The X17 was an express bus linking
Staten Island to Midtown Manhattan. It made 85 stops, 66 of them before
even leaving Staten Island. Total
distance? Nearly 40 miles. Total drive time? The schedule said two hours
and 33 minutes, but closer to three hours was often more like it. “When
people’s eyebrows go up, we tell them you could fly to Florida in less
time,” said ..., a bus dispatcher. “And you certainly can.”The
X17’s leisurely path across Staten Island underscored the inefficient
and outdated bus network that crisscrosses New York City, the largest
municipal bus system in the nation.
Now in 1962 and 1963 I took a summer course at Manhattan College in the Bronx, at 242nd Street, the end of the Broadway line. I worked at Midland Beach, which was served by the Bay Street Bus. I would take the bus to the Ferry, the Ferry to lower Manhattan and then the subway from South Ferry to 242nd Street. It was about 2 and a half hours, and then repeat it home but then I had to walk a mile from the bus drop off to my house. Then up at 5:30 to get to the Beach by 8:00.
Staten Island is officially part of New York City, and was when I was born there, Laguardia had signed my birth certificate if I recall.
But Staten Island may just as well be in Kansas. It has narrow streets, heavy traffic, limited train service, and the Express Bus is a misnomer. I tried that when I returned to New York in the early 80s, the buses would break down several times a week.
There is no reasonable way to get from Staten Island to Manhattan. The toll on the Verazanno is approaching $100 if you are off State Island!
But can this be fixed? The answer is yes, but it is an infrastructure answer. If New York and New Jersey cannot get a tunnel for the near collapsing old one, then how will they solve this problem. The solution is simple, more ferries, at multiple locations. But that means investment and no politician wants to tackle that issue. The example of how this works is Hong Kong.
Back in the early 1960s Staten Island had a west shore train that went to Hoboken, then a rapid transfer to uptown or down town. I believe it was 1961 that the bridge connecting Staten Island to New Jersey was left open, the train with hundreds went to the water killing most people. They the closed the train line down. The tracks are still there, and that could be an option.
Otherwise, why not just give Staten Island back to New Jersey who had it originally! But this case is another example of why Government seems unable to do anything.
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