 The stretch of Stouts Lane with no sidewalk fosters an unsafe walking environment for the area’s high school students | Photo courtesy of Ian Moritz At this month’s New Jersey Department of Transportation complete streets workshop in Mercer County, South Brunswick High School (SBHS) Student Council President Ian Moritz and Recording Secretary Dan Gorzynski might have seemed a bit younger than the rest of the crowd, but they came for the same reason as everyone else: they were interested in making streets safe for pedestrians.
The Problem
Since the beginning of the current school year, Moritz and Gorzynski, along with the rest of the SBHS Student Council, have been working tirelessly to complete a .2 mile stretch of sidewalk on a dangerous section of Stouts Lane by their school. SBHS is located down the road from a busy Route 1 strip mall, where students work and socialize after school, says Moritz. But a winding stretch connecting the school and the mall on Stouts Lane is perilous for pedestrians. “Because of blind curves, this .2 mile distance is one of the most dangerous routes to walk in our entire town,” Moritz explained. “Walking from the school to the mall is an exercise that puts every student who makes the journey in serious jeopardy,” he continued. While no one has been seriously injured yet, Moritz thinks that it’s only a matter of time.
Fixing It
According to Moritz and his colleagues, the solution is simple. Fill in the gap in the sidewalk. Getting it done, however, has been a challenge.
Moritz and his pedestrian safety allies have gained support for action among the school’s administration, students, parents, and several local businesses. In November, Moritz and the student council presented the issue to the South Brunswick Town Council, and while local officials expressed concern about safety along Stouts Lane, no commitment to building the sidewalk was made. In fact, South Brunswick Mayor, Frank Gambatese, asserted that completing the sidewalk along this stretch could be complicated. “We need to cross [a] stream, so a design needs to be created and sent to the [Department of Environmental Protection],” he said. “Funding for this could be an expensive proposition.”
The township has informally estimated that the cost for the sidewalk would be roughly $500,000, though it might not have to foot the bill. The municipality’s first choice for funding the project could come from a Pennsylvania-based developer that is looking to build a Shop Rite market at Stouts Lane and Route 522. However, a lawsuit filed by Stop & Shop has held up the project. A ruling is expected in mid-June.
Moritz followed up with South Brunswick a few months after the students’ presentation, inquiring as to whether or not the council had identified grants that might cover some of the project’s costs. Unfortunately, none have yet been found, and the federally funded Safe Routes to School program only covers K-8 institutions, so SBHS cannot look to this program for help.
In the meantime, South Brunswick Township has placed two “students walking” signs on the dangerous portion of Stouts Lane. But according to Moritz, cars continue to drive quickly around the two blind curves.
Transportation for America, a broad national coalition focused on improving the country’s transportation policy (Tri-State is a member), kicks off its Transportation Vote 2012 webinar series tomorrow at 2pm EDT.
The series aims to help individuals and non-profit groups understand how to use elections to effectively advocate for smart transportation policy that emphasizes maintenance of our existing road and bridge infrastructure, enhances transit service, and promotes biking and walking. Tomorrow’s introductory session, “Engaging in Elections for Non-Profit Organizations,” will cover different educational activities that 501c3 non-profit groups can pursue to make transportation an issue in elections. The webinar will also feature Abby Levine, Legal Director of Advocacy Programs at Alliance for Justice, who will provide an overview of the legal aspects of electoral advocacy.
The webinars are free and open to all. To register, click here.
 The MTA's debt will grow in the coming years, but refinancing, if done properly, could lighten the agency's burden | Chart: Office of the State Comptroller, via Streetsblog Earlier this month, a Citizens Budget Commission (CBC) brief reported that the MTA owes $2.1 billion in debt service in 2012, and that figure is expected to grow to $2.6 billion by 2015. Currently, almost a third of all MTA fare and toll revenue goes to debt service, and in 2015, even after planned fare and toll hikes, that proportion will remain the same. This means that riders will be paying more to shoulder the same segment of the MTA’s debt, which will be $39 billion by 2015.
As distressing as these figures are, the CBC notes that the MTA could lighten its burden by refinancing, since today’s interest rates are extremely low. Given the size of the agency’s debt, the savings could be significant, and Bloomberg has reported that refinancing is on the table for almost $7 billion of it. » Continue reading…
 NJ Transit has announced a plan to cut or alter 11 bus routes | Photo: njt4148/flickr What happens when New Jersey fails to invest in public transportation and identify new revenue sources? Service cuts.
Yesterday, NJ Transit announced plans to end or reduce service on 11 bus routes on the grounds of low ridership or unnecessary system redundancy.
