Rail Rewards

Hundreds of thousands of Long Island commuters who work on Manhattan’s East Side today face drawn-out trips to the office. Once their trains arrive at Penn Station, they must negotiate one or two overcrowded subway lines, or face a long walk, a slow bus trip or an expensive taxi ride to reach their final destination. East Side Access, Long Island Rail Road’s connection into Grand Central Terminal scheduled to open in 2019, will shorten the commutes of thousands of Long Islanders who work in East Midtown, which has the densest concentration of high-paying jobs in the country.

East Side Access also will open up Long Island as a housing option for people who work in East Midtown. As the appeal of living near an LIRR station grows, so will home values. This study demonstrates that East Side Access will shorten travel times by an average of 18 minutes a day for commuters headed to East Midtown, and increase homes values by an average of $7,300 for 587,000 households in Queens and Long Island. Cumulatively, East Side Access will raise homes values by $4.7 billion. Over time, the economic benefits of East Side Access could be even greater. Improved connections at Grand Central, other prospective transit investments on Long Island and development around station areas would further spur job growth and enhance home values further.