The IBX could be the start of an outer borough transit renaissance
How New York City's first entirely new transit line in nearly a century could reshape the geography of Brooklyn and Queens.
For the first time in nearly a century, New York City is poised to build an entirely new transit line, not simply an extension of an existing one. The Interborough Express, a planned light rail service looping through the middle of Brooklyn and Queens, offers the opportunity to start from scratch on transit technology and design, which could translate to a truly novel transportation experience for New Yorkers.
In December, I wrote for CityLab about the current status of the project, and the controversy it has engendered. The success of the IBX will depend in large part on what gets built around it, I wrote. In the piece I was referring to urban development, but the same applies to transit network planning
In this first part of a two-part post, I’m going to look more closely at how the IBX will interact with the rest of the New York City transit system when it opens in the 2030s. As the first orbital line in an almost entirely radial subway system, the IBX will shift travel patterns across the city. Though it will not directly serve popular destinations like Midtown, Lower Manhattan, Downtown Brooklyn, Flushing and nearby sports venues, or JFK and LaGuardia airports, it will make these places more accessible to hundreds of thousands of Brooklyn and Queens residents.
In part two, I’m going to consider the transit expansion projects that could multiply the benefits of the IBX. A few strategic investments — some relatively cheap and straightforward, some very costly and complex — could make the IBX into a spine of the regional transportation network, not just a leg of the New York City subway system.
The aspiration should be for this line to be useful not just for Brooklyn and Queens residents, which it will be from day one, but for those in the Bronx, Staten Island, Long Island, Westchester, and Connecticut. Under an even more ambitious scenario, the network effects could spread even farther, to New Jersey and the rest of the Northeast Corridor, and perhaps even to long-distance air travelers connecting directly from LaGuardia Airport to the subway and regional rail systems.
But all that will have to wait for part two. For now, let’s consider what the IBX will accomplish as currently planned.
First, a couple of details about the IBX: The 14-mile, 19-stop line is currently in its design and environmental review phase, and is expected to be completed sometime in the 2030s. The total cost estimate is $5.5 billion, roughly half of which is already secured. The project is a relative bargain (by way of comparison, the 1.8-mile Second Avenue Subway Phase Two project will cost about $7 billion) because it will be built almost entirely within an existing railroad trench currently used by freight trains. The project will build two new tracks for light rail passenger trains along with a third track for freight.
The MTA has said that trains could run as frequently as every five minutes during peak hours, though headways could be reduced further if the project uses automated trains. The MTA project website currently lists the trip time for the IBX at 40 minutes and the ridership at 115,000 per day. Those figures have been in flux: The agency and Governor Kathy Hochul have previously listed a trip time of 32 minutes, and an estimated ridership of 160,000 riders per day.
Whatever the ultimate trip time, it will likely be faster than driving between the Brooklyn and Queens neighborhoods it will serve at practically any time of day. The IBX will shrink the distance between neighborhoods that currently feel a world away. Jackson Heights and Sunset Park. Bushwick and Flatbush. Ridgewood and Borough Park. These are places where a very large percentage of the population does not have access to a car. The ability to quickly traverse boroughs will greatly expand the radius of destinations that are reasonably accessible by transit.
The IBX will also plug some holes in subway access. The project will provide much-needed transit service to dense subway deserts like East Flatbush and the Utica Avenue corridor. (Utica Avenue has long been identified as being in need of its own subway line. The IBX would be an interim improvement.) Parts of Middle Village, Glendale, and surrounding Queens neighborhoods that are currently far from subway stations will also get convenient service.
On the urban development front, the line could help make the Broadway Junction/ East New York area of Brooklyn into a new regional center, in the mold of Jamaica, Queens. There are already some major development plans afoot there. There are many other potential large-scale urban development projects that could be justified by the line, though this will depend on zoning changes and the capacity of public development entities.
The most significant impact of the IBX is its ability to get people to major employment hubs. Though the line will not directly serve job centers like Midtown, the Financial District, downtown Brooklyn, or JFK Airport, it will significantly improve access to these places, as the following map illustrates.
