Hudson Rail Link - Spuyten Duyvil and Riverdale

[Jeff Smith]

https://riverdalepress.com/stories/shak ... ttle,69610

...
Buried in the 500-page budget is a proposal to end the Metro-North division’s management of the Hudson Rail Link buses. The service shuttles Metro-North riders from the trains to stops in their neighborhoods, including from the Riverdale and Spuyten Duyvil stops.

Currently, the city contracts with a company to operate the buses, while Metro-North provides management and customer service. The new budget would transfer all functions and responsibilities of Rail Link, plus the purchase of two new buses, to a vendor.

“If no MTA party or outside vendor is identified, Metro-North will unilaterally cancel the contract,” the proposal reads.
...

[GirlOnTheTrain]

I'm sure they can find another vendor. Can't speak on the Riverdale buses since the ones in my neighborhood do the Spuyten Duyvil loop, but even the last bus of the night is well patronized, and they probably have a good farebox recovery ratio since they kick the people with no intentions to pay right off and will wait for MTA PD if they don't want to vacate the bus.

I suppose this dashes my hopes of weekend service though

[DutchRailnut]

funding is a hot issue , rail link seem to favor services over other towns , who pay same %%% for MTA services

[Erie-Lackawanna]

The service was created to address the fact that the railroad sits at the bottom of a long, steep hill, which made it difficult for people to access. NYC buses can’t navigate the narrow, curvy streets and steep hills. Many area residents were willing to pay the higher price for a Metro-North ticket but couldn’t get to/from the station.

As to paying the same as others...the HRL fare is in addition to the rail fare. It’s not a free service. And of the over 1,000 additional customers attracted to MNR because the HRL makes MNR a viable option, most had been taking express buses, which cost less than HRL + MNR, therefore bringing more revenue to the MTA than if the HRL didn’t exist.

That said, like all public transit services, it’s a money-losing proposition. No vendor is going to step up unless someone subsidizes the loss, which is what MNR does now. Nobody but MTA would (or should) subsidize that loss; it’s a transit service and transit is the MTA’s bailiwick.

But if it’s killed, I predict that ridership at Riverdale and Spuyten Duyvil would drop by about 1,000 a day, and the MTA would have to find resources (at substantial cost) to put enough express buses on the road to pick up those riders.

I can’t imagine the local politicians would allow it to die.

Jim

[Jeff Smith]

Response from MNRR President: https://riverdalepress.com/stories/rail ... -nyc,69741

To the editor:

(re: “Shakeup could change Metro-North shuttle,” Aug. 1)

Your story raises unfounded concerns for Metro-North’s Riverdale and Spuyten Duyvil customers.

Metro-North is not cutting the Hudson Rail shuttle service. I write to clarify the story’s very misleading impression to the contrary.

Buried near the end of the story lies the plain truth of the matter: Metro-North is neither cutting the bus link, nor changing the MTA’s operational oversight of it.

Our customers appreciate the link’s convenience, and we intend to continue providing it.

Catherine Rinaldi

The author is president of Metro-North.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The story was based on information provided in a 500-page budget proposal that specifically addressed Rail Link buses servicing Riverdale and Spuyten Duyvil stations, indicating the search for a new vendor or unilateral cancellation of the contract for a potential savings of nearly $3 million.

Following the story’s publication, a Metro-North representative told The Riverdale Press the line item in the budget proposal was in error.

[DogBert]

" Following the story’s publication, a Metro-North representative told The Riverdale Press the line item in the budget proposal was in error."

...you know, because it just magically appeared in there, as if there wasn't an internal discussion about it at some point resulting in someone documenting it.

The only error in their eyes is that they got called out in it.

[GirlOnTheTrain]

I'm sure someone with connections bent the right ears and made enough of a stink.

[Jeff Smith]

^ You?

[GirlOnTheTrain]

Lowly civil servants aren't well connected...

In all seriousness though, there is one particular bus driver in the evenings that everyone seems to adore, I could see a stink being raised if he ever were to leave.