Your weekly guide to heroic and villainous actions in tri-state transportation and development.
Winners
Nutley, New Jersey Mayor Al Petracco—Petracco has instructed his police department to increase enforcement of traffic safety laws near crosswalks.
New York State Senator Andrew Lanza—Although legislation to allow a speed camera demonstration program in New York City did not pass the New York State Legislature this year, it gained a crucial ally in Senator Lanza, who sponsored such a bill in the Senate.
Bayonne, New Jersey; New York City and Rochester, New York; and Hartford, Connecticut—The list of this year’s TIGER grant winners has just been released [pdf], and several projects in the tri-state region have won funds. Bayonne will get assistance to improve intermodal freight operations at its port, New York City’s Hunts Point Terminal Produce Market will see funds to improve rail freight, Rochester will get a new intermodal transportation center, and Hartford will get money for pedestrian and cyclist infrastructure, upgrades to Union Station, and other crucial needs.
Seetra.in—A small team of forward-thinking programmers has given us a glimpse into the future with a real-time subway tracking prototype. As Bus Time progresses toward a 2013 five-borough rollout, the MTA should take steps to make sure that Train Time can follow in its tracks.
Losers
Future New Jersey taxpayers (again)—This week, legislation that would put New Jersey even further into debt to pay for transportation projects moved out of committee in both chambers of the state’s legislature. Both legislative chambers and the governor must find new and sustainable sources of revenue that won’t overburden future generations of taxpayers.
Connecticut State Representative Rob Sampson—The Connecticut lawmaker decried CTfastrak as economically unwise this week, saying that “[o]ur governor says we’re open for business but we’ve got small businesses right here in our community that are existing and flourishing being negatively impacted by this project.” In reality, the CTfastrak is already spurring significant investment in areas near the project.
