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Hochul canceled the AirTrain LGA project in March 2023 after finding that the project's budget had increased to $2.4 billion, over five times the original $450 million estimate. The decision came after a panel of three transportation experts recommended that the frequency of the Q70 bus be increased and that the PANYNJ operate a shuttle bus route from the airport to the [[Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard station]]. According to [[Janette Sadik-Khan]], one of the three panelists, the enhanced bus service would cost $500 million.<ref name=nyt-2023-03-13>{{Cite news|last=McGeehan|first=Patrick|date=2023-03-13|title=Plans to Build AirTrain to La Guardia Are Officially Scrapped|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/13/nyregion/laguardia-lga-airtrain.html|access-date=2023-03-13|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
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The proposal
According to one critic, even with a capacity increase, the
▲The proposal has been strongly criticized by transit advocates as being slower than existing transit modes and likely to increase loads on the {{NYCS trains|Flushing}}, which already operate at full capacity. This would be alleviated somewhat by the [[Signaling of the New York City Subway#Automation|automation]] of trains on the [[IRT Flushing Line]], which would allow more {{NYCS trains|Flushing|time=nolink}} to run every hour.<ref name="amny 201507">{{cite news|last1=Harshbarger|first1=Rebecca|title=New AirTrain not worth the trip thanks to crowded 7 train: transit advocates|url=http://www.amny.com/transit/450m-airtrain-not-worth-the-trip-thanks-to-crowded-7-train-say-transit-advocates-1.10689345|access-date=July 31, 2015|work=AM New York|date=July 30, 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last1=Rivoli|first1=Dan|title=Congestion on the chronically crowded 7 train a worry should it link up to LaGuardia Airport|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/congestion-7-train-worry-link-lga-article-1.2310084|access-date=July 31, 2015|work=New York Daily News|date=July 30, 2015}}</ref> However, the proposed AirTrain transfer at Willets Point would still be 20 stations away from the [[34th Street–Hudson Yards (IRT Flushing Line)|34th Street–Hudson Yards]] station, the western terminus of the {{NYCS trains|Flushing|time=nolink}} (10 stations away via the rush-hour peak-direction express).<ref name="amny 201507" /> It was estimated that transferring from the subway to the AirTrain would take longer than transferring from the subway to the [[Q70 (New York City bus)|Q70 LaGuardia Link]] bus at [[61st Street–Woodside (IRT Flushing Line)|61st Street–Woodside]], which is eight local stops closer to Manhattan than the Willets Point station is. The AirTrain would not be of use to many LIRR riders as well, since the Port Washington Branch is the only LIRR route that does not go through [[Jamaica station]], so riders from the rest of Long Island would have to make a transfer at the LIRR's [[Woodside station (LIRR)|Woodside station]] to access the Port Washington Branch.<ref name=":7" /><ref name=":6" />
▲According to one critic, even with a capacity increase, the new route might not be worth the trip due to its distance from most of the rest of the city, as "transit travel times from LaGuardia to destinations throughout New York City—from [[Grand Central Terminal|Grand Central]] in [[Midtown Manhattan]] to [[Brooklyn Borough Hall|Borough Hall]] in [[downtown Brooklyn]] to [[Jamaica, Queens|Jamaica]] in central Queens to [[Yankee Stadium]] in [[the Bronx]]—would be longer for passengers using the AirTrain than for passengers using existing transit services already offered by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority."<ref name=":7">{{cite news|last1=Freemark|first1=Yonah|title=For LaGuardia, an AirTrain that will save almost no one any time|url=http://www.thetransportpolitic.com/2015/01/21/for-laguardia-an-airtrain-that-will-save-almost-no-one-any-time/|access-date=July 31, 2015|work=The Transport Politic|date=January 21, 2015}}</ref> A writer from ''[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]]'' called the project itself "dumb," saying that the project was a [[:wikt:pet project|pet project]] for Cuomo and an "egregious misuse of money and initiative, in a city whose everyday transit functions are at capacity, to extend such a gift to airport travelers, of all people."<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2016/06/14/laguardia_airport_renovation_still_includes_that_dumb_air_train_why.html|title=Andrew Cuomo Keeps Pushing Ahead With One of the Worst Transit Ideas in America|last=Grabar|first=Henry|date=June 14, 2016|newspaper=Slate|language=en-US|issn=1091-2339|access-date=August 20, 2016}}</ref> ''[[The Village Voice]]'' called the project an "unmitigated disaster" for its convoluted, unwieldy route, and asked, "Why would [Cuomo] build [the AirTrain's] terminal at Willets Point, which is even further from the city than the airport itself?"<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.villagevoice.com/2017/02/07/cuomos-laguardia-airtrain-possibly-nys-worst-transit-idea-is-actually-happening/|title=Cuomo's LaGuardia AirTrain, Possibly NY's Worst Transit Idea, Is Actually Happening|last=Rivlin-Nadler|first=Max|date=February 7, 2017|website=Village Voice|access-date=September 1, 2017}}</ref> One alternative suggestion involved the previously rejected proposal to extend the [[BMT Astoria Line|Astoria Line]] to LaGuardia Airport rather than building the AirTrain to Willets Point.<ref name=":8" /> Another critic called the $2.05 billion estimated construction cost "exorbitant" and proposed dedicated busways as a more direct and cost-effective solution.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Harris|first=Connor|date=July 3, 2019|title=The LaGuardia AirTrain project is a truly stupendous waste|url=https://nypost.com/2019/07/02/the-laguardia-airtrain-project-is-a-truly-stupendous-waste/|access-date=October 7, 2020|website=New York Post|language=en-US}}</ref>
