 A proposed Hudson-Bergen Light Rail extension could go as far north as Tenafly | Map: NJ Transit Four public hearings were held last week on the long-awaited draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for a proposed Hudson-Bergen Light Rail (HBLR) extension.
The DEIS proposes to extend the HBLR, which currently operates in Hudson County alone, into Bergen County. Depending on which of the DEIS’ alternatives is selected, the line could end at either Tenafly or Englewood.
The DEIS’ preferred alternative (pictured above) would add 12 miles of service to the HBLR, starting from the Tonnelle Avenue station and extending north through the town centers of both Englewood and Tenafly.
Another DEIS alternative would add eight miles of service (pictured below), starting from the same point but ending at a station by Route 4 in Englewood. Under this plan, service would not reach Englewood Town Center or Englewood Hospital.
 A shorter, eight-mile extension would bring the HBLR to Englewood, but would bypass that borough's downtown | Map: NJ Transit While much of the media coverage has focused on the project’s detractors, Tenafly has many light rail supporters.
Outside of Tenafly, there is also substantial support for the project.
TSTC, for one, testified in its favor, and Palisades Park Mayor James Rotundo, whose borough will receive a light rail stop under both proposals, gave his endorsement.
“The light rail would provide a lot of access that people can use to go south to New York City instead of taking the bus. I think it would benefit the whole community,” he said.
Hasbrouck Heights Mayor Rose Marie Heck, who has advocated for the extension for over a decade, touted the plan’s myriad benefits: traffic reduction, increased home values, and downtown business revitalization (benefits that are evident along the length of the HBLR).
If the HBLR extends into Tenafly, NJ Transit expects approximately 11,900 passengers to take the light rail every day, which amounts to 23,800 trips. If it only extends to Englewood, NJ Transit projects 9,960 daily riders and an average of 19,920 daily trips.
The shorter extension is projected to cost $686 million, while the longer one would be $866 million. A funding source has yet to be identified.
 The Capitol | Photo: Matt H. Wade Legislators grew frustrated with New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) Commissioner Joan McDonald at a hearing last week, bristling at what Senator Diane Savino (D-Staten Island/Brooklyn) called her “almost deliberate opaqueness” during a session about the department’s proposed 2012-13 budget.
Governor Cuomo’s budget makes significant infrastructure investments, and the public is eager for details about its spending targets and financing. When legislators inquired, though, Commissioner McDonald was short on information.
Senator Fuschillo (R-Merrick) asked for a list of bridges and roads that would be repaired with the $4.5 billion allocated to the NY Works plan.
“We’re working on the list,” replied McDonald.
Fuschillo also asked for more information on the plan to consolidate NYSDOT’s regional offices.
“We’re studying that now,” said McDonald.
Senator Golden (R-Brooklyn) asked about funding the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement.
“We’re looking at all the options,” McDonald said.
In a moment of frustration, Senator Golden rhetorically asked, “how are we supposed to make an informed decision when your responses are uniformly ‘we’re studying that’?” (The Senate and Assembly evaluate the Governor’s budget every year).
Information-hungry legislators emphasized the need for a Memorandum of Understanding between the agency and the Legislature on the NYSDOT Capital Program’s targets. They also reminded McDonald that the Western New York NYSDOT region was shorted $167 million in 2008 and asked for a regional breakdown of NYSDOT’s spending.
Commissioner McDonald had a firmer answer for Senator Liz Krueger (D-New York), who asked if any of the projects in the NY Works plan were for public transportation, as opposed to just roads and bridges. McDonald answered in the negative, but said that that NYSDOT was “working with the federal government to assist upstate [transit] systems.”
 The Delaware River Port Authority will meet on Wednesday to discuss adding a ADA-accessible bike and pedestrian ramp to the Ben Franklin Bridge, which connects Camden, New Jersey to downtown Philadelphia.
Without the ramp, which was promised by the DRPA in 2010, Philadelphia-bound cyclists must carry their bikes up three flights of stairs before they can ride across the bridge. Those in wheelchairs have no option whatsoever. This is an undue burden on bike commuters and wheelchair users.
The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia and TSTC are urging bike and accessibility advocates to attend the meeting and let the DRPA know that there should be a ramp on the bridge.
