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(Click to view the report.) A new report from Transportation For America, The Fix We’re In For: The State of Our Nation’s Busiest Bridges, shows that millions of vehicles cross structurally deficient bridges in the region’s metro areas every day. The region’s aging infrastructure means that drivers frequently cross structurally deficient bridges, particularly in [...] At CommuterBenefitsWorkForUs.com, workers can e-mail Congress in support of transit benefits. Many workers in the region who take advantage of commuter tax benefits could be out in the cold next year. Federal law allows workers to use pretax income to cover the cost of commuting, up to a limit of $230/month for parking [...] Metro-North has added trains to the Harlem and Hudson Lines. With track fires and derailments creating havoc, commuters on the region’s rails need some good news. And Metro-North is stepping up to deliver it. To accommodate its growing ridership, Metro-North is adding more service to weekday rush hour and weekend trains. Since March [...] Stratford plans to reorganize the area around its rail station and promote transit-oriented development. (Click to view larger.) Last week, Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy announced the approval of the state’s first ever transit-oriented development assistance grants. During the Rell administration, Tri-State advocated for over three years for the release of $5 million that [...]  Reconnect Rochester's "no-UFO" pins allow the bearer to ride transit for free on Critical Mass Transit Days, calling attention to the "abduction" of dollars from the local economy to oil companies. On October 20th, Reconnect Rochester is partnering with Regional Transit Services to provide people with a free ride on the bus. The [...] TSTC's Ryan Lynch speaks at a Nassau County budget hearing after members of LI Jobs With Justice, NY Communities for Change, and TWU Local 252 protested the lack of public hearings on LI Bus. Close to fifty members of Long Island Jobs With Justice, New York Communities for Change and the Transport Workers [...] The Sheridan Expressway in the South Bronx, which advocates have said should be removed and replaced with parks and mixed-use development. This Saturday, October 15 from 9:30am to 2:00pm, the NYC Department of City Planning will host a public charrette at Fannie Lou Hamer Freedom High School – 1021 Jennings Street, Bronx, NY [...]
Local elected officials on both sides of the Tappan Zee Bridge are speaking up for transit after Governor Cuomo’s announcement that the bridge replacement project is moving forward without plans for bus rapid transit or commuter rail. Over the ten-year study period, NYSDOT held multiple meetings with local and state elected [...] A bus rapid transit system connecting destinations throughout the I-287 corridor in Westchester and Rockland Counties had strong regional support. But it appears to have been dropped from the project. “One of the most important findings is that traffic forecasts clearly demonstrate a demand for travel in the corridor that cannot be accommodated [...]  Although crosswalks and other pedestrian infrastructure have been added to the entrance to Washington Lake Park, residents still have trouble accessing the park without a car, due to the lack of continuous sidewalks or safe places to cycle. Born and raised in New Jersey, Daria Volpe grew up riding a bike everywhere she could around her neighborhood. When she became a student at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ, she continued to ride and used her bike to transport her to and from classes. Since she’s always viewed cycling as a convenient form of transportation, an excellent recreational activity and a great way to stay active, she’s attempted to teach her children how to safely ride, but has become increasingly dismayed by the lack of opportunities to do so in Washington Township in Gloucester County, where her family currently resides. Daria has been working with Tri-State, the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, Cross County Connection Transportation Management Association and Action Wheels Bike Shop in Wenonah, NJ to explore opportunities for safe walking and biking in Washington Township. Although Washington Township has great parks and schools, and is in close proximity to a number of multi-use paths and trails, to say that getting around town on a bike is difficult would be an understatement. Volpe has summed it up by saying, “My goal when I ride a bike in Washington Township is to get out of town–because you just can’t ride a bike here without taking your life into your hands.” Unfortunately, pedestrians in the area don’t fare much better far as safety is concerned–between 2007 and 2009, 13 pedestrians were killed in Gloucester County, including a 71 year-old on Hurffville-Cross Keys Road in Washington Township, in 2007. When pedestrians and cyclists aren’t accommodated in roadway design, there are frequently tragic consequences. In 2001, Jason Beiner, a senior at Washington Township High School was killed while riding his bike on Hurffville-Cross Keys Road near the entrance to Washington Lake Park. In response to the death of her friend, then high school junior Alyson Boyer convinced the mayor and other township officials to improve pedestrian safety in the vicinity of area schools. As a result, Washington Township applied for and received funding under the Safe Routes to School program, and built sidewalks in front of three area schools, all less than a mile from the entrance to Washington Lake Park. Although the addition of these sidewalks was an extremely positive development, progress on safe routes for walking and biking has been slower or less successful elsewhere. For example, at another local school, the township received a grant and built a sidewalk along Pitman-Downer Road, near Bunker Hill Middle School; however, parents were concerned that it was built too closely to the road, without an adequate buffer from fast moving traffic. As a result, the school board is installing a new sidewalk next to the old one and will have the original sidewalk removed. Additionally, although some pedestrian infrastructure has been installed at the entrance to Washington Lake Park, the section of Hurffville-Cross Keys Road shown in the photos below still lacks adequate sidewalks, bike lanes or continuous shoulders that can be used for biking.  Within mere feet of the entrance to Washington Lake Park, a shoulder that can be used for biking on Hurffville-Cross Keys Road disappears. More pictures after the jump: » Continue reading… |
 
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