The Long Island Rail Road is making changes to its schedule after commuter feedback following the full opening of Grand Central Madison last week. Though the service may be more convenient, commuters will still have to adjust to the new schedule — and their new routines.
“When you have a routine in place, a lot of that motion through your routine is habitual, and you’re relying on habits to kind of make those decisions throughout your routine, and those are difficult to change,” said Elizabeth Hewitt, assistant professor in the Department of Technology and Society at Stony Brook University.
However, Hewitt said while changing schedules can be stressful, the disruption felt by commuters is natural, and will abate over time.
"We know from lots of empirical research that habits are hard to change,” Hewitt said. “Any change in the daily routine that we've developed for ourselves requires a lot of cognitive effort to plan and smooth out."
The feedback came after Grand Central Madison’s first week open after decades of development. New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced the service changes on Monday in an effort to make commuters’ adjustment to the new station as convenient as possible, she said.
The schedule changes include expanded rush hour service, added cars to overcrowded trains, and more time for train transfers. There are a total of 32 trains that have had new cars added to meet commuter demand, as of March 6, according to the governor’s office.
More staff have been assigned to LIRR stations as needed, including 30 additional employees at Jamaica and 10 more in Grand Central Madison terminal.
Hewitt encouraged commuters to view the schedule changes and expanded service into New York City as an opportunity to try out other things.
“The fact that it’s so much of a divergence from what people might be used to, could be making it hard for people, but it also could provide an entry point for them to try something new because it’s already a transition,” Hewitt said.
