Station Review #12: Eltingville Transit Center (NYCMTA)


A plaque near the front door

Eltingville Transit Center is a bus station in Staten Island, for service on MTA buses throughout the island. The bus station is located in the aforementioned Eltingville neighborhood of Staten Island. This station is a park-and-ride station, One of five total in New York City. 

Tour


The transit center itself

Eltingville Transit center is surrounded by a fortress of hard-to-cross roads. There are very few good things about this station's location. In fact, the only one I can think of is that this station is near a diner with dolphins. Seriously, that's it.


Dolphins

Unfortunately, this is not at the station itself.


Bus Lot

In the front of the building, there's a lot, for buses to wait, and some bus berths. Despite these bus berths being labeled with what bus routes go to them, the buses will sometimes stop at random locations, so please be warned of this. 

There's a building in the middle of the sea of asphalt that covers much of the property of Eltingville Transit Center, although it's not a large one. This is the main building of Eltingville Transit Center. Outside the building, there are a few benches and not much else. 

Inside, the building has two accessible "rooms". One is devoted to having timetables and maps for people to grab, as shown below. The day I visited it, it was mostly empty...


Besides the full maps, the only one that remained was the s89...

Taking the doorway on the left, you enter the sad excuse for the main room. The main room has three Metrocard kiosks in it, and nothing else. There are no benches, nowhere to ask for help, nothing. There is a small area you would expect someone to be able to help you in, but this is for security I believe (please correct me if I am wrong and I will edit this section). 


This is the entire place.

Why this place exists


s59 Bus

Those who know much about this area know that there is a station near this on the Staten Island Railway named Eltingville. Many who know about both of these places then wonder why they are not integrated into one multi-modal transit center with bus and train links. The reason, although sad, is a very simple one. So simple, that I will not write it in this paragraph because I do not need to do so. This image speaks for itself.


The parking lot stretches outwards for a very large distance

Stretching behind the main building is a parking lot large enough to put some ponds to shame (this is not an exaggeration). This is the sole reason why the train station and bus station are not the same place as they should be. This place is designed with cars in mind, more-so than human beings. 

Buses that stop here

Bus stop in front of the station


To make things easier, I put everything into a spreadsheet, as shown below: 


20 routes total go to and from Eltingville Transit Center. 

Gallery of Extra images


More bus photos



Sunset at Eltingville Transit Center 


Now, onto the checklist and final rating:

Bus Station Checklist 


Medium station:


Accessible: ✓ (if you can get there)
Bathrooms for employees: ✓
Bus Departure/Arrival Info (signs that update/screens): ×
Clean Station: ✓
Easy to get around: ✓ 
Indoor Shelters: ✓ 
Maps: ✓
Multiple entrances/exits: ✓
Near places people are: ×
Seating: ✓ (none inside)
Shelters: ✓
Station In Good Condition: ✓
Something related to fares: ✓
Ticket Offices: ~
TOD: ×
Updated Signage: ✓ (I think)

Final Verdict: 4/10 


This station wasn't great, but I have honestly seen so much worse

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