unique moment in the region's history with bi-state and bi-partisan leadership that has dispensed with political subdivisions for the sake of a project that will serve as one of our generation's signature infrastructure developments.
In short, today's century–old passenger rail system under the Hudson River, which connects New York and New Jersey has reached its capacity, and serves as a bottleneck that affects our region's mobility, health and economic future. The ARC project will break this bottleneck.
NJ TRANSIT has invested over $20 billion to transform our state's passenger rail system from an unconnected, irrational, irrelevant and underutilized resource into one of our region's most important and powerful economic engines. Unfortunately, today's rail system, which includes century–old infrastructure, is reaching its limits without additional expansion.
The 100-year-old rail network, built and designed for intercity (long-distance) transportation, is not well suited to function primarily as a commuter rail system. The system's pinch point is between Secaucus and New York City, especially in the trans-Hudson tunnels and at Penn Station New York. Since the network is operated at practical capacity during the peak period, it is extremely susceptible to delays. Train congestion levels are such that problems with any particular train result in a series of cascading delays throughout the system. This situation is exacerbated by the lack of alternate track and tunnel options to continue service in the event of a disruption in the existing trans-Hudson tunnels. When it occurs during the peak period, one short-term train disruption of five minutes causes delays to 10 to 15 additional trains, affecting more than 10,000 passengers. ARC will create the additional tracks, tunnels and station capacity to reduce delays on the system.
Today, almost 75 percent of New Jersey residents live within five miles of a train station. Not only has this made our state and municipalities more economically successful, but is has removed hundreds of thousands of cars and the associated pollution from our congested roads.
Unfortunately, the existing commuter transportation system connecting New Jersey and New York, including the commuter rail system itself, is operating at or near full capacity. Trans-Hudson rail, bus, ferry and auto modes often are taxed well beyond their functional limit during peak periods, often creating delays stretching well beyond 30 to 60 minutes. Without ARC, the trans-Hudson transportation system, which is so critical to the regional and national economy, would be unable to accommodate the impending demand and congestion would swell beyond today's existing delays.
The Lincoln Tunnel, Holland Tunnel, and George Washington Bridge serve as the only trans-Hudson auto crossings between New Jersey and Manhattan, carrying more than a half million vehicles on a typical weekday in 2000. Between 1990 and 2000, total daily vehicle trips on these crossings grew by more than 13 percent from 482,243 to 548,465. High traffic volumes have outstripped crossing capacity, leading to a reduction in travel speeds, increased congestion, chronic delays and expanded peak travel hours.
An overwhelming majority of NJ TRANSIT buses carrying commuters into Midtown Manhattan utilize the Lincoln Tunnel via the 2.5-mile Exclusive Bus Lane (XBL), which connects to the New Jersey Turnpike and Route 3 to the Lincoln Tunnel. The XBL, the nation's busiest exclusive bus lane, carries roughly 690-700 peak hour buses, or almost one bus every five seconds. 91 percent of these buses travel to the Port Authority Bus Terminal (PABT), the world's busiest bus terminal. Both the XBL and PABT are reaching capacity.
With only one track in and one track out, our existing trans-Hudson rail system lacks redundancy and has the potential to be disrupted in the event of a natural or man-made disaster. By providing a new, separate and redundant trans-Hudson rail route, ARC will improve our ability to recover efficiently from an event or emergency.
The ARC project began with the initiation of the Access to the Region's Core Major Investment Study (MIS) in 1995 in which an initial list of 137 alternatives was identified, including bus, light rail, subway, Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) rail, commuter rail, ferry, new technologies, and auto. The screening process and selection of the ARC project we are advancing included participation of the public, transportation and environmental agencies, community, business and labor groups, elected officials, and hundreds of other interested parties in New Jersey and New York.
ARC includes the construction of two new tracks in the Meadowlands, two new single-track tunnels under the Hudson River and an expansion of Penn Station New York under 34th Street, including direct connections to NYC subways at 8th, 7th and 6th avenues, as well as PATH. Additional capacity and a connection to the Main, Bergen County, Pascack Valley and Port Jervis lines will allow for transfer-free service to Penn Station New York.