The route changes, which will be the subject of two public hearings in June, would affect roughly 3,200 bus riders. According to NJ Transit, approximately 100 of these would be left with no transit alternative, while the others would need to catch a different bus or add a transfer to reach their destination (or both).
NJ Transit says that the proposed cuts would save the system $3.1 million annually. In turn, $1 million would be invested into new projects, including 24-hour bus service in the area between Newark Penn Station, Newark Liberty International Airport, and Elizabeth.
Despite the improvements, a service cut is still a service cut, especially when some transit riders will be left with no alternative or a longer commute.
For details on the bus changes, click here.
 The New Haven-Hartford-Springfield corridor | Map: ConnDOT Last week, the Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT) released environmental review documents for the New Haven-Hartford-Springfield (NHHS) commuter rail project.
If approved, the NHHS project would improve performance on a 62 mile stretch of Amtrak-owned rail, most significantly by double-tracking roughly 35 miles of the corridor and upgrading the line to accommodate maximum train speeds of up to 110mph. Double-tracking allows more frequent train service and reduced travel times by making space for two locomotives traveling in opposite directions simultaneously. Assuming the timely completion of the environmental review process, ConnDOT expects 17 daily round trip trains in the corridor beginning in 2016. There are currently between six and eight round trips daily.
This service increase, which could expand to 25 daily round trips by 2030, will establish a true commuter rail network throughout central Connecticut and lay the groundwork for transit-oriented development along the line. Connecticut has already begun to identify the potential for transit-oriented growth along the corridor. In fact, many of the state’s transit-oriented development grants, announced last year, were targeted to municipalities along the NHHS corridor. The environmental review also includes plans for station improvements and four new regional rail stations at Enfield, West Hartford, Newington, and North Haven, and the NHHS project will integrate into the New Britain-Hartford Busway project in the Capitol Region, which is scheduled to begin construction on May 22nd.
According to project documents, the improved NHHS line will bring economic and environmental benefits to the region.
- Create 12,590 construction and related jobs;
- Increase annual trips on the line by 1.26 million by 2030; and
- Save more than 3.5 million gallons of fuel each year.
Tri-State has long supported the NHHS project and plans to submit comments on its environmental assessment in the coming weeks. Three public hearings have been scheduled, and comments can be submitted to Mark.W.Alexander@ct.gov.
 A stretch of Smithtown's Main Street has gone from four lanes to three. Above, Main Street is shown before the modifications. Below is Main Street after the modifications. | Photos: Google Street View and the Courtney Sipes Memorial Foundation The good news for Long Island pedestrians keeps coming. Smithtown’s Main Street, the site of several tragic pedestrian fatalities, has just gotten a makeover. After significant work by advocates and community members, the state has implemented a modified road diet on Main Street, removing one westbound lane, reducing the total number of lanes to three on a busy six-block stretch, and also adding left-hand turn lanes at certain intersections. It’s hoped that these first steps will promote a more walkable and business-friendly downtown.
Your weekly guide to heroic and villainous actions in tri-state transportation and development.
Winners
 Deputy Mayor Robert Steel, Alta Bikeshare CEO Alison Cohen, NYC DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga, and Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit at this week's bike share press event | Photo: Streetsblog Citigroup and NYCDOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan—This week, New York City unveiled the main sponsor and vehicles of its long-awaited bike share program, officially called Citi Bike, which will launch this summer. Citigroup, the initiative’s largest sponsor, supported the system to the tune of $41 million. Citi Bike should be fully implemented by the spring of 2013. Take a look at a draft map of the first bike share locations here.
Greater Bridgeport Regional Planning Council and the City of Bridgeport—On behalf of the City of Bridgeport, the Greater Bridgeport Regional Planning Council has applied for a $150,000 grant to set up a bike share and add bike routes throughout the city. The Connecticut Post reports that a program could be in place by next summer.
NJ Transit—The New Jersey public transportation system has released the results of its third Scorecard customer survey, and the news is good: overall satisfaction increased by 13.7% over the last quarter.
The Town of Smithtown and the Greater Smithtown Chamber of Commerce—After a strong local effort, the Suffolk County town is finally seeing pedestrian safety improvements on Main Street.
New York State Department of Transportation—Over 1,600 petitioners have pressed NYSDOT to improve bicycling conditions on a soon-to-be repaved section of Route 86 between Lake Placid and Saranac Lake, and the state seems to be rising to the occasion: NYSDOT is reportedly going to restripe the stretch to make more room for cyclists.
