Bill Offers Traffic Relief to
Cities and Towns
If draft legislation (S. 2093) now pending before the
NJ State Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee
is approved, NJ municipal planning boards reviewing development
applications would, for the first time since 1975, be
able to negotiate fees or deny applications based on
severe off-site traffic impacts. The bill will be voted
upon in Trenton on May 8th....
Downtown Rail Tunnel Still in Play
As reported last week in the NY
Post, Governor Pataki
has said he will support a direct Lower Manhattan-JFK
rail link. He has directed his staff and relevant agencies
to figure out how to pay for it. The danger in this news
is that the $2-5 billion project may end up competing
for funds for important NYC projects already in the pipeline,
like the LIRR-Grand Central connection and 2nd Ave subway.
MTA Finances May Not Fare Well
Newsday reported this week that Gary Caplan, MTA budget
director, could not rule out another transit fare hike
in New York City and its suburbs in 2005.
East River Tolls Not Regressive
New data developed by the Bridge Tolls Advocacy Project
finds that regular East River bridge drivers are relatively
well-off. Compared to neighbors who don’t drive
to work over East River bridges, bridge commuters earn,
on average, $14,300 a year more.
Tappan Zee II Study to Narrow Options
NY State Thruway and Metro-North planners have developed
a long list of possible project elements to address traffic
congestion in the Tappan Zee corridor. The list will
include most of what agency staff heard at public scoping
meetings held over the winter, including a variety of
mass transit ideas, and various plans for expanded or
new highway alignments.
Pattern Plan Doesn’t Break Mold
A recent report by the Mid-Hudson Pattern for Progress,
a Newburgh-based business coalition, attempts to outline
a 20-50 year, ten-point strategy for transportation planning
in the Hudson Valley region in a paper entitled: “Hudson
Valley Quality of Life = Transportation.”
Stop the Bleeding at Bee-Line
The Tri-State Transportation Campaign has urged the Westchester
County legislature to ensure that any Bee-Line bus fare
revenue raised in excess of County projections be used
to improve bus service. Transit advocates worry that
the county may use higher fare revenues to further reduce
general county support for the bus system.
