Kolluri Announced, Faces Tough
Road
Kris Kolluri has finally been named by Governor Corzine
as New Jersey's transportation commissioner.
Economy Holding the Line on MTA Fares?
MTA Executive Director Katherine Lapp told NY State legislators
last week the downstate transit system's finances may
be in good enough shape to stave off a general fare increase
planned for 2007, according to news reports.
Windfall for NY's Suburban Buses?
Governor Pataki's recent budget speech announced big increases in state aid to
mass transit operating budgets.
In CT, New Life for Some Old Ideas
Governor Jodi Rell has proposed a new $600 million transportation plan focused
on two ideas that have been discussed for some time: a Hartford to New Britain
bus-way and a commuter rail line from Springfield, MA to New Haven.
NY State's Big Plans
The NY State Dept. of Transportation is seeking comments on a new draft of a
state transportation plan that looks out to 2030.
Living with Tappan Zee Transit: Parking
Debate over parking in Suffern and Pearl River, in Rockland County, provide some
insight into work ahead for planners hoping to bring mass transit to the Tappan
Zee corridor.
Transit Ridership Up Around the Region
2005 was a good year for transit riding in the Region, with all major agencies
reporting increases.
Kolluri Announced, Faces Tough Road
Kris Kolluri has finally been named by Governor Corzine
as New Jersey’s transportation commissioner (MTR
#518). Kolluri is likely to be confirmed by the state
senate in the next week or so.
As commissioner, one of Kolluri’s prominent
jobs in the new administration’s first year will
be to sell a package of revenue measures to re-finance
the state’s transportation trust fund, which
will run dry in July at the start of the state fiscal
year if no legislative action is taken to secure new
funding.
That will be a big job. Three separate public opinion
polls taken in January showed deep resistance to raising
New Jersey’s gas tax; even when the question
is framed in terms of the money raised being applied
directly to fix dilapidated roads and bridges.
All three polls, by Quinnipiac and Farleigh-Dickinson
Universities, and The Bergen Record, showed super-majorities
against raising taxes to fund transportation. Two of
them also showed that news of the state’s impending
transportation bankruptcy hasn’t generated a
significant buzz among the general citizenry of the
state.
The Farleigh Dickinson poll showed that half of respondents
felt they had heard “little or nothing” about
the issue; yet nearly three-quarters of those interviewed
(74%) were against raising the tax at all. The Quinnipiac
results said that sentiment against raising gas taxes
has increased over the past year, presumably owing
to gasoline price increases and intensive media coverage
of them. In January 2005 those polled rejected a gas
tax increase by a 39-57 margin, but respective shares
of support and opposition had changed to 27-69 by January
2006.
Kolluri will also have to prioritize among projects,
both in case a funding solution creates new spending
limits and because costs of transportation projects
in NJ appear to be rising. The North Jersey Transportation
Planning Authority reports that bids for construction
projects are coming in “substantially greater” than
initial agency cost estimates because of rising costs
of steel, concrete and construction-related fuel. Because
the federal government has already allocated funds
to specific projects already, the state may have to
come up with new estimates for state funding shares
projects or risk shortfalls within project budgets.
[Back to Top]
Economy Holding the Line on MTA Fares?
MTA Executive Director Kathryn Lapp told NY State
legislators last week the downstate transit system’s
finances may be in good enough shape to stave off a
general fare increase planned for 2007, according to
news reports.
The NY State budget passed last spring included an
increase in a tax on filing mortgage transactions,
with proceeds dedicated to the MTA capital program.
Continuation of the region’s housing and real
estate boom has led to higher than expected revenues
from that and other taxes. Additional capital funds
likely mean the agency is having to borrow less, or
is paying debt off more quickly than planned, which
provides operating budget savings. The MTA may also
have had somewhat lower than expected expenses during
2005.
