Port Jefferson Officials Mull Village Shuttle Idea

One of the luxuries of train travel is that, when you arrive, you are often right in the middle of the town where you want to go.  If you're going to someplace in the town itself, chances are it's only a short walk to your destination.  One of Amtrak's catch-phrases is that you can take their trains "from downtown to downtown."  And it's true, because unlike airports which are commonly miles away from the city center because they need such large areas of land to construct runways, terminals, etc., train stations have fairly small footprints and they have often pre-dated much of the town, so the town was built around the train station.

Fortunately, train stations on Long Island are frequently centrally located within towns, and there are a lot of restaurants or other attractions located within walking distance of the train.  And while the vast majority of LIRR stations are right next to downtowns, there are a couple exceptions.

Port Jefferson is likely among the most painful of these exceptions on the LIRR system (along with a couple of the outer Montauk Branch station, particularly Montauk itself), as the train station is quite a distance from the town center.  Considering Port Jefferson is a village that has a decent tourist draw during the summer months, as well as the fact that the Bridgeport-Port Jefferson ferry leaves from right within the town, having a train station that isn't 1.2 miles away from the town center doesn't really promote people taking the train to visit the sites or board the ferry there.

You might someday be able to ditch that taxi in the photo and ride a
village shuttle to Port Jefferson's town center instaed.

There are a number of Suffolk Transit bus routes that can take you from the station 1.2 miles inland into the village, but trying to find a bus that lines up with the train times can be a pain often enough.

But Port Jefferson officials are looking to make getting from the train station to the center of town a little less painful.  According to an article in the Times Beacon Record, Port Jefferson village officials are thinking about implementing a year-round shuttle that would connect the Port Jefferson station, the town center, and the other communities around Port Jefferson. 

As upper Port Jefferson begins to develop more, the village officials are looking for a way to relieve car congestion, which can be a problem in Port Jefferson (especially during the summer).  The idea is still in its early exploratory stages, and there is still some worry among the village officials about cost, but they certainly seem interested in the idea.

I think it would be an excellent idea for Port Jefferson to try and link the train station on the outskirts of town to their town center.  It would allow taking the train to catch the ferry from Port Jefferson to Bridgeport even more practical, as you would be able to do everything by public transportation.  Port Jefferson also sees a fair amount of tourists in the summer, but many of them are discouraged from taking the train by the necessary mile-and-a-quarter stroll down Main Street.  It's a good idea, and I'd love to see it implemented.  Port Jefferson is one of the best cases where something like this could work, and success here could open the door for more services like it in other communities around Long Island.