RPA is happy to announce that we recently received a one-year grant from the New York Community Trust that will help us build community support for the Triboro.
The Triboro is a proposed circumferential transit line that would connect The Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. The above-ground line would cross over many subway and commuter rail lines and take advantage of underused and abandoned rights-of-way. It would improve access to jobs, schools and resources for the hundreds of thousands of people currently living in dozens of neighborhoods now poorly served by transit.
Running 24 miles from Co-op City in the Bronx to Bay Ridge in Brooklyn, the Triboro would act as the wheel connecting the various spokes of the subway system branching from Manhattan. The Triboro would intersect with 17 subway lines and four commuter rail lines along its route. The new line would use an existing rail right-of-way, which means it could be built faster and more cheaply than other recent, large-scale transit projects in the New York region.
RPA first proposed the Triboro as part of our Third Regional Plan in 1996. Since then, New York City has experienced tremendous growth, with Brooklyn, the Bronx, and Queens growing faster than Manhattan. In our Fourth Regional Plan, we propose the Triboro as part of a citywide network of new surface transit lines, including the BQX and new bus rapid transit lines. We estimate that the Triboro will save subway riders an average of 10-15 minutes, sometimes over 30 minutes per trip. By 2040, we project that 2.6 million people will live within walking distance of a Triboro station. As population and employment continue to grow across the three boroughs, the Triboro line is needed now more than ever.
With this one year grant, RPA will work with communities along the Triboro line in order to build support for this project. We will engage community leaders, media and elected officials, as well as key government agency leaders to educate more people about the potential of this project to increase transportation equity, improve health and provide better access to economic opportunity.