The additional tax revenue appears to be reflected
in the state budget recently presented by Governor
Pataki, who announced big increases in transit operating
funds. Because of the history of elected officials
moving in to transfer mass transit budget surpluses
to other areas of spending, transit advocates and officials
would be wise to continue to link the current build
up of funds to clear goals like eliminating a fare
increase.
[Back to Top]
Windfall for NY’s
Suburban Buses?
Governor Pataki’s recent budget speech announced
big increases in state aid to mass transit operating
budgets. One set of beneficiaries of the funding hike
is downstate suburban bus operators, especially in
Westchester and Nassau Counties.
Westchester’s sometimes-troubled Bee-Line bus
system receives the biggest boost. Complaints by Westchester
lawmakers and newspapers about Bee-Line’s state
aid levels relative to those seen at Nassau’s
Long Island Bus appear to have paid off. If proposed
levels are enacted, Bee-Line will see a 50% rise in
state operating assistance, from $28 million to over
$42 million.
Not that Long Island Bus does badly. Its state aid
is slated to increase from about $36 million to over
$44 million. Hopefully, much of that can go to service
increases. Long Island Bus sets ridership records year
after year, and is now heavily strained by crowding
on some routes and too-infrequent service on many others.
One potential problem is whether the new funding
levels will be sustained beyond Governor Pataki’s
final budget. Can operators add service if they may
face cutbacks next year? Transit assistance from Albany
was once made on a multi-year basis, which provided
for more orderly service planning.
Westchester’s Bee-Line may at any rate be poised
to deliver a permanent bump-up in riders. The Journal-News
reported that the agency will add MetroCard capability
by the end of the year, allowing riders free transfers
to Bronx subways. Negotiations are underway between
the two agencies.
Long Island Bus’ implementation of free transfers
to subways in Queens in the 1990s helped set the system
on a growth path that has yet to relent.
Westchester should have higher bus ridership even
without free transfers. Census data shows that the
county has about 50% more car-less households than
does Nassau, yet bus ridership in the two counties
is roughly comparable at around 110,000 per day. Westchester
can begin to remedy that with the introduction of MetroCard
transfers and, hopefully, some significant accompanying
improvements in service.
[Back to Top]
In CT, New Life for Some Old Ideas
Governor Jodi Rell has proposed a new $600 million
transportation plan focused on two ideas that have
been discussed for some time: a Hartford to New Britain
bus-way and a commuter rail line from Springfield,
MA to New Haven.
Last year, Rell passed a $1.3 billion transportation
plan to pay for hundreds of new commuter rail cars
and other rail improvements. This is a second phase
of her plan and will take ten years to implement.
Amtrak runs trains from New Haven to Springfield,
but the new line will be a commuter service with more
trains and stations. The bus-way has been under development
at ConnDOT for years, but it failed to receive federal
funding partly because the state was not showing much
dedication. The bus-way will have 12 stops.
Democrats called the plan a step in the right direction,
but said more money is needed to make a dent in horrendous
transportation conditions across the state. The plan
will be paid for with an increase to 6.3% in the petroleum
gross sales tax.
The transit projects are good news. But tackling
state-wide gridlock will also require a change in ConnDOT
instinct to throw big dollars at fruitless highway
expansion projects. The New Jersey DOT, for example,
has turned its back on projects that underwrite traffic-causing
sprawl development. Like New Jersey, CT can use its
transportation budget to help revitalize its cities
and towns.
[Back to Top]
NY State’s Big Plans
The NY State Dept. of Transportation is seeking comments
on a new draft of a state transportation plan that
looks out to 2030. While it is debatable whether such
documents ever provide much real-world guidance on
actual project choice and development, this one could
be interesting because it is suppose to arise from
a set of state-wide hearings and recommendations embodied
in the “Trouble Ahead” report held and
crafted by a panel put together in 2004 by then-state
transportation commissioner Joseph Boardman (see MTR
#’s 484 and 503). The report urged that NY State:
· Adopt a "fix it first" policy
to "protect its transportation assets."
· Make freight a central concern of the NY
State DOT because truck traffic volumes are “exploding.”
