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Paving over the former North Shore Rail line is being proposed as a way to turn it into a bus rapid transit route.

(Advance file photo)

Hopes for the establishment of a bus rapid transit line on the North Shore got a significant boost last week when the state Assembly included a sizable appropriation to advance BRT programs here and across the state in its budget proposal for the 2015-16 Fiscal Year.

The inclusion represents a major step forward for a concept that, until now, has existed almost entirely in theory.

The $100 million earmarked by the Assembly for the statewide Regional Bus Rapid Transit and Transportation Alternatives Program would include about $33 million for a North Shore BRT on Staten Island, according to Assemblyman Michael Cusick (D-Mid-Island).

Of course, that's far short of the $371 million the Metropolitan Transportation Authority projected would be needed for the Arlington-to-St. George link in a 2012 study.

A long process

And the fact is, the MTA itself did not include any funding for the North Shore in its $32-billion, five-year capital plan plan, but the Assembly move is a good start in what will inevitably be a long, multi-step process.

Mr. Cusick concedes that the budget proposals put forth by the chambers of the state Legislature are primarily "wish lists" of expenditures that proponents hope to add to the governor's proposal and may not get approved as part of the final budget adopted by the Legislature and signed by the governor.

But, said the lawmaker, "We put it on the table by putting it in the budget proposal."

It now exists as a de-facto funding proposal, even if the MTA has not acknowledged it in its own budget. In the universe of government budget-making, that means something.

The hope is it will prod the agency, mindful as it is of state officials' agendas, to move forward with its own BRT initiative.

It has also now come to the attention of other lawmakers and the governor, who can play a big role in advancing the idea.

'On the table'

Mr. Cusick explained, "This funding included in our Assembly budget to finally get the North Shore BRT on the fast track to becoming a reality was a Staten Island priority, and I applaud Speaker [Carl] Heastie for working with us and understanding our unique transportation needs."

North Shore Assemblyman Matthew Titone said, "The Assembly budget is good news for believers like me in the North Shore Bus Rapid Transit project."

He added, "Ensuring that the North Shore BRT is on the negotiation table for the final budget is a priority of mine, and the Assembly resolution does exactly that."

Staten Island Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Linda Baran, whose organization has long championed the BRT, noted that there's a new sense of urgency among Staten Island officials and leaders about moving ahead with the concept because of the extraordinary new developments on the North Shore -- namely the New York Wheel and Empire Outlets.

Major developments

"The Chamber has sought to bring an alternative to Staten Island's North Shore for more than a decade," she said. "Over the course of the next three to five years, the North Shore of Staten Island will experience a renaissance of development and growth."

Whatever the heady ideas of the developers about the overwhelming majority of visitors to the Wheel and Empire Outlets using ferries to get to and from the site adjacent to the St. George Ferry Terminal, the fact is that reliable comfortable mass transit is essential to the successful operation of these tourist destinations.

North Shore residents, who have only spotty local bus service (that just gets them to the St. George Ferry Terminal) and wholly inadequate express bus routes to service them, certainly deserve the substantial upgrade in their mass transit options that BRT would provide.

Should have begun already

The planning and development of a full-fledged BRT system should have already begun, considering that tight timetable. (Frankly, that development undoubtedly would have been in place or at least in the pipeline well before now if the city and the MTA had taken the proper proactive approach to this major economic change on the North Shore.)

Certainly the creation of the system must not be put off any longer, even though the financially challenged MTA seems prepared to stall indefinitely.

Kudos to Staten Island's Assembly delegation for trying to kick-start this process. The members of the junior house in the state Legislature, at least, have their priorities straight.

Now we hope we can count the same sense of urgency from the state Senate and the governor in advancing the North Shore BRT. Maybe then, the MTA will get the idea that this is not some far-fetched, pie-in-the-sky proposal (like, say, the redundant Second Avenue subway), but urgently needed mass transit service.