In January 2020, U.S. Representative [[Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]], who represents Jackson Heights and East Elmhurst, wrote to the FAA asking why 46 alternatives were rejected and noting that over 60% of the 414 public comments collected by the FAA were in opposition to the proposed routing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.crainsnewyork.com/transportation/ocasio-cortez-challenges-cuomos-laguardia-airtrain-project|title=Ocasio-Cortez challenges Cuomo's LaGuardia AirTrain project|date=January 13, 2020|last=Flamm|first=Matthew|website=Crain's New York Business|language=en|access-date=January 14, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Guse 2020">{{cite web|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/ny-lga-airtrain-pushback-queens-residents-20200113-urcar56curelxpebvwl4kup2t4-story.html|title=AOC leads familiar fight over train to LaGuardia Airport|last=Guse|first=Clayton|date=January 13, 2020|website=nydailynews.com|access-date=January 14, 2020}}</ref> [[Hiram Monserrate]], the area's Democratic District Leader, also objected that the FAA's approval had bypassed a [[Uniform Land Use Review Procedure]] analysis, as would have been mandated for other large projects.<ref name="Guse 2020"/> The same month, residents and business owners along the AirTrain's proposed route protested against the construction of the AirTrain on that route.<ref name="Acevedo 2020">{{cite web|url=https://qns.com/story/2020/01/13/queens-protesters-say-theyre-getting-third-world-treatment-over-lga-airtrain/|title=Queens protesters say they're getting 'third-world' treatment over LGA AirTrain|last=Acevedo|first=Angélica|date=January 13, 2020|website=QNS.com|access-date=January 14, 2020}}</ref>
Many government officials and advocates supported the plan. In 2017, the ''Newsday'' editorial board wrote a piece in support of the AirTrain LaGuardia project, saying that it would increase mass transit patronage to the airport. The board cited AirTrain JFK as an example, saying that "officials with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey estimate the AirTrain provides 7.5 million rides to air travelers annually", and arguing that LaGuardia Airport needed a similar mass-transit airport link.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newsday.com/opinion/editorial/laguardia-airport-airtrain-1.15104000|title=Editorial: Build a new train to the plane|last=Newsday Editorial Board|date=November 25, 2017|work=Newsday|access-date=November 27, 2017|language=en}}</ref> [[Rick Cotton]], executive of the Port Authority, said in an opinion article in the ''New York Daily News'': "Let's stop talking about the red herring of 'doubling back' and focus on choosing the best route based on real issues, including the impact on neighborhoods, disruptions to highways, rail and utilities, and passenger experience, as well as cost."<ref>{{cite web|last=Cotton|first=Rick|title=The LaGuardia AirTrain makes sense: Gov. Cuomo's Port Authority man defends the embattled plan|website=New York Daily News|date=January 1, 2020|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-laguardia-airtrain-makes-sense-20200201-5q25hrcrtfca5oivxuebuw56iq-story.html|access-date=June 17, 2020}}</ref> In 2020, a group of former New York City transportation commissioners wrote an
▲[[Rick Cotton]], executive of the Port Authority, said in an opinion article in the ''New York Daily News'': "Let's stop talking about the red herring of 'doubling back' and focus on choosing the best route based on real issues, including the impact on neighborhoods, disruptions to highways, rail and utilities, and passenger experience, as well as cost."<ref>{{cite web|last=Cotton|first=Rick|title=The LaGuardia AirTrain makes sense: Gov. Cuomo's Port Authority man defends the embattled plan|website=New York Daily News|date=January 1, 2020|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-laguardia-airtrain-makes-sense-20200201-5q25hrcrtfca5oivxuebuw56iq-story.html|access-date=June 17, 2020}}</ref> In 2020, a group of former New York City transportation commissioners wrote an opinion editorial in the ''Daily News'' in which they strongly supported the final AirTrain LaGuardia proposal being considered by the Port Authority. The commissioners wrote that the final proposal was the only viable option, saying that "the envisioned one-seat ride was never really one-seat" and that LaGuardia Airport was the only major New York City area airport without a train connection.<ref>{{Cite web|first1=Michael|last1=Horodniceanu|first2=Ross|last2=Sandler|first3=Sam|last3=Schwartz|first4=Gerard|last4=Soffian|date=September 22, 2020|title=Build this AirTrain to LaGuardia: It is the best option available|url=https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-build-this-airtrain-to-laguardia-20200922-foaurble3ff5dglgpz7xaku5ry-story.html|access-date=September 23, 2020|website=New York Daily News}}</ref>
==See also==
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