transportation
Who wants to take over for Bloomberg on transportation?
For transit advocates, Michael Bloomberg's mayoralty has been a relative golden age. More
(1)'We have members of the media here right now'
The pro-life doctor linked to Akin's claims about "forcible rape" endorsed Romney in 2007. [Kristen Lee] Romney declined to explain his energy plan in detail because "We have members of the media here right now." [@NickConfessore] More
What New York City can learn from Los Angeles about the transit biz
"When people ask me which major U.S. city is at the cutting edge of forward-thinking transportation planning, they're always surprised when I reply that it is Los Angeles," wrote Taras Grescoe, a nonfiction writer.
That idea might seem gratuitiously counterintuitive, given Los Angeles' well-earned historical reputation as a car-centric capital of gridlock and smog. More
(5)Chris Christie's excuse for killing a cross-Hudson tunnel turns out to be exactly as political as it looked
In 2010, a year after work on the project began, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie killed one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects the region has seen in decades, citing cost overruns. Known as ARC, or Access to the Region's Core, it would have created a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River, easing the substantial congestion that now plagues cross-Hudson trains, commuter and otherwise. But a new federal report says Christie was dissembling. More
On the trail of 'ghost bikes,' families and friends of cyclists killed on the streets of New York rally for more police action
Last year alone, 134 pedestrians and 21 cyclists died in traffic accidents, according to the New York City Department of Transportation.
“When we can, we do arrest people, but the law really restricts who we can arrest,” said one high-ranking officer. “If there’s an intent to hurt somebody it’s assault, but is it reckless? That’s a tough question. If the driver has an oversight in a fraction of a second with a lot of things moving around him, that can be an accident.” More
(3)Cuomo reaches an M.T.A. deal, as Senate Republicans abandon their threat to trigger a crisis
The State Senate Republicans backed down last night from a proposal to cut funding for the Metropolitan Transit Authority, agreeing to a deal with Governor Andrew Cuomo that will allow the authority's capital program to progress as planned. More
Cuomo's transit-crisis manager: The first 100 days of M.T.A. chairman Joe Lhota
M.T.A. chairman Joe Lhota, a lifelong conservative Republican, thinks the way the government funds the mass transit system that sustains New York's economy is fundamentally inadequate.
He has taken to saying as much in public, most recently at an infrastructure forum at Baruch College. More
Transportation wonks call for an extension of Sadik-Khanism after Bloomberg, still want congestion pricing
“We can’t lose this momentum in two years when there’s a new mayor,” Schwartz said. “We’ve got to keep it going, so it’s important for all of you to know that lesson.”
(1)In New York, former subway rider Eric Cantor says a transit-cutting bill is just 'honest budgeting'
The first question for House Majority Leader Eric Cantor at this morning's Association for a Better New York breakfast was about the Republicans' latest transportation bill, which threatens the stream of dedicated funding the M.T.A. receives from the federal government. More
What's the real harm in an unpassable Republican proposal to gut New York transit?
The potential harm is that if the House Republicans succeed in making mass-transit funding a resonant political issue—by say, arguing that big-government Democrats are forcing the average, car-driving American taxpayer, already struggling under the burden of a sour economy, to subsidize the socialist public-transportation habits of urban America, and that, therefore, President Obama should be voted out of office—then that might force some level of Senate capitulation.
“Then you might see the Senate feel pressured and compromise and figure out some sort of solution,” said Joshua Schank, who was former senator Hillary Clinton's transportation policy adviser and is now president of the Eno Center for Transportation. “And it’s possible transit could get hacked as a part of that.” More
(2)A taxi-bill hold-up that has nothing to do with livery
Governor Andrew Cuomo may have been refusing to sign legislation legalizing street hails for livery cab drivers in New York City for reasons that have nothing to do with taxis, livery cars or transportation at all, according to the Post. More
Behind the scenes, M.T.A. engineer-in-chief Mike Horodniceanu builds a new transit system, as long as Joe Lhota can bring in the money
Of Lhota, Horodniceanu said that he “is a really smart man,” and that the two have already met twice.
It's plain to see why someone in his position might want help on the money score. Disinterest from the governor's office and a lack of funding to pursue major projects were among the reasons multiple reports cited for Walder's exit; they were also, according to the Daily News, the reasons Horodniceanu's predecessor, Mysore Nagaraja, left the post in 2008.
“He’s not a transportation guru, but, you know, that’s why we exist," Horodniceanu said of his new boss. "I’m an engineer, he doesn’t need to be an engineer. I need him to help me get the money. And that’s important.” More
(1)The beginning of the era of Andrew Cuomo's involvement in transportation and infrastructure
Andrew Cuomo appointed a new head of the Port Authority today, effectively marking the beginning of new phase of his governorship in which he will be judged on the state of transportation and infrastructure in New York.
His desire to replace Chris Ward as the Port Authority's executive editor has been plain for some time. His distaste for Ward, a well-regarded but not paticularly loyal Paterson appointee, was underscored by the leaked news that an ongoing audit of the authority's spending under Ward was going to show that it had overspent on Ground Zero. Ward's replacement will be former ESDC head Patrick Foye. More
As Walder leaves, Cuomo prepares to become accountable for public transportation in New York
Next Friday is Jay Walder’s last day as head of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the state authority charged with overseeing the subways and buses that make New York City function. Governor Andrew Cuomo is expected to select a replacement before then. As Cuomo prepares, finally, to take political ownership of New York City's public transportation system by appointing someone to run it, transit advocates await his decision with some anxiousness. More
Bloomberg's radical proposal to solve New York City's taxi problem, stalled
It may be illegal, but everyone does it: Hailing black livery cars on the street. Everyone, that is, who lives in a part of New York that is not Manhattan or one of the more gentrified precincts of Brooklyn.
While yellow cabs course through Manhattan streets and wait for passengers at airport terminals, the black cars predominate elsewhere, gliding slowly down outer-borough thoroughfares scouting for fares, honking hopefully at would-be passengers, and queuing at locations where they know there will be demand that isn't met by taxis. More
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