Business & Tech

LIRR Lines Win Not-So-Prestigious Laggy Awards

Babylon, Ronkonkoma and Huntington cost region the most in lost economic productivity.

The Long Island Rail Road's Babylon Line has earned the sort of gold standard it wants no part of -  costing riders the most time and productivity. 

The Tri-State Transportation Campaign's first "Laggy Awards," also recognized Ronkonkoma and Huntington for being the second-and-third-worst lines, according to their metrics, which include lost time due to late, canceled and terminated trains between July 2012 and July 2013. 

In total, the delays and cancelations cost riders slightly more than $60 million in productivity. 

"LIRR's frequent delays truly add up to lost economic productivity and commuter time over the course of a year," said Ben Rosenblatt, the research fellow for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign who conducted the analysis. "In fact, estimates of total lost productivity are greater than last year's profits of some of Long Island's largest companies, such as VOXX International, Nathan's, and 1-800 FLOWERS."

Research found that Babylon's total economic cost was north of $14 million, while Ronkonkoma was above $12 million and Huntington eclipsed $9 million.

The study showed that Babylon led the way in lost rider hours as well with more than 335,000. Ronkonkoma had north of 279,000, while Huntington had more than 222,000 in lost hours.

The average LIRR rider lost 15.8 hours due to late, canceled and terminated trains over the same time period. Port Jefferson took the top ranking, with 22.3 average hours delayed per rider. Montauk and Ronkonkoma rounded out the top three. 

"When you waste folks' time it really is death by a thousand cuts," said Eric Alexander, executive director of Vision Long Island. "In order to provide efficient transportation options for people the current LIRR rail system and operations needs strategic investment and upgrades."

For more on the study, click here.

What do you think of the efficiency of the LIRR? Tell us in the comments section below.


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