The LaGuardia AirTrain project is likely to be the world’s most expensive transit project per rider in history, according to a new report. The $

LaGuardia AirTrain Set to be World’s Most Expensive Transit Project: Report

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2021-09-12 05:00:05

The LaGuardia AirTrain project is likely to be the world’s most expensive transit project per rider in history, according to a new report.

The $2.1 billion project — a 1.5 mile rail line linking LaGuardia Airport to the 7 train and Long Island Rail Road at Willets Point — could cost the most per new rider of any public transit development in history, according to an analysis by the government watchdog group Reinvent Albany.

The report undermines the economics of the proposed AirTrain LGA — which some say was a pet project of disgraced former governor Andrew Cuomo. It follows pushback from community members and elected officials who say its route is illogical — making riders from Manhattan travel past the airport to Willets Point to then backtrack to the airport.

The AirTrain project would serve only 6,000 new riders each day, according to Reinvent Albany’s estimates outlined in the report. With the project set to cost $2.1 billion that equates to a whopping $346,000 per new daily rider.