Unfortunately, following Thursday evening's presentation by NY State DOT of its narrowed list of options for the future of transportation on Long Island, the agency's definition of bus lanes is highly suspect.

The centerpiece of the DOT's 3-year "Long Island Transportation Plan 2000" study now coming into view is a Nassau-Suffolk express bus system that would operate over an extensive network of new high-occupancy vehicle lanes. NYSDOT has, however, apparently abandoned the "HOV" moniker in order to create a stronger mass transit sensibility - the buses will operate in "bus lanes that admit carpools."

The HOV network envisioned in the express bus scenarios would add lanes to the Southern State Parkway, the Northern State Parkway, the Meadowbrook Parkway, Sunken Meadow and Sagtikos Parkways and Suffolk Rte. 97. Other highways, including NY110, the Wantagh State Parkway, the Veterans Memorial Highway and Suffolk's William Floyd Parkway, would be widened with additional general traffic lanes. NYS DOT is already seeking to widen NY Rtes. 347, 112 and 25 in its current 5-year program.

A big HOV and highway lane construction program is sure to accelerate sprawl development and car use. However, impacts of the various scenarios were presented only relative to a theoretical "2020 base condition," and did not depict how much additional traffic over today's levels the expanded highway network would accommodate.

Meanwhile, the projected express bus system is sure to come under strong scrutiny regarding potential ridership, mainly because much of Long Island does not feature transit-supportive land use patterns.

Members of the LITP citizen advisory committee that met Thursday returned frequently to the need for the study to consider alternative land use scenarios. A 20-year strategy envisioning huge public investments should certainly consider strategies to get at the root of Long Island's transportation problems ¾ car-dependent development patterns.

DOT and its consultants said that they were not responsible for land use and thus could not really respond in this area. They seemed unfamiliar with Governor Pataki's "Quality Communities" executive order, which has directed all state agencies to develop plans for encouraging "smart growth" through their activities and investments (MTR #253). They also seemed unfazed by the existence of collaborative efforts in the region specifically undertaken to grapple with land use and transportation, including the Route 1 project in Middlesex County, a Princeton area initiative (see story below, left) and the "Bear Mountain Parkway Sustainable Development Study" in Westchester, one of whose participants is NY State DOT.

Environmental, civic and transportation reform groups asked the DOT to go back to the drawing board with the LITP study last week, after they learned that a big road widening effort would be the study's main recommendation (MTR #272).

More information on developments in the LITP 2000 study will be available next week, after the study's technical advisory committee meets.