Prospects for MTA Fix-It Budget
Looking Up
As the New York State legislature passed its first on-time
budget since 1984, hopes for critical work needed to
maintain and improve downstate New York’s huge
mass transit system rose.
Only Halftime for Stadium Fight
Despite a raft of headlines asserting that the Jets and
Mayor Bloomberg have reached the "end zone" in
their fight to build the unpopular West Side stadium,
the MTA’s vote in favor of selling development
rights to the team does not make the project a done deal.
NY Roads and Bridge Funding: Treading Water
The 14-county downstate region needs more than twice
what Albany appears to have approved for road and bridge
projects by 2010, according to a report by Bruce Schaller
for the NYU Rudin Center.
Progress for NJ Pedestrians
A.2605, a law increasing the fine for drivers violating
crosswalk laws by $50 and dedicating the revenue to a
new pedestrian safety fund was passed by the NJ Senate
on March 21.
Bicyling in NYC: City of Two Minds
NYC’s transportation policy is to encourage bicycle
commuting, and the city has invested millions to help
cyclists cross the East River and negotiate a few city
avenues more safety.
Transportation Alternatives' Noah Budnick Badly Injured
in Traffic
Much of the city in fact remains a potential death trap
for cyclists. NYC cycling advocate and Transportation
Alternatives staffer Noah Budnick was severely injured
while commuting by bicycle in Brooklyn near the Manhattan
Bridge on the evening of Tuesday, May 29.
Goethals Study Gets Going
The new Goethals Bridge environmental impact statement
is underway, and has screened out several implausible
project alternatives suggested during the public "scoping" process.
More Xanadu Lawsuits Filed
With active wetlands filling taking place for a parking
structure for the Xanadu recreational and retail megaplex
in New Jersey’s Meadowlands, the NJ Sierra Club,
NJ Public Interest Research Group and the New Jersey
Environmental Federation last week sued the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, saying the the Corps failed to consider
a variety of issues in granting its permit for the action.
Casino Critics Target Traffic
Traffic is a major concern of groups mobilizing a strong
turnout at Albany hearings on Governor Pataki’s
plan to build five new casinos in the Catskills.
Bee-Line Strike Enters 2nd Month
A federal mediator is trying to break the deadlock, in
its fifth week as of this writing, between bus workers
and Liberty Bus Lines, the company that runs Westchester’s
local mass transit service.
Boardman to Washington
On March 17, federal and state governments announced
that NY State transportation commissioner Joseph Boardman
would leave Albany to assume leadership of the Federal
Railroad Administration.
Connecticut Transportation Funding Plan Still at Large
Connecticut lawmakers have until June to decide on Governor
Rell’s $1.3 billion transportation proposal, which
calls for a modest gas tax increase to 31 cents and other
fee increases over the next eight years.
