A weekly roundup of good deeds, missteps, heroic feats and epic failures in the tri-state region and beyond.
Winners
New Jersey Department of Transportation — NJDOT unveiled an updated reconstruction plan for Route 35 in Ocean County, which will include bike lanes along the majority of the project area.
New York Senator Chuck Schumer — Senator Schumer announced that he will push to include a monthly $20 tax benefit for commuters who use Citi Bike (and other bike share programs) in a Senate tax bill, which is set to be debated this week.
NYC Councilmember Mark Levine — Councilmember Levine introduced a bill that would help make crossings safer for blind pedestrians by doubling the number of audible crossing signals that the City is required to install each year.
Middletown (CT) Planning and Zoning Committee — The Middletown PZC voted unanimously to adopt a Complete Streets Master Plan into the city’s Conservation and Development Plan.
Losers
Downstate New York transit riders — Despite MTA ridership hitting a 65-year high in 2013, Governor Andrew Cuomo, with an endorsement from MTA Chairman Tom Prendergast, diverted $30 million in dedicated transit funds from the MTA — funds that could have been used “to improve frequency and reduce crowding on several subway lines while expanding bus service on more than a dozen routes.” Suffolk County also sought additional state funding that would have “create[d] parity with other county bus systems, which receive more state funding while contributing fewer county tax subsidies,” but received no such increase.
New Jersey Assemblymember Declan O’Scanlon — A NJDOT report found that red light cameras have reduced deadly right-angle crashes as well as rear-end crashes, but Assemblymember O’Scanlon called the report “fatally flawed,” and stood by his belief that the goal of camera enforcement is to “maximize revenue.”
New York City pedestrians — In New York City, you can kill a pedestrian while driving drunk and be back behind the wheel in just a few months.
Since the debt was incurred by the MTA, how is it a diversion to use taxes for the MTA to pay down that debt?
The jury is mixed on red-light cameras. The first thing that should be done if red light cameras are to be introduced is make sure that both the speed limits and the yellow light timings meet recognized standards. If they don’t, make those changes and see if red light cameras are still warranted. Third, monitor to make certain that yellow timing standards are maintained after the cameras are turned on. In some cases where this has been done, it was found that the cameras made little difference.
[…] some good news for those interested in forward-thinking transportation policy. With New York Senator Charles Schumer’s leadership, a tax credit for those commuting to work via bike share passed the Senate Finance […]