Your weekly guide to heroic and villainous actions in tri-state transportation and development.
Winners
Citigroup and NYCDOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan—This week, New York City unveiled the main sponsor and vehicles of its long-awaited bike share program, officially called Citi Bike, which will launch this summer. Citigroup, the initiative’s largest sponsor, supported the system to the tune of $41 million. Citi Bike should be fully implemented by the spring of 2013. Take a look at a draft map of the first bike share locations here.
Greater Bridgeport Regional Planning Council and the City of Bridgeport—On behalf of the City of Bridgeport, the Greater Bridgeport Regional Planning Council has applied for a $150,000 grant to set up a bike share and add bike routes throughout the city. The Connecticut Post reports that a program could be in place by next summer.
NJ Transit—The New Jersey public transportation system has released the results of its third Scorecard customer survey, and the news is good: overall satisfaction increased by 13.7% over the last quarter.
The Town of Smithtown and the Greater Smithtown Chamber of Commerce—After a strong local effort, the Suffolk County town is finally seeing pedestrian safety improvements on Main Street.
New York State Department of Transportation—Over 1,600 petitioners have pressed NYSDOT to improve bicycling conditions on a soon-to-be repaved section of Route 86 between Lake Placid and Saranac Lake, and the state seems to be rising to the occasion: NYSDOT is reportedly going to restripe the stretch to make more room for cyclists.
Losers
Connecticut Metro-North riders—This week, Connecticut’s Metro-North riders got some bad news: fares on the commuter line are going up by 4% on January 1. Metro-North already has a staggeringly high farebox recovery ratio—as of September 2011, user fees covered approximately 70% of the New Haven Line’s operating costs.
The Fort Lee Police Department—Law enforcement officers in the northern New Jersey community are ramping up enforcement of jaywalking laws, and according to Police Chief Tom Ripoli, they’re even ticketing children.
OMG, you mean people are actually paying what it costs to use a service? THE HORROR!
Here’s a question, Jeff: What percentage of the cost of road system do you think drivers are paying? It sure isn’t 70%, especially since gas taxes aren’t bringing in nearly as much as they used to.
Aw Gee, the relatively affluent commuters are only getting a 30 percent subsidy of operating costs, the ones that automobile drivers definitely pay. That doesn’t cover equipment costs or other capital costs.
Accidents caused by inattenative pedestrians on cellphones, texting, the use of IPODs & MP3 players are on the increase. Pedestrians also haave a reponsiblity to walk and cross streets with awarness
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