A weekly roundup of good deeds, missteps, heroic feats and epic failures in the tri-state region and beyond.
Winners
New Jersey Department of Transportation — NJDOT implemented a road diet on Route 130 in Burlington County, the state’s most deadly road for pedestrians.
New York City Councilmember Antonio Reynoso — In a New York Daily News op-ed, Reynoso called on the NYPD to focus its enforcement efforts on drivers — those with the potential to do the most harm — rather delivery bicyclists.
Smartphones — New MTA buses rolled out this week are equipped with Wi-Fi and USB ports.
Nashville, Tennessee — Nashville’s Metro Council approved a bill to require developers to build sidewalks as part of new construction projects.
Losers
NJ Governor Chris Christie — Governor Christie had the nerve to blame Amtrak for the problems New Jersey Transit commuters have had to deal with in recent weeks. Sorry, governor. We haven’t forgotten that you spent the last seven years systematically starving your state’s transit agency.
NYPD 9th Precinct — After a truck driver made an illegal move that resulted in the death of a cyclist who had the right of way, the NYPD’s 9th Precinct blamed the cyclist for her own death and stationed officers near the area of the fatal crash to ticket cyclists.
BQX — The streetcar proposed for Brooklyn and Queens isn’t going to pay for itself after all.
Connecticut Department of Transportation — The expansion of Interstate 84 was named among the nation’s biggest Highway Boondoggles.
Can someone tell me why Segways and electric-bikes are illegal in NYS?
Re: WiFi and Smartphones on buses.
In my opinion, this is not a win. These features are nice; but not essential, especially when there are so many other pressing needs.
Capital Funds: Exclusive Bus Lanes and BRT where possible; other bus preferential treatments (leading or extended green lights depending on the intersection); more buses.
Operating funds: More frequent service.
I find smartphones on buses public transit annoying when they are used as phones and some people do not know how to conduct low volume conversations.
While it is true that Christie has cut NJT funds and that starvation (or Maintenance Center failure) may have caused the third incident (pantograph and wire problem in the Hudson River Tunnel), in the Penn Station derailments the problem was caused by Amtrak. Was Amtrak’s problem caused by Obama administration DOT carrying on the Bush administration micro-management or mis-management holdover from Boardman?