Each year, the environmental agency’s Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program brings development professionals to improvement-minded municipalities across the country, where they advise officials, conduct day-long seminars, and assemble [...]]]> Towns in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are planning for safer, more walkable streets, and now the Environmental Protection Agency is lending a hand.

Each year, the environmental agency’s Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities program brings development professionals to improvement-minded municipalities across the country, where they advise officials, conduct day-long seminars, and assemble “next steps” documents.

In the coming months, experts will visit Binghamton, NY to study complete streets, Onondaga County, NY to study zoning codes, Stony Point, NY to study smart growth economics, Simsbury, CT to audit the parking system, Passaic County, NJ to study green streets, and Jersey City to conduct walking audits.

Last week, several Connecticut Post reporters found that getting to work without a car isn’t as easy as the New Haven line’s record-breaking 2011 ridership would suggest.

In a series entitled “Getting There,” the paper’s staff spent a day without a car, travelling instead by train, bus, bike, [...]]]>

Photo: Brittany Lyte, Connecticut Post

Last week, several Connecticut Post reporters found that getting to work without a car isn’t as easy as the New Haven line’s record-breaking 2011 ridership would suggest.

In a series entitled “Getting There,” the paper’s staff spent a day without a car, travelling instead by train, bus, bike, or leg. The writers’ transit adventures, exhaustively chronicled on The BlogJam and developed into a series of articles, highlighted the challenges facing those that don’t travel by car.

Reporters found several problems with the region’s transit, pedestrian and cycling infrastructure: long waits, sidewalks to nowhere, a paucity of bike parking, and unreliable service. But these challenges are not insurmountable, and in some cases, fixing them isn’t as expensive as it sounds.

The Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT), for example, could make buses faster and more reliable without overhauling their system. Implementing pre-board fare collection (a system in which riders buy tickets before they get on the bus, so that the driver doesn’t have to wait for them to pay), signal prioritization (a system that gives buses more green lights), and dedicated bus lanes would get people to work faster and attract more riders.

“Getting there” also showed that Connecticut must continue working to address the needs of cyclists and walkers. Even after the passage of complete streets legislation and changes to ConnDOT’s bike and pedestrian policies, there’s still work to do. One reporter had to bring her bike into a mall food court because she couldn’t find a bike rack, and another discovered that Connecticut’s sidewalk system is far from adequate.

Reporters also found that route planning was more difficult than it should be. Despite ConnDOT’s recent Google Transit initiative, the Post’s writers still had a hard time plotting out trips. 15 bus systems get people around Connecticut, but a coordinated effort to make cross-system trip planning easy has yet to be developed. It’s not hard to imagine a web and smartphone app that makes this possible.

The experiences weren’t all bad, of course.

One reporter assured readers that biking doesn’t lead to excessive sweatiness, another found that her nighttime ride on a busy road wasn’t as perilous as expected, and a number of them found that walking to the station made them see their neighborhoods with fresh eyes. And while some confessed that they’d be happy to get back behind the wheel, others relished their carless lifestyle. Vinti Singh:

I was not worried. I had headlights for the front and back of my bike, I was wearing all white, and my coworker had lent me his reflective vest. I was hard to miss. And the 2.2 mile ride was all downhill. On the way, I passed a gas station and saw regular unleaded was $3.89 a gallon.

“Not tonight,” I thought, as I pedaled by.

If signed into law, the legislation would cut off the dedicated funding that public transportation receives from the national gas tax. Transit aid would have to come from the general fund, which would introduce an [...]]]> Government officials and advocates across the tri-state area have been voicing opposition to the House transportation bill all day.

If signed into law, the legislation would cut off the dedicated funding that public transportation receives from the national gas tax. Transit aid would have to come from the general fund, which would introduce an annual battle for transportation money.

At Grand Central, Joe Lhota, John Samuelsen, four House members, NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, and NYC Central Labor Council President Vincent Alvarez all spoke about the bill’s potentially disastrous effects.

In New Jersey, Representative Bill Pascrell (D-NJ) emphasized the toll that the bill would take on the economy before calling on the state’s Congressional delegation to oppose the law.

Senator Menendez (D-NJ) held a press conference in praise of the upper chamber’s transportation legislation. The Senate transportation bill would give New Jersey an additional $63 million in federal transit funding and continue to use national gas tax revenues to fund public transportation programs.

