NY Transit Still Deep in the
Woods
New York transit advocates won a partial victory when
the MTA recently announced it would reduce its proposed
fare hikes and service cuts. The MTA said a sudden $330
million transit budget windfall primarily comes from
previously underestimated revenues from real estate taxes.
Bill Would Suspend New Jersey Rail Freight Spending
Last week, the NJ Assembly Transportation Committee approved
legislation that would suspend any state funding for
short line rail projects for over a year while a comprehensive
short line rail plan for the state is created. Almost
all of those who testified on the measure, including
transportation experts and rail freight industry officials,
opposed it.
Americans Willing to Pay for Transit
Decision makers in New York may want you to believe that
Albany’s dysfunction and bad city-state politics
make it impossible to raise taxes, tolls or fees to keep
the metropolitan transportation system from sliding into
the abyss of disinvestment.
Bus Lanes Grow in Brooklyn
NYC DOT recently announced pedestrian safety and bus
improvements to Fulton Street from Fort Greene to Bedford-Stuyvesant,
Brooklyn. There is now a reversible bus only lane on
Fulton east of Flatbush Avenue. It runs toward downtown
in the morning and east-bound in the evening.
Tapan Zee Plans Bunched Up
Drivers on the Tappan Zee Bridge aren’t the only
ones going slow. Next meetings on the Tappan Zee replacement
study have been postponed until January, because the
consultants and officials are "still reviewing
project alternatives." However, the hold-up has
gone on since summer and seems worse than the usual bureaucratic
delay.
Truck Routes are a Study in Inertia
There’s not much to report about the NYC DOT’s
citywide truck route impact study since we last visited
the subject in May (MTR #459).
New Trash Plan Could Mean Cleaner City
Mayor Bloomberg estimates his new trash plan will save
the city 3 million truck miles per year. New York City
produces around 50,000 tons of trash and recyclables
each day. Commercial trash (70% of all trash) is managed
privately; residential waste is handled by the city’s
Dept. of Sanitation (DOS).
