East End MTA Taxation Outrageous but Peconic Railway Equally Bad

By now you have undoubtedly heard of the recent discussions regarding an East End or “Peconic Railroad”. This would entail secession from the Metropolitan Transit Authority and the creation of a local East End Transit Authority. This is in response to a proposal by the MTA last month to discontinue its already limited Long Island Railroad service east of Ronkonkoma.


One of the more outspoken proponents of this new authority is Suffolk County Legislator Ed Romaine. Mr. Romaine speaks positively about the project and its ability to save East End taxpayers money. Personally I believe Mr. Romaine is sincere in his belief that an East End railroad is feasible. I can however tell you with near certainty that establishing a new railway authority for the East End will not save us the taxpayer a dime. I can state this because the evidence against the success of this project is damning.

No commuter railway in the US makes money. Let me repeat, none. In the US, federal subsidies (tax dollars) are required to make virtually any public transportation system feasible. Even Mr. Romaine is careful to say that the East End transit system would only run for less than the $60M in annual taxes the region currently pays to the MTA. He quotes a study done by the federally funded Volpe National Transportation Systems Center which estimates the East End System could be run for approximately $45M annually. This system by the way would require $150M in additional start up costs, require an upgrade to Suffolk County’s deplorable bus service and would require additional state and county taxes. Given the lack of population density on the East End only makes the possibility of saving let alone making money even more remote.

Yet politicians seem to love their public rail projects. Florida voters voted down high speed rail service for more than a dozen years. Politicians continued to bring the project up for referendum year after year until it finally passed. This after South Florida experienced dismal ridership of their Tri Rail Transit System linking Palm Beach, Broward and Dade Counties and the Miami Metrorail system in Dade County. Both systems have suffered from dismal ridership and soaring operating costs for the past 20 years.

Alternatively, the Las Vegas Monorail Company operates a 3.9M monorail transit system around the Las Vegas Strip which is completely private meaning it operates without federal or state subsidies. The system which according to President and Chief Executive Curtis Myles carried just over 6M passengers in 2009 however sufferers form many of the same issues as public transit systems. The Las Vegas Monorail Company filed for bankruptcy protection last month.

The list of struggling public and private transit projects in the US is seemingly endless. Yet politicians continue to push these money losing projects forward. According to Light Rail Now a charitable educational enterprise designed to support light rail development, there are nearly 75 light rail projects either under consideration or construction in this country.

It was reported by the News Review that daily East End LIRR ridership was estimated at around 200. Based on the deplorable LIRR scheduling east of Ronkonkoma, it is surprising the number is that high. Even a weekend outing to Manhattan from Riverhead is made virtually impossible due to a nearly 2.5 hour trip to the city and unfavorable departure times. This schedule must be improved and East End Governments should be prepared to fight for these improvements utilizing all means up to and including the court system.


This is not only the East End’s best option to obtain fair value for our taxpayer dollars, it is in reality our only option.