Former New Jersey Department of Transportation head Kris Kolluri also sharply critiqued the bill.

“If the gas tax funding for mass transit is not restored, New Jersey will have to rely on Congress’ good will each year to fund critical safety improvements, which is tantamount to a wing and a prayer,” he wrote in a Star-Ledger op-ed on Sunday.

The Star-Ledger editorial board joined Kolluri in condeming the House bill, which they believe “threatens to undo decades of New Jersey transit growth.”

“Without guaranteed federal funding, NJ Transit and other agencies will find it more difficult to plan growth and maintenance. Fares would rise, while equipment and infrastructure suffers, driving rail and bus riders back to their cars,” reads the editorial.

The Hartford Courant’s editors reached the same conclusion: the House transportation bill cannot pass.

“If Republicans were in tune with the rest of the country, and not just the oil industry, they would increase federal funding for transit. But they are going the other way…let us hope these bills do not survive the trip to the Senate,” the Courant wrote.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood also denounced the legislation and over 600 groups have signed on to a Transportation for America letter that demands a better bill.

James Vacca—the chair of the City Council Transportation Committee called traffic safety “a serious civil rights issue” after Councilwoman Gale Brewer introduced legislation that would help blind pedestrians navigate [...]]]> Winners

Senator Lobiondo supported an amendment to the House transportation bill that would have restored funding for bicycle and pedestrian programs | Photo: markn3tel

James Vacca—the chair of the City Council Transportation Committee called traffic safety “a serious civil rights issue” after Councilwoman Gale Brewer introduced legislation that would help blind pedestrians navigate the streets.

Delaware River Port Authority (DRPA)—after pressure from TSTC and the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, the DRPA Finance Committee voted to install a bike ramp on the Camden side of the Ben Franklin Bridge, which connects the city to Philadelphia. Committee Chair Jeff Nash has said that the board is “intent on getting it done,” and the project awaits the DRPA board’s approval.

New Jersey Congressman Frank LoBiondo and Senator Robert Menendez—Representative LoBiondo voted to amend the disastrous House transportation bill, which threatens dedicated funding for bike and pedestrian programs. The amendment was narrowly voted down, but LoBiondo stood up for pedestrian safety, and we noticed. Senator Menendez, working on the other chamber’s version, has put together a bill that increases dedicated transit funding and establishes a transportation-oriented development program.

The Connecticut Post—this week, several reporters have put away their car keys and are biking, walking, or taking public transit, “facing the challenge of getting around mass transit’s missing links.”

Losers

Veolia—on January 1, Veolia took control of Nassau County’s newly-privatized bus system. They pledged to set up a Customer Advisory Committee, which was to begin meeting in January. To our knowledge, no such committee has convened.

Town of Hempstead—at the Town of Hempstead’s board meeting last week, TSTC and pedestrian safety advocate Sandi Vega were assured that a complete street policy was in the works. The town first promised the initiative over a year ago, but the board has taken no action.

Transit-hostile, pedestrian-hostile U.S. Representatives—House leadership is pushing for a long-term transportation bill that would end dedicated bike and pedestrian funding and jeopardize federal transit money, which supports public transportation nationwide. The bill, which Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called ” the “worst,” “most anti-safety” transportation bill he has ever seen, has passed out of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee and Ways & Means. It awaits discussion in the House.

The rally on the 13th, which will take place at [...]]]>
Love transit? This Valentine’s Day, join Tri-State Transportation Campaign as we lobby in Albany. On February 13th, we’ll be rallying at Transit Awareness Day, and the New York State Transportation Equity Alliance’s first annual conference will be held on the 13th and 14th.

The rally on the 13th, which will take place at noon in the “well” of the Legislative Office Building, will urge Albany to invest in transit and keep New York moving. Co-sponsored by the New York Public Transit Association (NYPTA) and NYSTEA, the event will bring transit riders and operators together. By joining voices, we can deliver our message loud and clear: public transportation needs funding! NYSTEA’s conference will focus on transit funding and rider representation at transit authorities. Breakout sessions will address fundraising, communications, and organizing. To register, click here.

Why show up? Because when Albany short-changes transit, New Yorkers can’t get to work. Increased state operating assistance in Governor Cuomo’s proposed budget could mitigate upstate service cuts, but the legislature must address long-term transit funding before it’s too late.

