NJDOT Says Local Aid Intact
Despite news reports last week, NJDOT officials told
MTR last week that there are no plans to cut local
aid in the fiscal 2006 transportation capital program.
The Stadium and the MTA
MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow is right that finding funding
for New York’s mass transit capital program is
a lot more important than the fight over Mayor Bloomberg’s
West Side stadium. But there are several intersecting
issues worth keeping in mind, aside from the obvious
fact that the more money the MTA can get for its Hudson
Yards air rights, the more it will be able to devote
to its 2005-2009 repair and construction plan.
MTA Confronts Funding Crisis
At the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s
February board meeting, MTA Executive Director Katherine
Lapp’s made sobering comments about the possible
future of the transit system. Noting a capital budget
gap in the billions, said that "hard choices" would
soon have to be made.
NY and NJ Top Air Pollution-Cancer List
A report released this week by the Boston-based Clean
Air Task Force finds that New York and New Jersey rank
1st and 2nd respectively in cancer risk from diesel soot
per capita (Connecticut ranked 13th).
CT Spending Focused Heavily on Highways, Says Report
A new report that provides an overview of transportation
institutions, policy and funding in Connecticut shows,
among other findings, that the Connecticut DOT is overwhelmingly
emphasizes highway travel and investment, even though
it has the institutional and funding flexibility to pursue
a more balanced course.
Transit Says U.S. Selling NJ Short
As time ticks down to a serious transportation finance
crisis in New Jersey, NJ Transit’s website has
sprouted a new feature – a dollar ticker that shows
the agency’s calculation of how much transportation
aid New Jersey has lost because Congress and President
Bush have failed to enact new transportation funding
legislation.
Smoother Sailing for Williamsburg Bridge Cyclists?
Members of Transportation Alternatives and other cyclists
have created a big stink over the difficult and dangerous
riding surface on the Williamsburg Bridge bikeway, and
NYC DOT now says it will review ways to fix the problem.
