Communities on both sides of the Tappan Zee Bridge are concerned over the state’s proposed elimination of transit from the Tappan Zee project. Several have begun to call on the state, the Federal Highway Administration and the Federal Transit Administration to restore transit to the project.

Earlier this month Hastings-on-Hudson was the first to pass a resolution which pointed out that, by eliminating transit, the state was ignoring “data and feedback from over ten years of study and 280 public meetings that indicate that transit needs to be part of the Tappan Zee replacement project.”

Hastings-on-Hudson was joined by 14 Westchester municipalities and their 230,000 residents, when the North Westchester Energy Action Consortium (NWEAC), adopted a similar resolution that also pointed out that “including public transportation in the TZB Replacement is consistent with and advances the purposes of numerous state, county and federal government policies aimed at reducing dependence on foreign oil, air pollution and the emission of greenhouse gases, including the New York State Climate Action Plan, the Westchester Action Plan for Climate Change, and federal goals enshrined in the Clean Air Act, the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act, Executive Order 13514…”

On February 6^th, Croton-on-Hudson passed its own resolution that cites the need for transit to reduce the burden of traffic on communities near the Tappan Zee Bridge and calls on New York State and the Federal Highway Administration to “not repeat the mistakes of the past by locking in automobile- and truck-only infrastructure in this important Corridor for decades to come.”

The public hearings on the Tappan Zee Draft Environmental Impact Statements will be held at the end of this month and public comments on the DEIS will be accepted until March 15^th. Find out more at www.brtonthebridge.org.

Dani Simons is a sustainable transportation advocate working in the tri-state area.