A weekly roundup of good deeds, missteps, heroic feats and epic failures in the tri-state region and beyond.
WINNERS
Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy — The governor announced this week that in less than 18 months of operation, CTfastrak has served over four million riders and weekday ridership this past July was up 23 percent compared to July 2015.
U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal (CT) and New Haven Mayor Toni Harp — Senator Blumenthal and Mayor Harp joined city officials and advocates to see the potential for transit-oriented development near New Haven’s Union Station.
New York State Senator James Sanders — Senator Sanders secured $8 million in state funding for upgrades at the Jamaica transit hub, including new subway entrances and new medians, bus lanes and widened sidewalks on Archer Avenue.
New York City Councilmember Vanessa Gibson — Councilmember Gibson endorsed a proposed protected bike lane for Grand Concourse, one of the city’s most dangerous roads.
Interfaith Medical Center — This Crown Heights hospital launched a “Prescribe a Bike” program to combat obesity and other health issues.
Vice President Joe Biden — Vice President Biden announced a $2.45 billion federal loan to Amtrak to fund 28 new high-speed trains and rail improvements along the highly-trafficked Northeast Corridor.
LOSERS
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto — The Garden State’s transportation funding shutdown could very well last until November.
New York Assemblymember Ron Castorina — Assemblymember Castorina endorsed a bill to extend yellow lights to help drivers avoid red light camera fines.
New York City Police Department and Department of Transporation — The agencies are removing two recently-installed pedestrian islands on Eastern Parkway for the West Indian Day Parade.
New York City Board of Elections — A relocated a Brooklyn Heights polling station will force voters to navigate two dangerous streets, Cadman Plaza West and Adams Street.
New York City bicyclists — More bicyclists have been killed thus far into 2016 than during all of 2015.
Celebrate the region’s biggest and boldest recent transportation initiatives at TSTC’s 2016 Benefit on September 27. Get your tickets here.
Hopefully the streets around Jamaica Hellhole Station will be safer; but the station will still be a hellhole. Slow or broken escalators, broken elevators are the norm. And the station is perpetually overcrowded because LIRR insists on maximizing the number of people changing trains there, plus it takes forever for trains to get in and out, and there is no practical bypass for trains that don’t need to stop there. Unfortunately, this work going on is peripheral to the station, and will do nothing to actually make things better IN the station. Oh, forgot to mention the BS announcements of trains that may or may not show up eventually, the lack of protection from heat, cold, driving rain, etc.
Fatalities involving pedestrians and bicyclists also increased significantly, by 9.5 percent and 12.2 percent, respectively. Pedestrians and bicyclists already account for more than a quarter of traffic deaths in New York and New Jersey, and 15 percent in Connecticut. – quote from this website.
Let’s get on the bus. We will continue to have more and more fatalities as we have more and more population and more and more drivers. Convincing drivers to consider public transportation will reduce fatalities as well. Anyone who drives regular to the same place (work, for example) and spends the day there is a candicate for the bus. We are conditioned to drive without considering the public transportation option. We reduced littering in the ’50s and ’60 by advertizing. We can reduce traffice in the 20teens.