It’s been over a year since the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) issued its Record of Decision approving the new Tappan Zee Bridge environmental review process. It’s also been over a year since the New York State Thruway Authority formally initiated the process for obtaining a federal Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan to help pay for the project.
The current interest rate on a 35-year TIFIA loan is 3.9 percent, up from 3.1 percent six months ago and up almost a full percentage point since October of last year when it was 2.93 percent. It is not clear how these changes will affect tolls since the Thruway Authority still hasn’t released a financial plan of how it plans to pay for the bridge. A financial plan and a final decision on the TIFIA loan are anticipated next month. We don’t know if the State will announce what the tolls for the new bridge will be, but what is clear is that with interest rates on the rise, serious concerns are being raised regarding the ability to pay for large projects.
As the Tappan Zee Bridge Mass Transit Task Force, of which TSTC is a member, deliberates towards a transit solution (bus rapid transit has emerged as the preferred option) and financing mechanism for the I-287/TZB corridor, it is important to consider the growing costs for pushing key capital investments into the future. Currently, the “mid-term” timeline for potential transit improvements is 15 years from the completion of the new bridge. In the event federal loans become part of the funding plan and with interest rates for borrowing on the rise, does waiting that long to make some key transit capital improvements make fiscal sense?
Forget BRT. Given the diversity of origins and destinations, rail with decent feeder bus service would be far more effective with the feeders also being coordinated with each other at a given stop. Rail can handle the transfer surges. Bus cannot. RAil can handle up to a 9 percent grade if it is light rail (see Sheffield, England Supertram) and the 6 percent quoted for light rail also is the maximum for trucks on interstate highways. Another alternative could be commuter rail at bus fares with transfers and the appropriate stop spacing and run like a European S-Bahn. Single track can handle 15 minute headways and depending on siding spacing 10 minute headways which should be more than adequate for the traffic demand.
proper inspection and rehabilitation is very necessary when a bridge is considered. proper financial issues are to be sorted, so as to run a smooth working of the bridge. hope things get bigger and better with time.
We need a vision which includes local, regional and national Rail not only to cross the Tappan Zee bridge but a Rail beltway along I-87/ 287 which would
not only cross the Hudson with sustainable Green transit but eventually could connect all the major Rail Lines fanning out from New York/ Hoboken into New Jersey and New York. A Rail Line down the median or paralleling I87/287 would connect to MetroNorth, Amtrak, Spring Valley, Port Jervis, Boonton/Montclair, Morris Essex, Gladstone, Raritan Valley, Northeast Corridor and Coast Line all of which have stations which are close to I287.
This would connect ALL the major Rail Lines of North Central Jersey and New York Hudson Rail Line. Not only would this decrease congestion on the Tappan Zee bridge but it would open up Rail access enormously without requiring everything to go all the way East to New York City, Secaucus or Hoboken but also taking a large amount of traffic off I287.
Once again vehicle miles driven declined in the US as Auto Addiction is increasingly expensive.
We need to build Green Transit NOW before fossil fuels and all resources become even more expensive.
California is expanding Green Transit as is Massachusetts it is time for
New Jersey, more densely populated than China with 9 major Rail Lines to do the same.
[…] than two weeks after reports that the interest rate on TIFIA loans was up almost one percentage point over a six month period, the Associated Press reported over the weekend that, according to state documents and interviews, […]