page_title: Hudson–Bergen Light Rail
section_title: Bayonne Bridge/Staten Island
hierarchical_section_title: Hudson–Bergen Light Rail / Proposed expansions / Bayonne Bridge/Staten Island
caption_attribution_description: English: Looking west from west of Bard Avenue, at SIRT tracks and Bayonne Bridge on a sunny midday.
context_page_description: The Hudson–Bergen Light Rail is a light rail system in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Owned by New Jersey Transit and operated by the 21st Century Rail Corporation, it connects the communities of Bayonne, Jersey City, Hoboken, Weehawken, Union City, and North Bergen.
  The system began operating its first segment in April 2000, expanded in phases during the next decade, and was completed with the opening of its southern terminus on January 31, 2011. The line generally runs parallel to the Hudson River and Upper New York Bay, while its northern end and its western branch travel through the lower Hudson Palisades. HBLR has twenty-four stations along a total track length of 17 miles for each of its 2 tracks and as of 2017 served over 52,000 weekday passengers. There are plans for expansion through extensions and additional stations.
  The project was financed by a mixture of state and federal funding. With an eventual overall cost of approximately $2.2 billion to complete its initial operating segments, the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail was one of the largest public works projects ever in New Jersey.
context_section_description: The Bayonne Bridge connects Bayonne and Staten Island, a borough of New York City. The bridge was originally built to accommodate two extra lanes that could be used for light rail service. In the 2010s the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey raised the roadbed of the bridge by 64 feet (20 m), in order to provide the 215-foot (66 m) clearance required by the newer post-panamax container ships to pass under it. Final plans for the reconstructed bridge eventually did not include a rail element.
  In September 2007, the S89 limited-stop bus service was introduced between Richmond Avenue in Staten Island and the 34th Street HBLR station. As of February 2018, it runs only during the weekday peak period.
  While not having begun any studies, New Jersey Transit investigated the feasibility of extending HBLR from the 8th Street Station across the raised bridge. An academic study has been produced in the Journal of Public Transportation. Completing any such extension would involve a collaboration between NJ Transit, New York State, and New York City. The development of a Staten Island light rail system which could connect with the HBLR system gained political support in New York. US Senator Robert Menendez supported the HBLR extension conceptually, but questioned the benefit for New Jersey. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's 2015–2019 Capital Plan was amended in May 2017 to allocate $4 million to study the potential extension.
caption: A right of way to connect to a potential light rail system on Staten Island was not included in the original Bayonne Bridge "raising the roadbed" reconstruction plans
exif: {"Image Tag 0x001D": "", "Image ImageDescription": "", "Image Make": "NIKON", "Image Model": "COOLPIX P6000", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Microsoft Pro Photo Tools", "Image DateTime": "2010:05:17 17:48:40", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Co-sited", "Image ExifOffset": "2488", "GPS GPSVersionID": "[2, 2, 0, 0]", "GPS GPSLatitudeRef": "N", "GPS GPSLatitude": "[40, 3873491/100000, 0]", "GPS GPSLongitudeRef": "W", "GPS GPSLongitude": "[74, 653231/100000, 0]", "GPS GPSAltitudeRef": "0", "GPS GPSAltitude": "0/0", "GPS GPSTimeStamp": "[0/0, 0/0, 0/0]", "GPS GPSSatellites": "", "GPS GPSImgDirectionRef": "", "GPS GPSImgDirection": "0/0", "GPS GPSMapDatum": "", "Image GPSInfo": "5044", "Image CustomRendered": "Normal", "Image ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "Image WhiteBalance": "Auto", "Image DigitalZoomRatio": "0", "Image FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "70", "Image SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "Image GainControl": "None", "Image Contrast": "Normal", "Image Saturation": "Normal", "Image Sharpness": "Normal", "Image SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "Image Padding": "[]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "5386", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "14729", "EXIF ExposureTime": "5/1474", "EXIF FNumber": "29/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "64", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0220", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2010:04:04 13:51:03", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2010:04:04 13:51:03", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "2", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "29/10", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "15", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "4224", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3168", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF Padding": "[]"}