· Consider congestion pricing toll policies
to manage congestion and to raise needed revenue.
· Have state transportation officials assume
a stronger role in working with communities, governments
and developers on land use decisions that may have
big transportation consequences.
We We have not read the draft plan yet to see how
it addresses these issues, but will report on it shortly.
It is on-line at www.dot.state.ny.us/tranplan/index.html.
Commissioner Thomas Madison has requested comments
on the draft by Feb. 24, 2006.
New Jersey is also in the process of updating its
overall plan to 2030. www.state.nj.us/transportation/works/njchoices/.
[Back to Top]
Living with Tappan Zee Transit: Parking
Debate over parking in Suffern and Pearl River, in
Rockland County, provide some insight into work ahead
for planners hoping to bring mass transit to the Tappan
Zee corridor.
The NYS DOT, Metro-North, and Thruway Authority are
considering transit options for the corridor, including
commuter rail and bus rapid transit. Preliminary plans
show a number of stations along the corridor, but so
far, state planners have not talked to municipalities
about siting them or building parking lots. But parking
is already a controversial issue for these villages,
and the location and size of new lots could drastically
affect village support for any of the alternatives
to build a Tappan Zee transit line.
In Suffern, plans for two new lots of 40-50 spaces
were thrown out last week after local protest about
traffic and cost. They would have hosted commuters
and shoppers, and cost Suffern $650,000. A Journal-News
editorial urged that noted that NJ Transit and the
MTA, not local governments, should pay for commuter
parking. But that point missed the problem that parking
itself is controversial because of the traffic it will
generate. To win acceptance, additional parking will
likely have to be well designed and made to fit into
community contexts rather than assembled en masse around
new or expanded transit stations. Even a modest plan
to implement angle-parking to calm traffic and new
meters to increase retail turnover along a main street
in nearby Pearl River has not been without debate,
though that worthy project is proceeding.
[Back to Top]
Transit Ridership Up Around the Region
2005 was a good year for transit riding in the region,
with all major agencies reporting increases. All ridership
numbers in the table below are for the full calendar
year unless otherwise noted.
Metro-North officials attributed the increase to
the Bee-Line bus strike, high fuel costs and travel
to see “The Gates” in Central Park.
National trends also look positive. The American
Public Transit Association reported that U.S. transit
riding averaged a 3.3% rise in the third quarter of
2005, compared to the same period in 2004.
Also in the third quarter, the Federal Highway Administration
reported a decrease in vehicles miles traveled by .2%
in 2005, compared to the same period in 2004.
| |
Ridership
05 (timeframe)
|
Ridership
04(timeframe)
|
%
increase
|
|
NYC
Subway
|
1,338.61
mill.
(Jan.-
Nov.)
|
1,301.48
mill.
(Jan-Nov)
|
2.8
|
|
NYC
Bus
|
682.28
mill.
(Jan-Nov)
|
679.42
mill.
(Jan.-Nov)
|
.4
|
|
Long
Island Rail Road
|
73.2
mill.
(Jan.-Nov.)
|
72.4
mill.
(Jan.-Nov.)
|
1.1
|
|
Long
Island Bus
|
28.93
mill.
(Jan-Nov)
|
28
mill.
(Jan-Nov)
|
3.3
|
|
Metro-North
RR—NY
|
72.8
mill.
|
70.2
mill.
|
3.7
|
|
CT
New Haven Line
|
33.8
mill.
|
32.8
mill.
|
3.0
|
|
CT-
Shore Line East
|
423,470
|
405,436
|
4.2
|
|
NJTransit
Commuter Rail
|
67.0
mill
(estimate)
|
63.6
|
5.3
|
|
NJ
Transit Light Rail
|
14.4
mill.
(estimate)
|
12.2
mill.
|
18
|
|
NJ
Transit Bus
|
155.0
mill.
(estimate)
|
150.6
mill.
|
2.9
|
[Back to Top]