MTA Chief Joe Lhota has been very busy of late, and there will be no rest for the weary.

Straphangers just released their “State of the Station Platforms” report, which surveys the appearance and maintenance of 120 MTA subway stations, and the [...]]]>

Straphangers' report assessed platform repairs in MTA stations Photo: Heath Brandon

MTA Chief Joe Lhota has been very busy of late, and there will be no rest for the weary.

Straphangers just released their “State of the Station Platforms” report, which surveys the appearance and maintenance of 120 MTA subway stations, and the advocacy organization has found room for improvement.

Lhota’s pet peeve, peeling paint, marred 79% of the surveyed stations, and 50% of them had broken lighting fixtures. 53% had water damage.

There was some good news, though: trash cans were present at all but one stop, and none of them were overflowing. Garbage bags sat on the platform only 6% of the time.

The MTA has removed trash cans from some stations as part of a pilot program that aims to reduce the subways’ rat population, but the problem remains—rats were seen at 11% of stations.

Some other findings from the study:

• 15% of staircases/handrails were in disrepair
• 15% of stations had substantial areas of missing tile
• 20% of stations had substantial graffiti
• 28% of stations had exposed wiring
• 33% of stations had substantial floor cracks

The string of service disruptions demonstrates that the New York State Senate must quickly adopt the MTA’s Capital Program proposal, which would fill the MTA Capital [...]]]> The Long Island Rail Road has been plagued by switch problems, signal issues, and track breaks over the past few months, which has caused headaches for commuters and businesses.

The string of service disruptions demonstrates that the New York State Senate must quickly adopt the MTA’s Capital Program proposal, which would fill the MTA Capital Program’s remaining $7 billion deficit. In addition to financing high-profile expansions like East Side Access, the Capital Program keeps the LIRR in a state of good repair. It pays for things like track work and signal maintenance, which are vital to the system’s continued, reliable operation.

Transit advocates have been in Albany urging adoption of the Capital Program and the passage of Governor Cuomo’s budget, which provides $770 million to the MTA’s Capital Program and compensates the MTA for the $310 million it lost in last year’s payroll mobility tax deal.

During the first three quarters of 2011, transit ridership was up by 1.8% nationwide, but PATCO’s numbers rose even faster.

The South Jersey-Philadelphia commuter line’s ridership grew by 3.62% in 2011, a figure that even [...]]]>

A PATCO train travels across the Ben Franklin Bridge, from Philadelphia to New Jersey | Photo: Bob Snyder

During the first three quarters of 2011, transit ridership was up by 1.8% nationwide, but PATCO’s numbers rose even faster.

The South Jersey-Philadelphia commuter line’s ridership grew by 3.62% in 2011, a figure that even outpaced the record-breaking PATH system to its north.

At the Delaware River Port Authority Finance Committee meeting where these figures came to light, the authority also fleshed out its financials (DRPA owns and operates PATCO):

• In 2011, PATCO revenues were up by $1.6 million (6.84%);

• As of November 30, 2011, there were 3% fewer bridge crossings by motor vehicle on DRPA owned bridges than for the same period in 2010, according to preliminary figures;

• Toll revenues were up by $19.3 million, even though fewer drivers were crossing DRPA’s bridges—this owes to a $1 toll increase (from $4 to $5);

• Despite the increased revenue, tolls fell $1.3 million short of what DRPA had projected in its 2011 budget, while PATCO revenues exceeded projections by $878,065.

DRPA Chief Financial Officer John Hanson explained that the PATCO surplus “[goes] a long way” in offsetting the toll revenue shortfall. A number of factors likely contributed to the PATCO passenger surge in 2011, such as the rising gasoline prices and improving economy that drove transit ridership up nationwide.

PATCO’s growth also occurred while bridge tolls went up and corresponding driving rates went down. Something similar occurred in northern New Jersey, where toll increases were followed by decreased car use and increased transit ridership. The trend suggests that higher tolls and comparatively low public transit costs have created an incentive for commuters to switch from driving to riding the train—in South Jersey and Philadelphia, PATCO was the most affordable way to cross the Delaware River.

While these initial figures are a positive step towards reducing congestion and improving local air quality, the longer-term trends will need to be monitored to see if these changes in commuting behavior are sustained.