Less Costly Shuttle Bus to Replace Plan to Build AirTrain to and from LaGuardia

By Yehudit Garmaise

A new express shuttle bus service will take the place of the previously planned AirTrain service to transport travelers who depart and arrive at LaGuardia Airport, announced Gov. Kathy Hochul, who favors the bus service because it will be much less costly to create.

While working with a $450 million budget, the LaGuardia AirTrain, which is a light rail link, would have cost New York anywhere between $2.4 and $6.2 billion, said Port Authority officials.

The LaGuardia bus service improvements will cost “just under $500 million” and “benefit nearly 5 million total passengers annually,” say experts who worked on a LaGuardia transit study commissioned by the governor to assess the best course of action. 

The change of plans to scrap the overly expensive AirTrain plan has  proven popular so far with many New Yorkers.

It was “so refreshing to see government leaders admit a mistake and change course before it’s too late,” says the Riders Alliance, a nonprofit organization that advocates for subway and bus riders. 

In addition, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards says the governor and the Port Authority were, “correct in their move to scrap the LaGuardia AirTrain: once and for all.”

photo credit: Flickr