MTA Hikes Fares, Holds Back
Extra Revenue
Despite calls from angry straphangers and policy groups,
the MTA did not use its entire $330 million in additional
revenue to thwart this year’s fare hikes. Last
Thursday, the agency approved fare hikes and service
cuts, including raising fares, tolls, and closing 164
subway station booths.
Trouble Ahead
An informal New York State commission has released its
findings on the state of transportation systems and funding,
and predicts a bumpy road ahead.
Agency Re-Shuffle in Tappan Zee Study
The NY State DOT looks to have a new "integrator" role
in a multi-agency jurisdiction sooner than the state
advisory panel thought — the Journal News reported
last week that the DOT was taking over the Tappan Zee/I-287
corridor environmental impact study process.
Thruway Toll Hike a Mixed Bag
The NY State Thruway Authority has announced its intention
to increase tolls in 2005. The agency’s board last
week gave preliminary approval for a plan that would
hike passenger car cash tolls 25% next year, with a further
10% increase in 2008. The increases would be discounted
somewhat for drivers using E-ZPass. The Thruway looks
likely to hold hearings and take final action on a new
toll plan in the first half of the new year.
Motorists Hit MTA on Retro Toll Stance
The January Car & Travel, the magazine of the NY
chapter of the AAA, admonishes the MTA for refusing to
consider non-gated express E-ZPass lanes for its toll
bridges in its new five year capital program. The organization
awards the MTA a "Red Light" for its "no
go attitude."
World Trade Center Transportation Issues Unsettled, Unsettling
Since the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, charged
with leading the rebuilding process selected Studio Libeskind’s
plan for the World Trade Center site, almost all of the
publicly revealed decisions have been about specific
buildings. They include the Freedom Tower design, the
entryway for the new PATH station, the choice of architects
for the Cultural Center and the performing arts space.
Clean Trucks on the Slow Road?
New federal regulations for diesel engines and diesel
fuel are expected to cut fine particulate matter (PM
2.5) from trucks by as much as 90 percent. These reductions
would be welcome by the 25 tri-state counties which learned
last Friday that the EPA had found them to be failing
new PM 2.5 standards.