Construction began on June 8, 2009. Major tunneling work will begin in 2010, with other major contracts including construction of the Penn Station Expansion to follow.
Penn Station New York and its tunnels are reaching their capacity, especially during the morning peak period. At the height of the morning rush hour, the three railroads serving the station (NJ TRANSIT, Long Island Rail Road and Amtrak) deliver 61 trains per hour—a rate of more than one arriving train every minute. Many of these trains carry more than 1,500 passengers each into a station that was not designed for commuter traffic. There are not enough stairways, escalators, elevators or exits, nor are the platforms wide enough. Severe crowding and delays result.
As we double the number of trains arriving from West of Hudson, we need additional platform and station capacity associated with ARC.
When New York City's subways were constructed more than a century ago, there wasn't much below the surface of Manhattan's streets. It is quite a different story today. ARC's designers must carefully build around existing building foundations, water mains, electrical lines, sewers and a myriad of subway tunnels. Additionally, the geology of the area surrounding the new station precludes raising the station elevation.
This effort is not unlike similar projects in fully developed urban environments including Washington D.C.'s Metrorail system, which has almost 50 underground stations—some of them deeper than the expanded Penn Station. MTA's East Side Access and Number 7 Subway Line Extension projects also feature stations at similar depths.
ARC will double commuter rail capacity. This large service increase will provide more frequent trains, more express service, and for many residents, a direct (transfer-free) ride between their hometown and New York City.
The following rail lines will finally receive direct (transfer-free) service to Manhattan:
Main Line
Bergen County Line
Pascack Valley Line
Raritan Valley Line
Port Jervis Line
North Jersey Coast Line (points south of Long Branch)
Morristown Line (points west of Dover)
Boonton Line (points west of Montclair State University)
The Following rail lines will get more frequent and express service:
ARC will provide desperately needed trans-Hudson commuter rail capacity for the New Jersey/New York region, which serves as the center not just for regional commerce, but also represents our nation's leadership in world commerce.
During Construction ARC Will Generate:
6,000 Construction-related Jobs Annually (3,000 NJ, 3,000 NY)
$660 Million in New Gross Regional Product Annually ($330M NJ, $330M NY)
$390 Million in Real Personal Income Annually ($195M NJ, $195M NY)
$3.5 Billion in Total Real Personal Income throughout construction (adjusted for inflation)
Starting construction on a large-scale infrastructure project is the best way for the region to overcome the current recession. Essentially, with ARC estimated at $8.7 billion, our region has within its grasp the capacity to generate 6,000 new jobs per year at a time when our unemployment rate is rising. In addition, the American Public Transit Association calculates that every dollar spent on public transportation generates about $6 in economic returns. That means the ARC tunnel will create $45 billion of new economic activity that will benefit our region's residents.
Direct rail service has a positive impact on property values. In 2002, researchers at Columbia University studied real estate values around the Morris and Essex Lines since the introduction of MidTOWN DIRECT service. They found that homes within walking distance of MidTOWN DIRECT stations were worth about $90,000 more than comparable homes elsewhere in the same community.
ARC will benefit those who drive by providing the kind of traffic relief that is critical to our economy and our quality of life. Our region's residents spend too much time in their cars, and ARC will help reduce traffic, enabling residents to spend more time with their families.
The modern commuter station will allow customers to reach escalators without fighting crowds or waiting. With ARC, travelers will arrive directly and conveniently into subway concourses at 8th, 7th, and for the first time 6th Avenue and Herald Square. The new 6th Avenue connection will save customers close to 10 minutes a day versus the existing Penn Station.
NJ TRANSIT is projecting that the incremental fare revenue generated by the ARC project will exceed the incremental operating cost—meaning the farebox recovery ratio for ARC will exceed 100 percent. By expanding the core capacity of the existing rail network, the ARC project allows NJ TRANSIT to better leverage New Jersey's existing rail network to provide more one-seat (transfer-free) service to Manhattan. The high demand for "one-seat" service to Manhattan combined with the operating efficiencies of the ARC project will produce a cash-positive operation for the ARC service.
If we fail to expand the system, we will weaken our region's economy and add more cars to our already congested roads, affecting our environment, mobility, and quality of life.
