NYC's Top Light Rail Specialist Updates a Skeptical Public on the Brooklyn Queens Connector

RED HOOK, BROOKLYN — The city's point person for the proposed Brooklyn Queens Connector (BQX) led a public discussion on the project Thursday, sharing both illustrative details and showing how much remains to be determined about the final shape of any such system.

As proposed, the BQX light rail would run from Astoria, Queens to Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

Adam Giambrone, who previously headed the Toronto Transit Commission, was tapped in July to lead the Economic Development Corporation's examination of the BQX, which the agency is doing in conjunction with the Department of Transportation (DOT).

Earlier this month, the city posted maps showing possible routes for the train to follow, and is now conducting a new round of public outreach to solicit feedback.

Giambrone, who spoke before the transportation committee of Community Board 6, peppered his remarks with details about the theoretical system. Among them:

• Light rails, of which there are about 30 in the U.S., don't go deeper than about 2.5 feet in the ground, meaning sewer systems could largely be left untouched by the BQX's installation
• Subways cost significantly more more per mile than a light rail system. The 2nd Avenue Subway, for example, cost about $1 billion per mile, whereas the projected cost of the 16-mile BQX is $2.5 billion.
• High-speed bus systems with dedicated lanes can cost 80 percent of what a light rail system does
• The train's average speed, including stops, would be about 12 miles per hour, compared to an average speed of 20 m.p.h. for the city's subway system

Regarding the BQX's potential route, Giambrone and DOT official Jeff Peel, who also presented, made clear that nothing has been finalized. However, any potential route involves trade-offs, they said, and if the city moves forward with the plan, it must decide how to balance a variety of factors — such as which streets will maximize ridership, how to provide the BQX with as much dedicated right-of-way as possible, how it would impact area traffic, and what impact it would have on parking or curbside loading.

The BQX could run in the middle of some streets, Giambrone said, though not all. And on streets with low-hanging trees, it might rely on battery power, rather than its overhead wires.

The EDC and DOT will put out a detailed report on the feasibility of the system in the first quarter of 2017, and Giambrone said more route specificity would be included there — though he also said that picking final routes will involve much more planning and analysis.

A map showing possible routes in Red Hook. Image courtesy of the DOT and EDC.

The EDC official also repeatedly said the city wants the BQX to connect to the MTA system, adding that it would likely be integrated into that transit system's future payment method and pegged to the same price as a bus or subway ride.

However, he also said that finalizing a free transfer between the BQX and MTA would involve negotiations with the latter, which is a state-run entity.

Along those lines, Giambrone said that, "If I were the MTA, I wouldn't commit to anything" before having a solid sense of the BQX's ridership, currently estimated at 50,000 per day (though Giambrone said that number will likely change with adjustments to the train's proposed route).

While some at the meeting were supportive of the system, the EDC official handled multiple questions suggesting suspicion, or outright rejection, of the project.

One resident said Dallas' light rail system cost five billion dollars to build, suggesting the city's $2.5 billion price tag for the BQX was unrealistically small. But Dallas' system is "dramatically larger" than the BQX would be, Giambrone responded.

A resident asked a common question: why not run express buses along the train's route instead? As mentioned above, Giambrone said dedicated bus lanes still require new concrete lanes to be poured, while bus systems wind up costing about 80 percent of what light rail systems do.

When asked about whether the train would have enough riders to justify itself, Giambrone spoke about the city's growing population, expected to increase by about 783,000 over the next 25 years.

"They're going to go someplace, and it's better to plan" than not to, he said.

Asked about whether eminent domain would be needed to make the project a reality, Giambrone said the system would largely be built on publicly held land. If private land did have to be taken by the government, he said, "certainly no large-scale takings" would be involved.

At the end of the meeting, Boerum Hill resident Joe Anne Brown remained unconvinced of the project's wisdom.

"How are you going to do that with all of the traffic we have right now?" she said. "How do we know for sure that a lot of people are going to be riding that train?"

And Carroll Gardens resident Matthew Fairley said he thought the BQX would cost significantly more than estimates state, while also proving to be an unnecessary infrastructure project.

"It's a solution in search of a problem," Fairley said, before pivoting to another common concern: that the BQX is really being pushed by developers eager to add transportation options to their future waterfront projects. (Several major development groups were behind the non-profit that initially pitched the current BQX idea.)

"I think this is a plan developed by developers," Fairley said, "and now they're trying to sell it as a public good."

To that issue, Giambrone said his job is to evaluate the proposal's feasibility in an independent way, and reminded those assembled that the project won't go through without the backing of the City Council and other elected officials.

Pictured at top: Adam Giambrone speaks about the BQX on Thursday. Photo by John V. Santore