A weekly roundup of good deeds, missteps, heroic feats and epic failures in the tri-state region and beyond.
WINNERS
Pope Francis — In his encyclical on climate change, the Pope eloquently summed up the challenges facing automobile-dominated cities.
U.S. Senator Cory Booker — A bill proposed by New Jersey’s junior senator would “pump $6.6 billion over four years into Amtrak’s aging infrastructure.”
New York State Senators Thomas Croci, John DeFrancisco, Kemp Hannon, Brad Hoylman, Liz Krueger and Daniel Squadron — Only six NYS senators voted to preserve the Right of Way Law without exemptions.
Connecticut Department of Transportation — ConnDOT led a tour, organized by TSTC, of the CTfastrak bus rapid transit system for policymakers, planners and transit professionals from New York and New Jersey yesterday.
Metro-North Railroad — In addition to extending its partnership with Enterprise Rent-a-Car, Metro-North is now partnering with Zipcar to help “improve station access and regional mobility.”
LOSERS
Subway riders — Weekday subway delays this past April were up 15 percent over delays in April of 2014, while weekend delays increased by 33 percent.
NJ Transit riders — Increased state funding for NJ Transit — the necessary ingredient to stave off fare hikes — wasn’t even discussed by the committees that approved a budget proposal on Tuesday.
Congress — The federal gas tax — which hasn’t seen an increase in over 20 years — doesn’t bring in enough revenue to fund the nation’s transportation infrastructure needs. And despite the fact that voters overwhelming reelect candidates who raise transportation revenues, lawmakers in Washington won’t even attempt to pass a gas tax increase.
