Very long lines again for the Roosevelt Island Tram Manhattan

and Roosevelt Island stations

today.

Here’s the Tram line at Manhattan Station last Wednesday too.

Among the comments on Roosevelt Island Instagram page are:

The Roosevelt Island Twitterverse reports:

And from 2019:

Tram overcrowding is going to be even worse next weekend when there will be no MTA Roosevelt Island F train shuttle service. According to RIOC:

Dear Roosevelt Island Community:

The MTA has issued the following alert regarding upcoming changes to the
F-Shuttle Train in support ofthe ongoing
63rdSttrack replacement project. During the weekend
of January 6thand 7th,the MTA will be
running special shuttle buses in place of the F-shuttle train, which will
be offline for the weekend:

Track reconstruction work will be moving to the Manhattan-bound track
starting on Monday, January 8th.

In support of this switchover:

  1. F shuttle train service will be suspended starting onSaturday 1/6 at 5AM through Monday 1/8 at 5AM.
  2. Starting at 11:00 PM on Friday 1/5 and for the remainder of the weekend, a free shuttle bus will replace the Q95 and Q94 and will extend to connect Roosevelt Island, 21 St- Queensbridge, and Queens Plaza,following the current Q94 overnight shuttle route.
  3. This shuttle bus will run during daytime and overnight hours for the duration of the weekend and is scheduled to operate approximately every 5-10 minutes.

Beginning onMonday 1/8, F shuttle train service will resume on the
Queens-bound track and will arrive and depart from the lower level
of the Lexington Ave/63rdSt Station.Q94 and Q95 shuttle service will resume with no
changes.

Project completion is still slated for Q1, 2024, subject to
change.

Other Methods of Travel

In addition to the MTAs free shuttle bus, island residents may utilize
the following methods of off-island transportation during the January 6/7
weekend:

  • Red Bus: RIOC runs a weekly Red Bus Shuttle to Manhattan every Saturday and Sunday from 3:00pm 7:30pm. The shuttle leaves from the Tram Station at the top of every hour and picks up returning riders from the Southwest side of 2nd Avenue, between 58th Street and 59th Street, on the half hour.
  • Tram: RIOC is running the Tram on a rush hour schedule every Saturday and Sunday from 7:00am 10:00pm during the ongoing MTAtrackwork.
  • NYC Ferry: The NYC Ferry Astoria line serves Roosevelt Island and can provide off-island transportation to Queens and Manhattan.You can check its schedule here.
  • Q102 Bus: Travelers can also utilize the Q102 Bus to Astoria for off-island travel.You can view its schedule here.

Please be advised that we expect longer than average wait times for
the Roosevelt Island Tram while this track change takes place, so
please plan your travel accordingly. Extra PSD officers will be
stationed at both the Roosevelt Island and Manhattan Tram stations all
weekend to help ensure an orderly travel experience for
passengers.

Thank you.

-Team RIOC

Will RIOC allow Roosevelt Island residents and workers priority boarding before tourists next weekend when there is no F Train shuttle? It could be as simple as allowing Metro Card holders priority boarding , as was done earlier this year, since most tourists are using the OMNY payment system.

UPDATE 11 PM: According to the Roosevelt Island resident who took the video at the Manhattan Tram station today:

So RIOC is apparently afraid of a lawsuit for using public tram as a “private” transportation for the island residents. They are not afraid of a lawsuit for using the same tram as their own private transport.

While standing in line for 25 minutes you may notice that residents are a tiny minority and that PSD officers conveniently “forget” about fairness when one of RIOC employees bypasses the line to get to the island. In the tram tourists are glued to the windows to take pictures, and inside the tram it’s empty (the space for the residents).