By Cara Gargano
Imagine a commuting experience where you could travel over water and land all without leaving your seat. Long Island engineer, Anthony Caserta came up with the idea for a quicker and easier ride for Westchester residents who commute to Nassau County. Caserta, 67, created a floating bus, otherwise known as a Pontiphian, which even has the Mamaroneck's mayor, Philip Trifiletti's interest.
"On land, it's a bus," Caserta said. "Anywhere a bus can go, we can run this route."
Caserta, who has retired from Northrop Grumman, is working with his son, Charles, to create a bus that would roll along local highways by using any ordinary boat ramp which removes financial problems because a traditional ferry to Mamaroneck would require a bulkhead. There will be access for the disabled, to be built most likely in the west basin of Mamaroneck Harbor. That would equal a cost of an estimated $2 million. Caserta's first route would connect the Mamaroneck train station at Mamaroneck Ave. with the Glen Street station in Glen Cove. A one way trip on the Pontiphian would take about 40 minutes and would cost $15. Currently, the route is only 12 miles long, but it could be expanded stopping at popular places such as downtown White Plains and the Roosevelt Field mall in Garden City.
"Traffic is bad and I think the floating bus is a good idea but it's not necessary," said junior Education and Psychology major Megan Flynn. "I used to commute from Lloyd Harbor which is 45 minutes away and depending on the time of day traffic was OK but I didn't want to commute anymore which is why I decided to dorm this semester."
The Casertas would start by using the boat ramp at Harbor Island Park in Mamaroneck where the bus would settle into water. The twosome has already tested a two-seat prototype, assembled from scrap yard parts, in Huntington Harbor. The prototype has a Ford Bronco's 351 Windsor engine, Volvo seats, and a Ford Mustang's steering wheel. A soup can was also used over the wheel hub to pack grease in to protect the ball bearings from saltwater. In water, the vehicle's wheels retract, and sheets of metal in a U-shape slide forward to create pontoons, with pumps inside to eject water. When the vehicle emerges of the water it resembles an unusual-looking bus.
"We just knocked that together as cheaply as possible to prove out the concept," Charles Caserta said.
This model is useful for showing what will work when a larger, more polished version is built. Caserta is seeking $500,000 in grants to create the first usable 30-seat Pontiphian.
"I suspect that the floating bus will have problems," said Professor Bill James. "Since the customers are riding the floating bus, they will need transportation from their arrival point to Nassau to their work place. I suspect that this is a fatal flaw in the plan, but I do not know enough about public transportation in Nassau to be certain. If the destination was Manhattan, where there is great public transportation available that would not be an issue."
Caserta plans to start small with only one bus; he must be on top of maintaining the vehicle and alerting commuters in the event the bus broke down. Weather is also a big factor. Storms could force the driver to follow the same overland route that the service is meant to avoid.
However, Trifiletti said it could serve not only commuters, but also day-trippers from Long Island.
"It would show people in Long Island and other points along the shore what a great place our village is," said Trifiletti.
The Pontiphian could offer a great experience for any individual interested in a new way to commute or perhaps just a different type of sight-seeing option.