Your weekly guide to heroic and villainous actions in tri-state transportation and development.
Winners
Connecticut sustainable streets advocates–on Wednesday, over 70 advocates, town planners, engineers, policymakers, businesspeople, and non-profit leaders attended a Tri-State-organized forum on designing and building roads that accommodate all users. At the event, officials shared strategies for making streets healthier and more economically vibrant.
New York City Councilman Brad Lander—just months after Councilman Lander’s office, with Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez and Councilwoman Sara M. Gonzalez, released a report on the underperforming B61 bus, Brooklynites will reap some rewards. The MTA has announced that it will be adding real-time bus tracking to the route, only the second in Brooklyn to be equipped with the technology. The joint report built upon a study, spearheaded by Congresswoman Velazquez, which led to discussion of improvements to the B61.
The Town of Hempstead—Earlier this week, the largest township in the country passed a complete streets resolution that will help make roads safer for pedestrians and cyclists.
NJ Transit riders—Yesterday, at the New Jersey TransAction Conference, NJ Transit Executive Director Jim Weinstein said that, barring “some disaster,” he doesn’t foresee any fare hikes in the 2014 fiscal year.
Losers
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie—Earlier this week, the Government Accountability Office found that Governor Christie used exaggerated cost estimates to justify the cancellation of the Access to the Region’s Core tunnel. The governor’s failure to support the project, which would have doubled rail capacity under the Hudson River, makes the 275,000 New Jersey residents that cross the Hudson daily the real losers this week.
NICE Bus—Despite calls from advocates and elected officials to bring planned route cuts before the Transit Advisory Committee (which has the power to approve or deny service changes), the Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) Bus moved forward with service changes on Easter Sunday. The next day, at Hempstead’s Rosa Parks Transit Center, Tri-State representatives found that many riders were confused by mysterious bus berth changes and poor communication from NICE. It didn’t help that some signs were directing people to call a number in Lansing, Michigan if they needed assistance.
There is a valid and competing viewpoint among transportation advocates, that the concept proposed for the ‘Gateway’ Project would be a better rail investment than the recently canceled Access to the Region’s Core(ARC) Project. This is because it addresses AMTRAK needs, in addition to needs for NJ commuter rail.