LaGuardia Airport Gravitator

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  • Construction Cost: $1.88 Billion

  • Fare: $20

  • Daily Ridership: 25,000

  • Internal Rate of Return: 9%

This is a high-speed shuttle to connect an airport (LaGuardia Airport, New York City) with two intersecting subway stations (74th Street-Broadway and Roosevelt Avenue-Jackson Heights), to reduce travel times to and from the airport, especially to and from the central business district (Lower and Midtown Manhattan). The combined subway-connector trip to midtown would be faster (and less expensive) than a cab at most times of day and 30 to 50 minutes faster than transit today (via bus and subway).

Download the financial model (spreadsheet).

  • Construction Cost: $1.88 Billion

  • Fare: $20

  • Daily Ridership: 25,000

  • Internal Rate of Return: 9%

This is a high-speed shuttle to connect an airport (LaGuardia Airport, New York City) with two intersecting subway stations (74th Street-Broadway and Roosevelt Avenue-Jackson Heights), to reduce travel times to and from the airport, especially to and from the central business district (Lower and Midtown Manhattan). The combined subway-connector trip to midtown would be faster (and less expensive) than a cab at most times of day and 30 to 50 minutes faster than transit today (via bus and subway).

Download the financial model (spreadsheet).

Description & Purpose

This is a high-speed shuttle to connect an airport (LaGuardia Airport, New York City) with two intersecting subway stations (74th Street-Broadway and Roosevelt Avenue-Jackson Heights), to reduce travel times to and from the airport, especially to and from the central business district (Lower and Midtown Manhattan).  The combined subway-connector trip to midtown would be faster (and less expensive) than a cab at most times of day and 30 to 50 minutes faster than transit today (via bus and subway).  

It is also significantly faster than the proposed $2.1 billion LGA AirTrain, and it is less expensive.  Midday travel time from LaGuardia Airport to Grand Central Terminal via connecting subway would be 26 minutes -- 40% faster than via the proposed LGA AirTrain, which would take 43 minutes.  

Specifications

  1. 1.9 mile (approx. 3km) single tube, bi-directional tunnel

  2. 110 second travel time plus two minute average wait time

  3. Top cruising speed would be approximately 90 miles per hour

  4. Trains would have a capacity of approximately 400 passengers

Notes

  1. a The high speed design enables a single tunnel to provide ample capacity, given the short distance. The construction cost estimate is based on recent New York City subway projects, which are the most expensive in the world (https://tunnelingonline.com/why-tunnels-in-the-us-cost-much-more-than-anywhere-else-in-the-world/).  Actual costs, however, are expected to be lower under substeading due to faster approval, lower acquisition costs, no “M.T.A. Factor” costs (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/nyregion/new-york-subway-construction-costs.html), a profit-driven design, and other factors discussed elsewhere in this paper.

  2. b The combined shuttle and subway fare would be significantly cheaper than a cab (and at most times of day it would be faster too). A cab from LaGuardia Airport to Midtown Manhattan is typically $40 to $50 (and takes 18 to 40 minutes). For comparison, the slower LGA AirTrain has a proposed fare of $12 to $20. 

  3. c This is based on the projected ridership for the LGA AirTrain, but modified to expect a greater market share of travelers to and from Midtown due to the significantly faster speed of the underground connector (http://ricondoprojects.com/LGAAccess/final/Appendix%20C_Ridership.pdf).

  4. d Operating expenses derived from actual expenses of the JFK AirTrain.