A weekly roundup of good deeds, missteps, heroic feats and epic failures in tri-state transportation news.
Winners
New York Senator Chuck Schumer — Senator Schumer held a press conference at Grand Central Terminal Monday where he vowed to make permanent the tax break for transit commuters, which saved 700,000 of the region’s commuters over $330 million last year.
Hoboken and Jersey City pedestrians and cyclists — The long-awaited Hudson Bergen Light Rail Second Street Esplanade linking Hoboken and Jersey City is expected to open by the end of 2013.
Tennessee Department of Transportation — Transportation officials in Nashville announced a new Multimodal Access Fund to support construction of sidewalks, bus shelters and bike lanes.
NICE bus riders — Nassau Inter-County Express (NICE) officials announced last weekend that an $8 million federal grant will be invested in GPS technology, which will “help address many of NICE’s most nagging problems, including late buses and malfunctioning onboard audio and visual announcements.”
Losers
Connecticut Metro-North riders — Not only did the New Haven Line fare worse than all other Metro-North lines in a recent survey, but a Metro-North official told the National Transportation Safety Board last week that “cyclical maintenance… had not been conducted in the area of the Bridgeport derailment since 2005.”
Port Jefferson Branch LIRR riders — Port Jefferson branch Long Island Rail Road customers are the least-satisfied LIRR passengers according to this year’s MTA customer survey. Only 73 percent of Port Jefferson branch passengers gave the service a satisfactory rating, down from 90 percent in 2012.
Upstate New York transit systems — Even though the MTA’s finances are “vulnerable to the predations of myopic state politicians,” funding for upstate systems “has not grown at the same rate as downstate investment.” This, combined with a lack of reliable funding from Albany means that the 60+ upstate transit systems can’t plan for new services or capital investments.
