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Select bus service (SBS), which speeds transportation via limited stops, is considered to be a possible way to ease traffic congesion on the North Shore.

(Advance file photo)

Staten Island is caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to mass transportation, especially on the dense North Shore. There's no end in sight to the long wait for relief.

Stalling current Island needs is the huge funding crisis at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state agency that runs the New York City subway and bus system, among other operations.

It's a costly roadblock that won't budge soon.

There is a $15-billion shortfall in the MTA's proposed five-year, $32-billion capital budget, which covers maintenance, improvements and expansion of the regional network.

'A very large hole'

"We have a very large hole in our existing capital program," stressed Peter Cafiero, chief of operations planning at the MTA's New York City Transit division.

He was responding at a City Council hearing to a question by Councilwoman Debi Rose, D-North Shore, about the potential to ease traffic congestion by creating a bus rapid transit (BRT) route here.

There is well-founded worry that "downtown" Staten Island could be inundated by cars in 2017 with the opening next to the ferry terminal of two major attractions: the 630-foot New York Wheel and the Empire Outlets discount shopping complex.

A potential safety valve could be a dedicated BRT lane along the Kill van Kull from Arlington to St. George. A few years ago, the MTA determined that the proposed 5-mile, $300-million-plus roadway is a viable project. But the plan has languished for lack of funding.

"We hear loud and clear what interest there is to do something on the North Shore," City Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said at the hearing.

She acknowledged: "We've got so many things that are going to be coming to that area, we are going to need to make some more robust transportation plans."

That sounds encouraging, but at this point, we need action, not promises.

Also due to be part of the emerging $1-billion renaissance on the North Shore: residential development at the former Navy home port in Stapleton; the National Lighthouse Museum, a new 200-room waterfront hotel and numerous restaurants.

'Resource questions'

Speaking about the BRT proposal, Ms. Trottenberg said, "We see the tremendous potential in that route."

Yet she conceded the outlook isn't promising.

"You know, there are some real resource questions that we need to tackle," the DOT commissioner testified.

It's an understatement to say that's an understatement.

It seems that our "Forgotten Borough" isn't about to be given the help it deserves from either the MTA or the city.

In his State of the City address, Mayor Bill de Blasio outlined a plan to create 13 bus rapid transit lines: in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. He didn't include Staten Island.

Nor did the mayor report that speedy, limited-stop select bus service (SBS) is being planned for the North Shore. Under Mr. de Blasio's proposal, the city will implement 13 new SBS routes by the end of 2017. The first of those are slated to run in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens.

One SBS route here

Staten Island now has only one of seven citywide SBS routes.

The S79-SBS runs from the Staten Island Mall, via Richmond Avenue and Hylan Boulevard to the 86th street subway station in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn,

According to the MTA, the 15-mile S79-SBS route has more than 2.9 million riders annually, with 9,000 on weekdays taking advantage of faster commutes.

A 2010 report recommending future corridors to consider for select bus service in the city did not include any further expansion on Staten Island.

But Ms. Rose, a member of the Council's Transportation Committee, said the North Shore shouldn't be counted out.

Especially not, given expectations for over 2 million tourists a year arriving via ferry and an untold number via cars on our busy and narrow roads.

It's past time for the city and state to take notice of what is going on here and take action to meet our borough's needs, which are growing fast.

Island a low priority

But Mr. de Blasio says it's up to Albany, not the city, to help the MTA plug its enormous funding gap.

With the new state budget due on April 1, however, there is no indication that Gov. Andrew Cuomo will come to our rescue.

For years, both the state and city have been underfunding the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, much to the detriment of Staten Islanders whose transportation needs are well down the priority list.

The MTA capital projects now under way include the largely redundant extension of the Second Avenue subway line in Manhattan, extending the No. 7 line to the West Side and East Side access for Long Island Rail Road trains into Grand Central Terminal.

If our elected officials don't turn things our way -- and soon -- there will be real trouble ahead. It's already on the horizon.