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

Winners

New York City slow zone neighborhoods—Mayor Bloomberg announced plans for 13 new neighborhood slow zones in New York City, which will have speed limits of 20 miles per hour. Areas in all five boroughs are slated to see improvements, including Mt. Eden in the Bronx, Boerum Hill in Brooklyn, Dongan Hills on Staten Island, Corona in Queens, and Inwood in Manhattan. Streetsblog reports that, with over 100 applications for the program, there are “more to come.”

Salem and Bridgeton, New Jersey—On Monday, a pilot shuttle bus service between the two southern New Jersey municipalities will launch. The service is expected to help Salem residents access government offices in Bridgeton, without requiring the current lengthy detour through Woodbury when utilizing public transportation.

Bridgeport, Connecticut—Bridgeport Mayor Bill Finch recently announced that sustainable planning and transportation advocate David Kooris—formerly of Regional Plan Association—has been brought on to head up Bridgeport’s economic development office.

Westport, Connecticut—This week saw the first meeting of Westport’s Citizens Transit Committee, a group tasked with examining the town’s transit system and making suggestions for its improvement. The group was created by Westport First Selectman Gordon Joseloff after cuts to the Westport Transit District (which were eventually restored) spurred a reevaluation of the system.

Losers

ConnDOT—For some time, New Haveners have worried that the city’s Downtown Crossing project, which aims at replacing the Route 34 stub highway with a pedestrian- and bike-friendly streetscape, wasn’t living up to its potential. Now, there are rumblings that pedestrian islands planned for the new intersection at North Frontage Road and Church Street have been dropped, reportedly because it was impossible to safely reconcile them with planned bike lanes. It might not be so impossible if the number of automobile lanes that ConnDOT is insisting upon at the intersection were reduced, instead of pitting pedestrian and bicycle improvements against each other.

NJ Transit bus riders—Two months after NJ Transit announced an “optimization initiative,” the agency will cut the #42, #43, #75, and #93 buses, according to the Star-Ledger’s Mike Frassinelli. On the bright side, NJ Transit has decided against cutting the #78 Newark-Secaucus bus route, reversing previous plans in response to public opposition [pdf].