Losers
Connecticut Metro-North riders—This week, Connecticut’s Metro-North riders got some bad news: fares on the commuter line are going up by 4% on January 1. Metro-North already has a staggeringly high farebox recovery ratio—as of September 2011, user fees covered approximately 70% of the New Haven Line’s operating costs.
The Fort Lee Police Department—Law enforcement officers in the northern New Jersey community are ramping up enforcement of jaywalking laws, and according to Police Chief Tom Ripoli, they’re even ticketing children.
 Republican Senator Jim Inhofe has urged conservative House members to support MAP-21, a bipartisan transportation bill | Photo: senate.gov Over the last two weeks, Congress has entered the home stretch on a transportation reauthorization bill, naming members for a conference committee set to hash out the differences between the Senate’s two-year MAP-21 bill (S.1813) and the House’s version, HR4348, a three-month extension of existing transportation policy with some environmental provisions tacked on. The committee met publicly on Tuesday to deliver opening statements. Most negotiations will likely happen in private.
Because the House did not pass a comprehensive bill, conference members should use the Senate’s MAP-21 as a guide. MAP-21 is a reform bill that provides funding through fiscal year 2013 and would make the transportation system more accountable, more responsive to local concerns, and more oriented around road and bridge repair and public transportation.
The T4America coalition, which applauded MAP-21, recently identified five goals for the conference committee, saying that the final product should:
- Prioritize repair of roads and bridges;
- Provide access to funding for community-based transportation projects, like pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure;
- Allow more local flexibility for public transit funding;
- Promote transparency and accountability in the planning process; and
- Ensure the public and local officials have a meaningful voice on projects that affect them.
The conference committee’s members include several lawmakers from the region. The Senate conferees include Senators Chuck Schumer of New York and Bob Menendez of New Jersey. House conferees include New York Congressmen Tim Bishop, Jerry Nadler, and Richard Hanna. Below, we examine some of the issues that will arise as lawmakers discuss the two bills.
An Extreme Bill or a Bipartisan One?
House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chair John Mica has repeatedly said “anything can happen in conference” and that he will push for provisions that were included in HR7 — the discredited House transportation proposal that would have eliminated pedestrian and bike safety funds, threatened local control of transportation funding, and ended dedicated funding for transit.
While HR7 was too extreme to pass the House, MAP-21, a bipartisan compromise, is an ideal model for potential conference committee legislation that could pass both houses. At Tuesday’s conference committee meeting it was praised by senators across the spectrum. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California) said “If Senators Boxer and Jim Inhofe can agree on a bill, we can all agree on a bill.” For his part, the staunchly conservative Senator Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) urged conservative House members to support the bill. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Texas), the ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, said there was “complete consensus” on the parts of the bill her committee wrote.
Will Environmental Review Remain?
The one piece of HR7 that the House did include in its short-term extension bill was a provision that supporters euphemistically term “environmental streamlining.” In reality, the provision would go far beyond any reasonable attempt to speed up projects. Instead, it would eviscerate the review process required for major projects, greatly reducing protections for health, safety, and the environment.
One provision puts a 270-day deadline on project reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act. Any project whose review is not finished in that timeframe would be automatically approved, which could threaten the success of long term transportation projects. Projects that take more than nine months to review are likely to be very complex, like a highway widening that requires eminent domain or a rail tunnel that must avoid other pieces of underground infrastructure. Final decisions on projects like these must be made carefully, not under arbitrary deadlines.
Keystone and Other Provisions
Several provisions not related to transportation have been attached to the bill, such as a controversial measure to leave regulation of “coal ash” to the states, and the non-controversial RESTORE Act that would dedicate most of the funds from the BP oil spill settlement to Gulf Coast states.
The most contentious issue may be the ”Keystone XL” oil pipeline between Canada and the United States. Federal agencies are still reviewing the project, but the House’s extension bill would force approval of the pipeline. The White House has threatened to veto a bill that does so, but House Speaker John Boehner has made the pipeline a centerpiece of his jobs agenda. With little obvious ground for compromise, even many pipeline supporters — such as Senator Inhofe and Montana Senator Max Baucus— have argued that Keystone should not hold up a transportation bill.