The IBX terminus at Jackson Heights/ Roosevelt Ave is the line’s most significant transfer point. This is where riders will be able to catch the Q70 bus to LaGuardia airport. Even more importantly, it’s where riders can transfer to several connecting subway lines.
The busiest connections will be to the E and F Trains. These two express trains make the trip from Jackson Heights to 53rd and Lexington in about 9 minutes and continue on through Midtown. For many people in IBX-adjacent neighborhoods, the IBX to the E/F will immediately become the fastest way to get to Manhattan’s biggest business district.
Other connections aren’t as impressive, but they’re still likely to yield travel time improvements for many kinds of trips. The L Train ride from Wilson Avenue to Union Square is 24 minutes. The A Train ride from Atlantic Avenue/ Broadway Junction to Fulton Street in the Financial District is currently 22 minutes, and the trip to Jay Street in downtown Brooklyn is 16 minutes. Those A Train trips could get a bit faster after ongoing signal upgrades are complete.
The LIRR from Broadway Junction/ East New York gets to downtown Brooklyn in just 12 minutes, and in the other direction, to Jamaica station and the JFK Airtrain, in 9.
The B Train trip from East 16th to Broadway-Lafayette in SoHo would probably be around 25 minutes. (B Trains don’t currently stop at the Avenue H station, listed as East 16th Street on the map above, making it harder to estimate travel times.) Taking the B and Q in the other direction gets you to Brighton Beach and Coney Island in less than 20 minutes. Improved beach access for North Brooklyn and Queens residents is one IBX benefit I haven’t seen anyone talk about.
In aggregate, these connections could provide relief for some of the city’s busiest subway lines. Instead of traveling through Midtown to get Downtown, or vice versa, more riders will enter Manhattan closer to their final destination. Fewer riders will have to travel through Manhattan to get from Brooklyn to Queens, or vice versa. That should help free up subway capacity in the most crowded parts of the system, which could in turn help facilitate more growth in Manhattan and other inner core neighborhoods.
Things might not always work so elegantly, however. Following the debut of the IBX, additional crowding on the E and F trains through Queens, already a very busy stretch, could be a problem. It’s one reason to eventually plan for additional connections from the IBX to Midtown, like those described in part two of this piece.
The usefulness of the IBX will be contingent upon the quality of the transfers, especially at the all-important Roosevelt Ave. station, as I wrote in my CityLab piece. The IBX alignment is a few hundred feet from the rest of the station complex. How seamlessly and quickly riders will be able to go from one line to another — whether on busy surface streets, or through pedestrian tunnels with moving sidewalks, for instance — could have a major impact on travel times and ridership.
The overall connectivity of the project will also be influenced by the speed and frequency of the IBX, a major determinant of which will be whether the train is automated. The MTA has yet to reveal designs of transfer stations, or whether it plans to pursue automation on the line.
Frequency for connecting subways is going to be an important factor for the usefulness of the IBX, as well. The line where this is the biggest challenge is the LIRR Atlantic Branch, which currently runs at 20 minute headways much of the time. Fixing this is one of the most straightforward complimentary projects that could make the IBX even more transformative. That, and much more, will be discussed in part two of this piece.
The map in this post has been corrected to include a more accurate peak hour travel time estimate from Roosevelt Ave. to Jamaica on the E Train.
Great writeup!
Now that I think about it, you're 100% right that this is going to be quite a load on some already very close to capacity E/F/7 trains. CBTC and deinterlining wins are largely already picked for these lines (minus making the E express in Manhattan and A/C local).
If the MTA could build, the answer would be a few of the less discussed 7 relief line options (Northern boulevard elevated line that runs crosstown on 50th, a superexpress that runs along Horace Harding and shifts more load onto Broadway line, higher QBL local frequency). Or LIRR getting frequency up + fare integration and city ticket to be better? One way or another you need more capacity
i loved reading this! it's really interesting to think about the downstream effects on other services, both those that are already capacity-constrained like the QBL, but also ones with more room for investment like the atlantic branch. i had been thinking of this project kind of akin to the G line -- a way to get from many places in brooklyn to key areas in queens -- but i hadn't considered just how much potential IBX has to make existing trips to denser business districts faster and more reliable. i'm eager for part 2!