Click here to add the event to your Google Calendar.
 American Dream Meadowlands | photo: www.americandream.com Even before the developers of American Dream Meadowlands (formerly “Xanadu“)—a hulking, still-half-built retail development currently lumbering towards completion in North Jersey—announced plans to add a theme park to the project, they had been ignoring a serious issue: how people would get there. TSTC recently pointed this out in a Star-Ledger op-ed and called for American Dream’s developers to fund public transit to the site.
TSTC’s concern comes from the project’s draft supplemental environmental impact statement (DSEIS), which sidesteps the problem of transit access. By relying on the original EIS’ faulty traffic analysis and omitting plans for public transit funding, the revision fails to address the project’s impacts on traffic in the Meadowlands.
The studies were not methodologically sound
For a supplemental EIS to make logical sense, the first EIS must be sound. This is not true in the case of American Dream. In fact, in 2004, a joint government commission found that the project’s initial EIS didn’t investigate the project’s traffic impacts thoroughly enough, since it only examined the roads on the Meadowlands’ grounds:
“In order to properly evaluate the traffic impact [of the development], the applicant is advised to assess all major nodes and links within a regional context (recommended minimum radius of four (4) miles from the proposed project boundaries).”
Seven years later, no such study has been done (despite the opportunity presented by the DSEIS).
The initial and supplemental studies also relied on the Institute for Traffic Engineers’ generic “trip generation rates” in their traffic analyses. ITE trip generation rates’ shortcomings are well-documented, and they may not adequately capture American Dream’s scope and prominence. Instead of using bad, generic numbers, why not analyze consumer behavior at other megamalls and apply that information to Bergen County?
These methodological faults mean that nobody knows what the development could do to traffic in the Meadowlands.
Those same traffic studies assume transit service to the mall, but there is none
As if that weren’t enough, the initial EIS assumed that 10% of visitors would arrive by rail or bus. The developers were depending on public transit to help relieve the traffic that comes with a massive retail/entertainment destination, as it does at their other properties.
But while the supplemental report (DSEIS) relies on these public-transit-dependent traffic estimates, no regular bus lines currently service the site, and commuter rail service only runs during special events.
The developers assume that NJ Transit will add routes once the project is complete, but NJ Transit is already stretched thin, and it’s unrealistic to expect them to expand service without extra funds. The bill for transit to American Dream must be footed by someone, and it shouldn’t be the New Jersey taxpayer (who has already subsidized Triple Five Worldwide, the site’s developer, handsomely). Accordingly, TSTC is calling on Triple Five Worldwide to fund public transit to the site, which would ease traffic and make the destination attractive to those without cars.
Your weekly guide to heroic and villainous actions in tri-state transportation and development.
Winners
 Metro-North's New Haven Line posted record ridership | photo: Wikimedia Commons
Riverkeeper—New York State’s water safety and environmental watchdog voiced its opposition to the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement project’s draft environmental impact statement (DEIS). Chief among their concerns was the absence of transit on the bridge. The DEIS “does not adequately address resulting traffic congestion as a contributor to pollution,” said the group.
USDOT—the United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) has proposed new criteria for its New Starts and Small Starts programs that include “social equity.” They also promise faster project delivery. This should be good news for our transit-rich region.
Metro-North and PATH—in 2011, Metro-North’s New Haven line got a record 38.2 million people to work and PATH moved an all-time high of 76.6 million. We’re glad to see that so many tri-staters are taking public transit. State legislatures should take note.
Newsday editorial board—the Long Island Rail Road lost the “America’s busiest commuter rail” title to Metro-North, and Newsday took notice. The paper’s editorial board called attention to LIRR’s overcrowded facilities at Jamaica and Penn Station, advocated for a second track to Ronkonkoma and better intra-island service, and urged station communities to pursue transit-oriented development.
Losers
Meadowlands Regional Chamber of Commerce—the MRCC’s president objected to TSTC’s position that Triple Five Worldwide, the company behind a megamall in the Meadowlands, should fund public transit to the development. Apparently, he thinks that taxpayers should pay for train and bus improvements instead.
