Earlier today, a group of elected officials and advocacy organizations (including TSTC) banded together to demand that bus rapid transit (BRT) be incorporated in the state’s plans to rebuild the Tappan Zee Bridge.
The statement also pointed out the decade-long public debate that lead to general agreement on BRT’s importance to the Lower Hudson Valley. The proposed BRT line, according to state estimates, would move 50,000 people through the Tappan Zee/I-287 corridor every day, and a proposed rail line to New York City would attract 29,000 riders per day.
To read the coalition’s full statement, click here. Below is a full list of signatories:
Senator David Carlucci (38th District)
Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins (35th District)
Assemblyman Thomas Abinanti (92nd District)
Assemblywoman Amy Paulin (88th District)
Assemblyman Kenneth Zebrowski (94th District)
Westchester County Executive Robert Astorino
Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef
Greenburgh Town Supervisor Paul Feiner
Tarrytown Mayor Drew Fixell
Nyack Mayor Richard Kavesh
Elmsford Mayor Robert Williams
Amalgamated Transit Union
Bike Walk Alliance of Westchester & Putnam
Community Voices Heard
Empire State Future
Environmental Advocates of New York
Environmental Defense Fund
Federated Conservationists of Westchester County
Good Jobs New York
League of Women Voters of New York State
MTA Labor Coalition
Natural Resources Defense Council
New York Bicycling Coalition
New York State Transportation Equity Alliance
New York League of Conservation Voters
NYPIRG
Transportation Alternatives
Tri-State Transportation Campaign
The one good thing about the Tappan Zee decision is that it eliminated BRT. A rail right of way exists for much of the distance west of the Hudson. If right of way can be found for exclusive bus lanes, that same right of way can be used for rail at approximately the same cost. Rail is ideal for using feeder buses to do collection and distribution to scattered areas while serving downtowns such as White Plains and Suffern. If the busway east of the Hudson were replaced by rail the connection to Grand Central could be made in White Plains.
For those who support the busway ideas where in North America or Europe are there BRT systems similar to the one proposed in http://planning.westchestergov.com/images/stories\/pdfs/fall2010updatepres.pdf? Has anyone done serious projections on the demand for bus and compared them to projections versus actual for such busways as Pittsburgh south and west busways or the Los Angeles Harbor Freeway HOV lanes and busway?
I’m all for transit on the bridge. But the article and the letter beg the unanswered question; how on Earth will you pay for it? Even BRT will supposedly double the price. Lord only knows where the first $5 billion’s coming from (the offers from the feds are just TIFIA, which are, you guessed it — loans. And despite what the politicos say, we the public ALWAYS get saddled with the debt).
Governor Cuomo is the can-do man when it comes to other things (gay marriage, tax reform). This project should be no exception. Public transit must be part of it.
it’s real simple, I drive over that bridge
it is falling down.
if there is a rail vehicle on the bridge that gets me where I need to go I will use it
if there is a bus no matter how fancy I will continue driving.
put a rail line on the bridge!
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[…] comments on the proposed Tappan Zee Bridge replacement project. Their words echoed the call that has sounded since Governor Cuomo announced plans to fast track the project last October: the Tappan Zee […]