New Coalition Backs Cross-Harbor
Rail Tunnel
This week, MoveNY, a coalition working to improve freight
transportation in the region, announced its formation.
MoveNY is a broad alliance of the region’s business,
labor, environmental and planning leaders, including
Tri-State Transportation Campaign executive director
Janine Bauer, Robert Yaro of the Regional Plan Association,
and James Tripp of Environmental Defense. In the near-term,
the coalition will focus efforts on securing federal
funds for the cross-harbor rail freight tunnel.
Court Date, Fare Rally Tuesday
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Straphangers
Campaign and the Automobile Club of NY will be back in
court Tuesday, presenting their cases in appellate court.
A panel of judges will hear arguments about whether lower
court rulings ordering the MTA to rescind the transit
fare and bridge and tunnel toll increases that took effect
in May.
West Side Plan: Blueprint for a Traffic Nightmare
A majority of speakers at last Thursday’s hearing
expressed concern or opposition to the plan by city government
and the MTA to extend the Number 7 subway line to the
Javitz Center area in order to underwrite major real
estate and stadium development on Midtown Manhattan’s
far west side.
On Board Fare Change: Riders Need More Info
Metro-North Railroad owes its riders a new set of signs
at stations warning of the new on-board ticket purchase
charges and directing them to the ticket vending machines
that can save them the new fee.
NJ Not Part of Anti-Northeast Coalition
Despite reports
to the contrary coming to us from both Washington and
Trenton, New Jersey DOT officials tell the Campaign that
the state does not support the “SHARE” coalition
that wants to increase each state’s “minimum
guarantee” of federal gas tax revenues (see MTR
#418).
Campaign Hails Route 92 Review
The Trenton Times noted the state’s request to
delay the release of Route 92’s draft environmental
impact statement this week. As reported in MTR
#418,
the Turnpike Authority requested the delay in order
to work with other state agencies (mainly DEP, DOT,
and the Governor’s Office of Smart Growth) to
ensure that the new highway meets “all the new
development requirements” in the state...
CT Strategy Board Still in Search of Funding
The CT Transportation Strategy Board has to wait for
an end to the state budget stalemate before the first
elements of its 20-year plan can be considered by the
full General Assembly.
Brooklyn Growth Strategy: How to Get There
If done with adequate attention to traffic and transit,
a city plan to rezone downtown Brooklyn for extensive
commercial growth could provide a strong basis for
the continued redevelopment of downtown Brooklyn and
surrounding neighborhoods. But so far, the plan’s
transportation impacts and implications have not been
adequately addressed in documents published by the
city’s Economic Development Corporation.
