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Rail on guard: Metro-North prepares for threat of rising sea levels
- Brian-Puccio 12y ago> When these points fail, Metro-North — the nation's largest commuter railroad with 280,000 daily passengers — is completely cut off from Manhattan. It's the nation's second largest when going by ridership (the number cited) to the LIRR with 334,000 passengers[0]. Both the LIRR and Metro-North are commuter rail systems for New York and are both MTA-owned/-operated, along with the subway, bus[1], etc. The MTA is launching a $120 million project to "storm-proof" the Long Beach branch of the LIRR this year (among a myriad of other plans).[2] [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_commuter_rail_systems_by_ridership http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_commuter_... [1] Except out in the 'burbs, our buses got spun off and privatized somewhat recently [2] http://www.thelirrtoday.com/2014/04/storm-proofing-long-beach-branch.html http://www.thelirrtoday.com/2014/04/storm-proofing-long-beac...
- gdubs 12y agoAmtrak also rides those rails, which I believe are a connecting point to the entire north east above New York City.
- Brian-Puccio 12y agoCorrect, e.g., NY <-> BOS. Amtrak also owns the tunnels under the east river that LIRR trains go through. Any problems there and the MTA likes to blame (sometimes rightfully so) Amtrak. http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=resources/traffic&id=9329937 http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?section=resources/traffic&...
- dylz 12y agohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_rapid_transit_systems_by_ridership http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_rapid_tra... #1 and #2 spots differences in ridership..? Is that a typo?
- Bahamut 12y agoI don't think so - NYC is just that busy of a city.
- gdubs 12y agoI grew up in the Hudson Valley -- this is truly one of the most beautiful stretches in the world. At points, you're essentially surrounded by the river on both sides. I really think climate change needs to be presented to the public as an economic problem. Our infrastructure is going to continue to get hammered, costing billions, and we're essentially subsidizing it.
- untog 12y agoI really think climate change needs to be presented to the public as an economic problem. Doesn't matter. If you don't think it's going to happen it doesn't matter what kind of problem it is...
- gdubs 12y agoNever doubt the American Public's capacity for believing in anything that comes directly out of their paycheck. (But, yes -- it's a remarkably difficult sell, as we've seen.)
- 001sky 12y agoProb is that waterfront real-estate in Westchester[1] is just white privledge. And all waterfronts are geologically (not climate-related) unstable. So basically rich white people want perpetual status-insurance. The climate angle is a red-herring. The economic cost of natural disasters--NY, CA, and FL--is all related to RE development ("upscale") of unstable geography. [1] Hudson Valley/Fairfield CT etc.
- gdubs 12y agoInteresting point. In California this issue exists with high-end real estate on mud-slide and fire-prone areas, like Malibu. Things that would make a difference, like controlled burns, are fought by homeowners who don't want to look at charred landscape -- and as a result the the LAFD spends enormous resources on heroic measures. [1] 1: http://books.google.com/books/about/Ecology_of_fear.html?id=_WhrAKFa5aEC http://books.google.com/books/about/Ecology_of_fear.html?id=...
- rlongstaff 12y agoI wonder how many climate-changer denier politicans will attempt to legislate to prevent Metro-North from considering climate change in their future planning - the same way NC did that: http://abcnews.go.com/US/north-carolina-bans-latest-science-rising-sea-level/story?id=16913782 http://abcnews.go.com/US/north-carolina-bans-latest-science-...
- Ygg2 12y agoWell, you may ignore the science, but you can't ignore effects it predicts.