 Despite the support of State Senator Beth Bye, Connecticut's vulnerable user bill was not taken up by the House of Representatives | Photo: ct.gov The Connecticut General Assembly wrapped up its so-called “short session” at midnight last night, during which legislators passed a budget that addressed the state’s $200 million deficit. While lawmakers took action on the budget, several other key pieces of legislation were left unaddressed. Here’s Tri-State’s breakdown of the session:
Vulnerable User Bill
A bill that would have enhanced penalties for drivers that injure or kill pedestrians, cyclists, and other vulnerable users failed to pass in the House of Representatives before last night’s deadline, despite unanimous support from the Senate and forceful backing from State Senator Beth Bye. Lawmakers also did not put the legislation on the House’s consent calendar, where widely supported bills are marked for approval because no debate is necessary. This is the third year in a row that the General Assembly has failed to support protections for vulnerable users of the state’s roadways.
Red Light Cameras
For the eighth year in a row, the General Assembly did not act on legislation that would allow municipalities of a certain size to utilize red light cameras to improve safety at intersections. The bill, championed by progressive transportation advocate Representative Roland Lemar, was widely amended to address opponents’ concerns, including setting the bill up to be a five year pilot program, but it still did not move forward.
Gas Tax Cap
Earlier in the session, in the face of rising gas prices, the General Assembly unanimously passed a bill that would cap the state’s Gross Receipts Tax, which is levied on wholesale gasoline sales. The bill would do little for drivers except decrease the amount of funding for the Special Transportation Fund by $27 million. In fact, a Tri-State analysis found that the gas tax cap would save the average driver less than $10 per year, even though drivers in Connecticut pay an additional $313 per year in extra maintenance because of poor roads.
Amended Budget
The gas tax cap’s hit to the Special Transportation Fund is exacerbated by the fact that the adopted budget takes a total of $70 million from the fund as well. As part of deficit mitigation measures, the General Assembly shifted this money to the general fund, swept about $10 million in funding from rail operations, and raised fares on Metro-North riders, which will generate approximately $4 million in revenues.
Thanks to the efforts of Representative Kim Fawcett, a few bright spots in the transportation budget did peek through. Even though bus operation subsidies would see a decrease of about $465,000, the scheduled January 1st 4% fare increase for bus and ADA riders was withdrawn, and a $1.9 million Transit Improvement Program was created. The program will support transit service by investing in “train station improvement, service, bicycle path expansion, [and] transit oriented development planning.”
Route 11 Tolls
An additional bright spot for sustainable transportation advocates was the demise of a bill that would have authorized tolling to extend Route 11 approximately nine miles from Salem to Interstate 95. Earlier in the session, the Senate passed the bill on a party line vote, but there has been no indication of whether the tolls would actually cover the cost of building the road. Furthermore, the results of a study on the need for a Route 11 extension have yet to be released.
The results of this year’s legislative session indicate that much more needs to be done to improve the safety of all users of Connecticut’s roads, ensure that the state’s transit service is affordable and convenient, and make certain that Connecticut continues to prioritize road and bridge repair over expansion. However, advocates of sustainable transportation policies may not have to wait a full year in order to make a difference—there is already talk of a special session to address bills that were not taken up. Stay tuned.
Bike shares have been proliferating across the tri-state region of late, and it looks like Camden County, New Jersey will be next. The county has collected more than 200 used bicycles and is set to begin a bike share program later this spring.
 A successful bike share program has been in operation in the Camden County municipality of Collingswood since 2008, but this newly announced program will be the first county-wide system in the region | Image: examiner.com To move the project forward, Camden County’s Freeholders are in the process of identifying bike share distribution locations, and they are coordinating their efforts with suburban municipalities and the City of Camden. Freeholder Jeffrey Nash explains that the county is looking for volunteers to help refurbish the bicycles and, in the future, help staff local bike share distribution points. The county is also seeking additional bicycle donations for the program.
While bike shares that extend beyond a core city or community are rare, Camden County has many of the ingredients necessary to make such a system successful. Both the City of Camden and many surrounding suburban municipalities have PATCO and NJ Transit stations, and if bike share distribution locations are placed strategically, they could help area residents reach destinations that lie just beyond walking distance of these hubs. Additionally, many older communities in the county, such as Haddonfield, Gloucester City, and the City of Camden are home to densely-developed business districts and major roadway corridors, such as Haddon Avenue. Bike shares can help connect such places to one another and other regional destinations, like parks, trails, and job centers.
Bike shares can also help those without access to a car (and those that don’t wish to drive) to get to work, do errands, and access recreational areas. As Camden County’s new program gets underway and the local network of trails and bike lanes continues to grow, there is great potential to link people and neighborhoods in an environmentally friendly way.
To volunteer with the Camden County Bike Share program, or to donate a bicycle, contact the Camden County Division of Environmental Affairs at (856) 858-5231 or email ccbikeshare@camdencounty.com
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Masthead Mobilizing the Region is published by the staff of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign.
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