Your weekly guide to heroic and villainous actions in tri-state transportation and development.

Winners

Senators Lautenberg, Menendez, Schumer, Gillibrand, Lieberman, and Blumenthal—Last week, Senate leadership agreed to include one of the most-needed reforms to the Senate’s transportation bill, MAP-21. The Cardin-Cochran amendment ensures that local governments would have access to pedestrian and bicycle safety funds, and a big thank-you goes out to those senators who supported this vital provision, including all six from our region.

Charlie Komanoff and Jon Orcutt—Charlie Komanoff and Jon Orcutt delivered a one-two sustainable transportation punch at a traffic policy forum this week. Two days after former New York Times executive editor Bill Keller wrote about Sam “gridlock” Schwartz’s plan to reduce traffic congestion in Manhattan, Charlie Komanoff, a Tri-State board member, described his equity-based congestion pricing plan. Orcutt, Tri-State’s former Executive Director and the current Policy Director at NYCDOT, explained how the agency has made much progress since 2007.

New York State Senator Daniel Squadron (D-Brooklyn) and Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan)—Senator Squadron and Speaker Silver introduced a bill that would authorize New York City to set up a permitting system for inter-city buses. After years of under-regulated expansion, the industry needs better oversight.

ConnDOT—This past week, the Connecticut Department of Transportation showed that it’s getting more serious about pedestrian safety. In Stamford, ConnDOT presented a plan to introduce traffic-calming roundabouts, and in Monroe, its principal engineer of highway design showcased a plan to add a roundabout at the intersection of Routes 110 and 111.

Losers

Payroll mobility tax opponents—the MTA’s foes are at it again in the New York State Legislature. This week, the Senate Committee on Investigations and Government Operations voted to move a bill, A9124/S6206, that exempts local governments from the MTA payroll mobility tax. Such a policy would jeopardize the MTA’s already-diminished dedicated funding, which was slashed during last December’s tax deal.

Inconsistent bike laws—After an NYPD officer ticketed a cyclist for leaving the bike lane to make a right turn, the alleged offender unsuccessfully appealed the violation at the DMV. Now, he’s suing, and the trouble reportedly stems from inconsistencies between city and state bike laws. While all users must use the road responsibly, confusing regulations and draconian enforcement policies aren’t the way to safer streets.

Governor Christie—This week, NJ Transit commuters faced substantial delays en route to New York City because of a wire malfunction in a tunnel under the Hudson. If only Governor Christie hadn’t snuffed out a project that would have doubled rail capacity across the Hudson.