A weekly roundup of good deeds, missteps, heroic feats and epic failures in Tri-State transportation news.
Winners
New Haven Mayor John DeStefano — New Haven’s longest-serving mayor announced last week that he will retire. DeStefano supported key transportation projects like a train station on State Street and he’s been a champion of much-needed complete streets.
Buffalo transit riders — Thanks to a federal grant, the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority (NFTA) will upgrade its #5 bus route with BRT-style amenities like traffic signal prioritization, heated shelters and electronic arrival time signage.
Manhattan Community Board 7 – Community Board 7 endorsed the extension of the Columbus Avenue bike lane last night after a 26-11 vote (with one abstention) paving the way for safer streets for all and could lead to increased business for the stores that line the avenue.
Losers
NJ Governor Chris Christie – Christie has been dismissive of the role climate change has played in his state’s post-Sandy turmoil.
CT State Rep. Minnie Gonzalez — Gonzalez wants to increase speed limits on Connecticut highways, citing “statistics she has found [that] show the number of accidents decrease with the higher speed limit.” Maybe that works in more sparsely-populated states in the west, but it doesn’t seem applicable to the nation’s fourth-densest state.
Suffolk County Transit – The agency plans to raise fares for disabled riders who use Suffolk County Accessible Transit (SCAT) paratransit buses by $1 per ride to $4 — a 33 percent fare increase.
