Current edition: Mobilizing the Region #473
September 20, 2004
Schedule for MTA Fare Hike, Service Cuts Come Into View
Transit advocates slammed the MTA on Monday for announcing there would be only one public hearing in New York City in November on the agency’s plans to cut transit service and raise fares and tolls for NYC MetroCard users, express bus and commuter rail riders and bridge and tunnel motorists. Hearing would also take place in the Hudson Valley and on Long Island.
Although work to relieve congestion at Garden State Parkway toll plazas is well advanced, the notion of abolishing tolls altogether is dying a slow death. New Jersey’s anti-toll zealots are kvetching about the latest improvements on the Garden State Parkway.
NYSDOT Support for Innovative Planning Weak
An NYU Rudin Transportation Center and Institute for Civil Infrastructure Systems forum last week on joining land use and transportation planning focused on a set of "sustainable development strategy" projects established by the staff of the NY Metropolitan Transportation Council.
The Riders and the Rebirth of City Transit
The Straphangers Campaign is marking its 25th years with an exhibit recounting transit rider advocacy campaigns since the 1970s at the Municipal Art Society in Manhattan.
The Regional Plan Association released a report recently on the progress of Lower Manhattan’s redevelopment.
The Port Authority has issued a request for proposals for ferry service between Lower Manhattan and JFK airport. Proposals are due in November, though it is not clear when the PA hopes to initiate service.
New Jersey Transit opened a new segment of its Hudson-Bergen light rail system, extending the line north from Hoboken station into Weehawken. Three new stations were opened ― two on Hoboken’s west side and one on the Weehawken waterfront. The extension is 1.6 miles in length. Work on a further section north from Weehawken continues ― it will allow the line to reach Union City, West New York and North Bergen.
Declaring Fiscal Stability, Suozzi Hikes Bus Budget
Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi released his budget for 2005 last Monday, with funding to Long Island Bus proposed at $10.5 million. Suozzi said he was doubling the county’s bus contribution, though the doubling is more in line with what he proposed last year than in what the bus agency in fact received.
The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) recently announced that 100 schools will open with brand new sidewalks this year. The new program was developed by NYC Transportation Commissioner Iris Weinshal to repair and add sidewalks to schools.
| Each week, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign publishes Mobilizing the Region, or MTR. MTR is a bulletin on New Jersey, New York and Connecticut transportation news and opinion from the perspective of advocacy for sustainable transportation. |
| MTR #473 printable format (PDF) file (requires Adobe Acrobat).
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GO TO INDEX of past issues of MTR, since Fall 1994.ll M
Recent editions:
MTR 472-September 14, 2004
MTR 471-September 8, 2004
MTR 470-August 17, 2004
MTR 469- August 9, 2004
