May 2020 is the 45th Anniversary for the successful Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) Mail & Ride ticket program. Over 160,000 Queens, Nassau and Suffolk County residents benefit from this program riding the LIRR on a daily basis to commute from home to work. Those of us commuting from Great Neck, Manhasset, Plandome and Port Washington in Nassau County along with our Queens neighbors from Little Neck, Douglaston, Bayside, Auburndale, Broadway, Murray Hill and Flushing on the Port Washington branch don't have to change at Jamaica. Our trip averages about 30 minutes each way to and from Penn Station.
For those without monthly or weekly tickets, there are off peak or same day weekend City Zone tickets (from Little Neck and other Queens stations) can be purchased at reduced prices. It is easier on weekends to attend Met games, other Citi Field events, the US Open or visit Arthur Ash stadium, Flushing Meadow Park, Queens Zoo, Madison Square Garden activities and Broadway shows on a regular basis. Those of us in the know already moved to communities adjacent to LIRR Port Washington branch stations years or even decades ago. The Great Neck, Manhasset, Plandome and Port Washington school districts in Nassau County along with those in neighboring Little Neck, Douglaston, Bayside and Auburndale in Queens are some of the best in the Metropolitan New York area. We have great air quality along with a low crime rate, abundant parks, libraries, shopping, entertainment, movie theaters, hospitals and medical facilities.
As a long time Mail & Ride member starting in the class of 1983 before retiring in January 2015, I know first hand how user friendly LIRR Mail & Ride is. Few remember a brief period in the 1980's when the LIRR offered a one-year ticket which arrived monthly. By prepaying for your monthly pass one year in advance, you received a four-percent discount. Sadly, there were only several hundred of us including myself who took advantage of this amazing bargain, so it was quickly discontinued. Fast forward to today and you can also purchase an unlimited Metro Card with your LIRR monthly ticket. You end up with savings on your LIRR monthly fare plus unlimited monthly NYC Transit rides. This affords incredible savings for those who use the subway to and from Penn Station in Manhattan; Hunters Point, Long Island City, Woodside, Jamaica in Queens or Flatbush Avenue Brooklyn. The savings are multiplied with local trips at lunch time or after work. The card also provides you with unlimited free transfers to NYC Transit, MTA Bus and Nassau Inter County Express NICE Bus.
More LIRR riders continue to purchase tickets via Mail & Ride, ticket vending machines or various Apps. By 2021, the new MTA One Metro New York (OMNY) fare collection system will be coming on line. Staffed ticket windows and offices may go the way of the dinosaurs.
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Larry Penner is a transportation historian and advocate who previously worked 31 years for the Federal Transit Administration Region 2 NY Office.
