Track to the future

Headnote

As ridership continues to rise, convenient, efficient rail service in the New York City metropolitan area is a top priority for those shaping the area's transit future.

If you can make it here, you can make it anywhere. But first, you've got to find a way in, and that's a whole different tune.

In order to accommodate current commuters, as well as the predicted future surge in ridership, transit agencies in and around New York City are putting rail projects in motion today that will help provide easier access to the Big Apple's core tomorrow.

The future is under construction in New York, with various transit initiatives either under way or in development all around the city. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey is in the midst of constructing a rail system to improve access to Manhattan from JFK International Airport, and a similar project is nearly complete at Newark International Airport. Meanwhile, another project under way will reduce delays on subway lines between Queens and the East Side of Manhattan, and new railcars are slowly being inserted into the system as they pass inspection. And amid all the heavy construction are a handful of smaller projects, not as visible but just as viable, that will solidify the future of New York's transit system.

Modernization and expansion projects now under way-with heavy emphasis on commuter rail, heavy rail, and light rail-add up to around $25 billion over a period of around five years. More projects costing more billions are being readied for the pipeline.

While most of these projects utilize conventional systems and subsystems, New York is also something of a technological testbed for the expanding universe of rail transit.

"New York has long-term strategic objectives for using advance technology to improve the reliability and the level of service provided the customers," says Alan Rumsey, vice president-advance technologies at Parsons Transportation Group.

"The challenge New York faces is, how do you implement new technology on such a large system? It takes many years, and many contracts, to do a system-wide implementation."

PTG is heavily involved in a three-tiered project structured around revitalizing the existing subway system in New York. According to Rumsey, "these three projects are the cornerstones, or the foundation,...