Your weekly guide to heroic and villainous actions in tri-state transportation and development.
Winners
Connecticut downtowns—Municipalities across Connecticut are taking steps to revitalize their downtowns, and Connecticut Main Street Center has taken notice: the organization recently announced the winners of its 2012 Awards of Excellence.
Jersey City—The municipality has set up pilot bike lanes on Grove Street that will stay until the end of May, which could lead to permanent cyclist infrastructure in the city. News has also broken that the Jersey City Development Agency, in concert with government and community groups, will install bike racks at the Grove Street PATH station and run a citywide bike safety campaign.
The New York State Department of Transportation and Nassau County—In response to a Tri-State analysis that found that almost 83% of pedestrian fatalities in Nassau County occur within ¼ mile of a bus stop, NYSDOT said that it would work with Nassau to “determine the feasibility” of a program to address pedestrian safety near transit stops. Nassau County’s Department of Public Works said that they were working with the county’s bus operator on the issue. According to Department of Public Works spokesman Mike Martino, Nassau County Executive Ed Mangano is “determined to make Nassau County among the safest places for pedestrians in the nation.”
Losers
Rockland Business Association CEO Al Samuels—At a news conference on Wednesday, Samuels called the thousands of New Yorkers demanding transit on the Tappan Zee Bridge “obstructionists.” An alternative label: “people that want a sustainable Hudson Valley region.”
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie—Governor Christie, who has attracted significant criticism from environmentalists, has just received a “D” grade from the New Jersey Environmental Federation. Among the group’s reasons for the poor mark was the state’s withdrawal from a greenhouse gas regulation program that helped pay for sustainable land use and transportation planning.
New York City—After the city and state granted FreshDirect significant tax incentives to relocate to the South Bronx waterfront, Tri-State and others criticized the deal for bringing more truck traffic to the neighborhood. Now, Crain’s reports that some are upset that the government, with considerable financial leverage in the negotiations, missed an opportunity to secure “easements that would have created a contiguous greenway along the South Bronx shoreline.”
I know this is real progress for Jersey City but in the “5th Best State for Cycling” a pilot bike lane shouldn’t be news.
[…] Later that week, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, a group which has advocates for BRT on the TZB, included Al Samuels in a list of weekly “[heros and villains] in transportation and development” in the loser column. […]
For the sake of clarity – I am NOT opposed to mass transit on the TZB. As the individual who fought for and got a rail component “on the table,” that label doesn’t apply. But, anyone demanding mass transit FROM DAY ONE is obstructing the initiative. I’m sure you know that such a demand would result in a new environmental study that would take at least two more years. We can’t wait two more years.
To Al, without a mass transit alternative you probably will need a new EIS anyway. I can see varous groups tying it up for years in court.
To the TSTC: Bus Rapid Transit won’t deliver. Intelligently done rail integrated with the existing bus service will.
[…] large shoes to fill. In 2011, the City adopted a Complete Streets policy, followed in 2012 by a temporary bike lane on Grove Street (which was made permanent earlier this month), and ultimately a plan to install 54.7 miles of […]