Subway NY NJ proposes more prominently displaying ‘New York’s second subway”–PATH to New Jersey–on the NYC Subway map, for a more complete map of transit in the NY & NJ urban core. The map has a long history of including NJ subway connections. The current subway map also prominently displays AirTrain JFK, which connects terminals at John F. Kennedy International Airport with the A Train at Howard Beach, and the E, J, Z, and Long Island Rail Road at Jamaica. Like PATH, AirTrain JFK is operated by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The presence of AirTrain JFK on the NYC subway map sets a precedent for including other non-MTA transit services that directly connect to the subway system, accept the pay-per-ride MetroCard for fare payment, and serve transit needs in the urban core. PATH meets this threshold in all three ways: it is even more centrally located in the urban core than AirTrain JFK, also accepts the pay-per-ride MetroCard, and connects to 18 subway lines: B,D,F,M at 33rd, F,M at 23rd, 1,2,3,L,F,M at 14th, and 2,3,4,5,A,C,J,Z, and R at Fulton Center.

On Sunday, NorthJersey.com published an opinion piece by Philip Mark Plotch that shed light on the political attitudes that have led to the precarious and deteriorating state of cross-Hudson transit. Plotch is well-placed to offer this insight: he was previously director of WTC Development for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, a joint city-state public entity created to plan redevelopment of Lower Manhattan after the September 11 attacks. He is currently professor and director of the MPA program at St. Peter’s University, and author of Politics Across the Hudson, a book about the megaproject to rebuild the Tappan Zee bridge.

While writing his book, Plotch interviewed numerous New York state officials to better understand why they didn’t promote Access to the Region’s Core (ARC), the cross-Hudson tunnel project canceled by New Jersey Governor Chris Christie in 2010. Their answers, Plotch says, “made my head spin.” Continues…

As delays and interruptions become more frequent in the century-old North River Tunnels connecting New York and New Jersey, and the political debate grows louder over who will pay for the two new tunnels proposed by Amtrak, some context on the issue is helpful.

In May, the Port Authority, MTA, NJ Transit, Regional Plan Association, and Amtrak jointly convened a Trans-Hudson Summit to discuss the needs, challenges, and solutions for NY & NJ transit infrastructure. The Port Authority also prepared a Profile of the Regional Interstate Transportation Network, a snapshot of trends and market patterns:

Manhattan’s extraordinary concentration of high-value jobs would not be possible without its access to a huge, diverse, and talented labor market over a large geographic area that its extensive transit network makes possible. Efficient public transit is essential to providing the regional mobility needed to sustain its economic competitiveness. And interstate commuting to employment sites outside Manhattan has been growing as well. Access to skilled workers means gains in productivity and profitability for area businesses and a growing standard of living for the entire region.

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The New York & New Jersey Subway Map proposes more prominently displaying ‘New York’s second subway”–PATH to New Jersey–on the NYC Subway map, for a better map of transit in the NY & NJ urban core. There’s a precedent for this idea: subway maps in New York City have a long history of including the Hudson Waterfront and subway connections between New York and New Jersey.

Although the Hudson & Manhattan railroad (the precursor to PATH) was still under construction and revenue service wouldn’t begin until 1908, the 1906 Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) map showed the New Jersey waterfront, with Hoboken and Jersey City labeled, and ferry routes connecting NY & NJ:

After the IRT, BMT, and Independent Subway System (IND) were consolidated into a single system, the 1944 NYC Board of Transportation map included the Jersey City waterfront, H&M lines labeled “Hudson Tubes (to Newark)”, stations in Manhattan, and Exchange Place station in New Jersey: Continues…

At the MTA board committee meetings this week, officials showed a preview of the 34 St-Hudson Yards station, due to open later this spring. The station entrance canopy and surrounding park are complete, and the ventilation building will be surrounded by 55 Hudson Yards, a 51-story office tower outlined in yellow. To support the tower, two rows of five caissons are being sunk in the area adjacent to the ventilation building, six of which will be sunk between the two subterranean escalator banks that lead to the station’s mezzanine.

The 7 Train extension to Hudson Yards was funded by New York City using bonds backed by future tax revenues from the new Hudson Yards neighborhood.

34 St – Hudson Yards is not the deepest station in the system, but the station’s escalators span an 84-foot vertical drop, longer than any other in the subway system. For comparison, the escalators at Lexington Ave – 53 St station span a 56-foot vertical drop. Continues…