A weekly roundup of good deeds, missteps, heroic feats and epic failures in the tri-state region and beyond.
WINNERS
Environmental Protection Agency Region 2 – Regional Administrator Judith Enck’s office was the only government office brave enough to stand up to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s attempt to raid Environmental Facilities Corporation water and sewer funding for the new Tappan Zee Bridge construction project.
R Train riders – The Montague Street Tunnel storm recovery project has been completed ahead of schedule and under budget.
New York City Councilman Donovan Richards Jr. – Queens commuters are applauding the stellar service provided by the new Q114 route, and the Councilman has plans to further expand service in the borough.
Metro-North Railroad – The agency launched a pilot program for bike racks on Connecticut’s New Haven line trains, and also received an award from the 2014 BuildSmart NY Awards for its Grand Central terminal energy conservation projects.
New Jersey Transit –While only a partial solution to addressing capacity concerns, the agency will be replacing all current train cars with double decker designs and all buses with a fleet of longer designs with more seats.
LOSERS
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie – S&P’s most recent downgrade of New Jersey’s credit ranking is the eighth credit downgrade during Christie’s tenure – more than any other governor in U.S. history.
Bed-Stuy residents – NYCDOT has put the kibosh on plans for a neighborhood-wide slow zone covering more than twenty blocks because of opposition from the local community board.
Double deck cars may not be a good fit for much of NJT service. Among other things the current cars are slow in loading and unloading. Converting to high-level platforms may be better value for the money by reducing dwell time and speeding service. Also the Midtown Direct trains from the ex-lackawanna probably should be composed of Dover and Gladstone trains that merge or split at Trenton and Summit local and Montclair branch trains that merge or split at Newark.
Reopening (with all that it takes) the ex-Lackawanna line to Scranton could get a fair number of cars off the badly congested roads (I80) in NJ – if the trains to to NYC, and would also help commuters in Western NJ. As to double deckers, they CAN carry more passengers less squeezed then single level – very helpful on LIRR despite the poor design and often poor condition of the equipment. But raised platforms are also critical both to speed boarding and meet ADA requirements.
The 2 by 2 seat arrangement allows for more defacto passenger capacity, since there are no dreaded middle seats empty on a packed train. also, the standing room is greatly increased.
[…] New York City’s recently-enacted Right of Way law—a worrisome move considering Richards’ strong support for expanding bus service in his […]