NYPD—the New York City Police Department has repeatedly mishandled the death of Matthew Lefevre. Last October, the cyclist died after being hit by a truck, but the police department “withheld details of the crash from the victim’s family and failed to gather evidence at the scene.” Now, the Brooklyn DA is investigating. Streetsblog reports that this is standard procedure for any fatality.
Authors of the Tappan Zee DEIS—the Tappan Zee replacement plan DEIS was released earlier this week, and TSTC’s preliminary review showed that it was wholly inadequate. The DEIS does not study a full range of alternatives or include bus rapid transit (BRT). The proposal does nothing to resolve the congestion issues or pollution concerns that plague the Lower Hudson Valley, and clearly goes against the state’s Smart Growth Public Infrastructure Priority Act. To learn more about the Tappan Zee project and the area’s transportation future, visit www.brtonthebridge.org.
 Graphic: Alliance for Biking and Walking This week, the Alliance for Biking and Walking released its 2012 Benchmarking Report, and the timing is impeccable. As Streetsblog points out, the release coincides with the soon-to-appear national surface transportation bill, and in the tri-state region, it comes just after state legislatures have gotten into full swing. With statistics, case studies and loads of other resources, the Benchmarking Report shows legislators where the nation’s biking and walking infrastructure stands.
After the jump, TSTC presents some of the report’s most interesting figures.
» Continue reading…
TSTC has released preliminary comments on the Tappan Zee replacement project’s draft environmental impact statement (DEIS).
The release is reproduced below, and there is also a .pdf available here.
TSTC’s preliminary review has found a number of issues with the draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the Tappan Zee Bridge replacement project. Among them are:
The state has not fully examined all possible alternatives for the project. During the October scoping hearings, there was a clear call for public transit on the bridge, but the DEIS does not address it.
Despite a consensus among Lower Hudson residents that bus rapid transit (BRT) would solve the region’s congestion problems, the DEIS does not plan to include it.
The DEIS suggests that the bridge replacement will have no negative air quality impact. TSTC regards this projection with skepticism, since previous environmental documents have said that public transportation was necessary to address congestion and pollution in the Hudson Valley.
The DEIS claims that the new bridge is in compliance with New York’s Smart Growth Public Infrastructure Policy Act, a piece of legislation that requires infrastructure projectsto incorporate sustainability measures and plan for the future. In particular, projects must “encourage and allow for greater public transportation options with the goal of reducing automobile usage.” In the case of the Tappan Zee Bridge, this requirement is unmet.
The document ignores the economic benefits of building public transit. We maintain that a BRT system in the I-287 corridor would create jobs now and in the future.
There is still no financial plan for the project.
TSTC reminds New Yorkers that the public conversation is not over yet: there are public meetings on February 28 and March 1. We also invite people to visit our website, brtonthebridge.org, to learn more about the need for a 21st century bridge.
TSTC will release a more complete assessment of the DEIS next week.
 The Tappan Zee Bridge | photo: rockinfree, via flickr The draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) for the proposed Tappan Zee Bridge replacement has been released.
The DEIS’ public comment period, which ends on March 15, gives New Yorkers a chance to voice their opinions on the project. For the past decade, Lower Hudson Valley residents have discussed adding bus rapid transit (BRT) to the I-287 corridor and the Tappan Zee Bridge, but Governor Cuomo’s plans to fast-track the bridge’s construction do not accommodate it. The DEIS is available here. After the public comment period, the DEIS will be revised. Comments can be submitted by any of the following:
- tzbsite@dot.state.ny.us
- 845-454-7443 (fax)
- 877-892-3685 (phone)
- Michael P Anderson
Tappan Zee Hudson River Crossing Project
New York State Dept. of Transportation
4 Burnett Boulevard
Poughkeepsie, NY 12603
There are two scheduled public hearings on the DEIS:
- Rockland County: Tuesday, February 28, 2012, 4pm-9pm
Palisades Center, 4th Floor Community Rooms
1000 Palisades Center Drive
West Nyack, New York 10994
- Westchester County: Thursday, March 1, 2012 4pm-9pm
Westchester Marriott, Grand Ballroom
670 White Plains Road
Tarrytown, New York 10591
The North Westchester Energy Action Consortium (NWEAC), a group representing 14 Westchester municipalities and their 230,000 residents, has followed the lead of the town of Hastings-on-Hudson in passing a resolution that calls on “Governor Cuomo, the New York State Department of Transportation, the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Authority to restore dedicated public transportation infrastructure to its long-held place in any and all plans for the replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge.”
