Current edition: Mobilizing the Region #477
October 18, 2004
Municipal Planning a Key to Fighting Gridlock, Says Lettiere
New Jersey Transportation Commissioner Jack Lettiere told the elected officials, business leaders, developers and civic activists of Bergen County that the traditional ways of attacking traffic congestion will not get the job done.
Pataki, Bloomberg Missing from Transit Crisis
With the horrendous scale of likely MTA fare increases and service cuts becoming clearer, the Straphangers Campaign asked "Where are Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Pataki and their plan to keep fares affordable and service decent?"
Warrington Unveils Extended Bergen County Rail System
NJ Transit director George Warrington presented a new northern NJ rail plan to the Bergen transportation summit last Tuesday. Its most interesting feature is the connection of new light rail lines to the new cross-Hudson passenger rail tunnel NJ Transit is planning. That would mean direct light rail access to Manhattan. The new projects Warrington identified were a two-branch diesel light rail system and a spur of the electric Hudson-Bergen light rail to the Xanadu/Giants Stadium site.
New Jersey Brings Transportation Taxes Back to the Table
As Bergen County, NJ DOT and NJ Transit discussed a variety of expensive projects last week, funding was obviously on most minds. State Senator Paul Sarlo has indeed proposed a special transportation district for Bergen County — the district would levy impact fees from developers and invest it in infrastructure. Such a slice of local funding could help boost projects in the district as they compete for federal and state funding with other New Jersey needs.
Port Leaders: Rail Capacity is Top Priority
For transportation officials and port terminal operators, one priority in meeting New Jersey’s freight crunch is clear: expand rail capacity. As volumes at Ports Newark and Elizabeth continue to set records, quickly moving cargo out of these entry points has become more important than ever.
The Stamford Advocate recently argued in favor of turning U.S. Route 7 in southwestern Connecticut into a "Super 7" limited-access highway. This year’s elections have indeed brought the project back into the limelight. Governor Rell told the paper that Route 7 was her "favorite road." The governor said she wants to ease congestion on the road, but it is not clear she supports the Super 7 option or other alternatives to improve traffic flow.
| 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 #477 printable format (PDF) file (requires Adobe Acrobat).
|
GO TO INDEX of past issues of MTR, since Fall 1994.ll M
Recent editions:
MTR 476-October 11, 2004
MTR 475-October 4, 2004
MTR 474-September 27, 2004
MTR 473-September 20, 2004
