Mobilizing the Region
       A weekly bulletin from the Tri-State Transportation Campaign

Current edition: Mobilizing the Region #491

February 21, 2005


Hudson Yard Sale: Bloomberg's Zone Defense

This week the MTA announced that it was opening up bidding on the Hudson Rail Yards, but there was a catch: the Jets would get the benefit of a rezoning; everyone else has to bid on an "as is" land use basis.

 

Passengers Ask for More NJTransit Funding

At hearings from Camden to Patterson last week, dozens of riders, civic leaders, and a handful of elected officials spoke against NJTransit’s proposed fare increases and for the state to create a dedicated fund for transit operations.  (For remaining hearings, see the calendar last page.)

 

Pataki's Budget Threatens Federal Transit Funding

East Side Access and the Second Avenue Subway were the only two transit projects out of 27 evaluated nationwide to receive "highly recommended" ratings in the Federal Transit Administration "New Starts" 2006 report. However, Governor Pataki’s budget, which allocates only $2 billion to the transit expansion projects, $3 billion less than the MTA says it needs from the state for its 2005-2009 capital program, could jeopardize up to $5 billion in federal allocations.

 

NJDOT Designates Two New Transit Villages

New Brunswick and Jersey City are the 15th and 16th cities added to the state’s transit village program, NJ DOT announced last week. 20 municipalities applied to join the popular program this year.

 

Spotlight on Trucks: Boerum Hill, Brooklyn

Last week, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign joined Councilman David Yassky, Brooklyn Community Board 2 and the Boerum Hill Association to publicly pressure the city to make truck route enforcement a priority. 

 

NYC Car Owners Hit the Brakes

Crain’s reported a 5% drop overall in NYC car ownership between 2000 and 2003, noting that the cumulative costs of driving, including auto insurance and gas prices, have increased dramatically. 

 

New Visions Presents Lower Manhattan Update

New York New Visions, a collation of architecture, planning and design organizations that formed after September 11th hosted a meeting on Lower Manhattan’s transportation plan last week.

Each week, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign publishes Mobilizing the Region, or MTRMTR is a bulletin on New Jersey, New York and Connecticut transportation news and opinion from the perspective of advocacy for sustainable transportation. 

MTR #491 printable format (PDF) file
(requires Adobe Acrobat).


GO TO INDEX of past issues of MTR, since Fall 1994.ll M


Recent editions: 

MTR 490-February 14, 2005

MTR 489-February 7, 2005

MTR 488-January 31, 2005

MTR 487-January 24, 2005