Hastings-on-Hudson and NWEAC point out that transit should be part of any replacement plans for the Tappan Zee from the start, for reasons including the following:
1) The State has data and feedback from over ten years of study and 280 public meetings that indicate that transit needs to be part of the Tappan Zee replacement project
2) Developing public transportation is vital to “relieving congestion in the Corridor and local arterials, improving air quality, achieving sustainability goals, reducing dependence on fossil fuels, improving pedestrian safety, and improving motorist travel time, in Westchester and New York State”
3) “Residents of Hastings-on-Hudson and other communities in the TZB service area would be burdened by many years of unnecessarily increasing traffic if transit infrastructure is not included in the TZB Replacement”
4) “Westchester County is planning its own Bus Rapid Transit (“BRT”) routes along Central Avenue which would benefit by and become more effective by eventually interconnecting to BRT or other public transportation on the TZB”
NWEAC adds: “including public transportation in the TZB Replacement is consistent with and advances the purposes of numerous state, county and federal government policies aimed at reducing dependence on foreign oil, air pollution and the emission of greenhouse gases, including the New York State Climate Action Plan, the Westchester Action Plan for Climate Change, and federal goals enshrined in the Clean Air Act, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act, Executive Order 13514…”
Both groups agree that a “failure to build public transportation now when billions of dollars are being dedicated to the TZB Replacement would be penny wise and pound foolish.”
The municipalities that are members of NWEAC include:
- Bedford
- Cortlandt
- Lewisboro
- New Castle
- North Castle
- North Salem
- Ossining
- Pound Ridge
- Somers
- Yorktown
- City of Peekskill
- Village of Croton-on-Hudson
- Village of Mt. Kisco
 The rollback in the transit benefit impacts the highlighted NJ Transit stations, and then some (this image was cropped for space). Click to view all of the affected stations in PDF form. Transit riders throughout the tri-state region are facing heavy financial burdens after the transit commuter benefit was rolled back on January 1.
Before the cut, Americans could spend up to $230 in pretax income on the public transit that gets them to work, but the figure is now $125. At the same time, an equivalent benefit for parking rose to $240 per month, which means that the federal tax code now incentivizes driving over public transportation.
A monthly pass between New York City and almost any station on NJ Transit rail, Metro-North, or the Long Island Rail Road costs more than $125. For someone who makes $50,000 annually and spends $230 a month on transit, the rollback is tantamount to a yearly tax hike of $400.
 At CommuterBenefitsWorkForUs.com, workers can e-mail Congress in support of restoring the transit benefit. Lawmakers that attempted to extend the expiring commuter tax benefit at the end of last year have renewed their efforts in 2012. Senator Chuck Schumer said he would continue working to restore the benefit, New Jersey Senators Frank Lautenberg and Bob Menendez made similar pledges, and Connecticut’s Senator Richard Blumenthal and Representative Rosa DeLauro highlighted the issue at a press conference. All support the Commuter Benefits Equity Act (S1034/HR2412), which would permanently set the transit benefit equal to the parking benefit at $240/month. It has been co-sponsored by 10 senators, including all six from the tri-state region. The House equivalent currently has 62 co-sponsors from both sides of the aisle.
When Congress debates the extension of a payroll tax cut, which will expire on February 29, legislators will likely have an opportunity to restore the benefit on a temporary basis. Commuters can e-mail Congress in support of restoring the transit benefit at CommuterBenefitsWorkForUs.com.
In the New York State Legislature, Senator Charles Fuschillo has introduced a bill to allow residents to deduct commuting costs from their state taxes as if the federal benefit had not been reduced. (State residents would still have a higher federal tax bill if Congress does not restore the benefit).
After the jump, TSTC maps show the rollback’s impact on Metro-North and Long Island Rail Road customers. NYC express bus riders, NJ Transit riders, commuter bus riders, and many whose commute involves multiple transit systems also have monthly transit costs that top $125.
» Continue reading…
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Masthead Mobilizing the Region is published by the staff of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign.
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