Collaboration Key for NJ Transit’s Raritan Valley Line

RenewLV wants to see the Raritan Valley Line expanded to PA.

This week we turn our attention to news of a multi-state effort to expand NJ Transit’s Raritan Valley Line. Livable Streets member group RenewLV — a campaign for smart growth in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley — attended an exciting meeting of the broader Raritan Valley Rail Coalition. RenewLV reports;

RenewLV supports the study of regional rail for the Lehigh Valley, particularly focusing on the possible extension of the Raritan Valley line from High Bridge to Phillipsburg, N.J., and the impact of such a project for this region. Since a regional rail service in the Valley will presumably involve partnerships with adjacent states — namely, New Jersey, and even New York — identifying allies across state boundaries is incredibly important for the regional rail effort. Today’s meeting was proof of a thriving sentiment for multi-organizational, multi-state collaboration. HART Commuter Information Services, a transportation management association that promotes ridesharing, and the Institute for Rational Urban Mobility were just some of the organizations that called for a need to work together on determining better transportation solutions for the NY-NJ-PA region.

Elsewhere: Maura McCormick continues her battle for non-automobile accessible grocery stores in Dayton, OH; Echo Park and Silverlake Livable Streets wants help distributing a poster for its next meeting; and things are looking up in Connecticut with the passage of an act improving bike-ped funding statewide and news of an intersection repair mural in New Haven.