A weekly roundup of good deeds, missteps, heroic feats and epic failures in the tri-state region and beyond.

WINNERS

New York City Council Progressive Caucus — The 17 council members submitted a powerful letter to MTA Chairman Tom Prendergast and City DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg calling for greater investment in full-featured bus rapid transit.

Connecticut bike bill sponsors — State Senator Beth Bye and Representatives Roland Lemar, Cristin McCarthy Vahey and Aundré Bumgardner are sponsoring bipartisan legislation which would make it possible for Connecticut municipalities to implement context-sensitive bicycle facilities such as two-way cycle tracks and contraflow lanes.

New York City pedestrians and bicyclists — One week after the death of a cyclist in Queens, Mayor de Blasio is implementing a retrofit program to add protective guards to more than 200 city-owned trucks.

New Jersey Assemblymembers Herb Conaway and Troy Singleton — The 7th District legislators have sponsored a bill that would uniformly raise pedestrian safety violation fines and dedicate the majority of the proceeds to a fund for road safety improvements and education.

LOSERS 

Gas tax opponents — A coalition of more than 50 organizations have expressed opposition to an increase in the federal gas tax because “Washington continues to spend federal dollars on projects that have nothing to do with roads like bike paths and transit.” Meanwhile, New Jersey Assemblyman Bob Andrzejczak and New York State Senator Jim Seward have taken it upon themselves to introduce legislation to prevent gas tax increases at the state level.

New York Assemblymember Michael DenDekker — Pedestrian deaths hit a record low in 2014, but Assemblymember DenDekker — whose transportation ideas in the past have included free motorcycle parking and paid registrations and license plates for bicycles —  says New York City’s Vision Zero initiative has done nothing to keep pedestrians safe.

City of New Haven — Despite letters of support from nearby businesses and the fact that “Downtown has benefited from infill development that replaces surface parking,” zoning officials from the City of New Haven have blocked a Yale University proposal to erect a six-story mixed-use building in part because it doesn’t provide enough parking.

Manhattan Community Boards 8 and 10 — Nevermind the fact that more than three quarters of Harlem households are car-free. The chair of the historically anti-bus Community Board 10 made it a point to protest Select Bus Service on 125th Street because it has made her cab rides to the subway longer. And on the Upper East Side, Community Board 8 is blocking bus bulbs in favor of “a quick way for traffic to cut through local streets.”