Ever feel that the mass transit system is seriously lacking along the Brooklyn-Queens waterfront?
So have a few other ambitious people involved in a nonprofit called, the Friends of the Brooklyn Queens Connector, who funded a study to develop a plan for a $1.7 billion streetcar route between Sunset Park and Astoria.
This streetcar route is aimed at connecting about 10 different neighborhoods by streetcars to provide neighborhoods access to job hubs outside of the subway system.
With the waterfront adding new residential and office spaces, this new transit system will transport around 15.8 million passengers a year, or so the study has found.
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The group has found advocates in many places, including experts in the field of transportation.
Mitchell Moss, director of NYU's Rudin Center for Transportation Policy and Management who is unaffiliated with the group, stated, "[this] is a brilliant way to tie together several different areas, which offer jobs, which offer housing, which offer recreation."
What about that little $1.7 billion price tag we mentioned? The study found that the streetcar usage would bring in about $3.7 billion in new tax revenue. Even with the estimated $26 million costs a year to run the tram, the project's profits would more than pay for the estimated construction cost.
If approved, this project could begin construction as early as 2019. However, the Friends of the Brooklyn Queens Connector still need to garner support for this project, especially with the de Blasio administration, but the outlook looks hopeful.
"We are always open to new ideas that can help build the 21st century transportation system New Yorkers deserve," said a spokesman for Mayor de Blasio, Wiley Norvell.
We're hoping that this reaches the desk of Mayor de Blasio soon because this would be a pretty awesome new transportation option for New Yorkers.
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[via New York Daily News] [Feature Image Courtesy New York Daily News]