Transit
Streetsblog Basics
“The Porch” at 30th Street Station Welcomes You to Philadelphia
For nine months now, Philadelphia's awesome new public space "The Porch" has been flying under the nation's livable streets radar.
August 3, 2012
Report: New York’s Transit and Walkability Keys to Age-Friendly City
The best places to grow old aren't in Florida or Arizona, according to a report released today by the Milken Institute, a California-based think tank. Phoenix's woeful transportation system, which offers few travel options for people too old to drive everywhere, disqualifies that purported haven for retirees. No, the best places for the fast-growing 65-plus demographic are ones more like, well, New York City.
July 31, 2012
How the MTA Managed to Afford Service Restorations
Wondering how the MTA could afford to restore service on 24 bus lines and postpone next year's fare hikes? New budget documents show where the transit system's revenues and costs beat expectations, leaving the small and fragile surplus. The biggest savings came from cheap energy. Revenues from riders were up, but the important yet volatile real estate transaction tax came in under expectations.
July 26, 2012
Partial Service Restorations Aren’t Good Enough For City Pols, TWU
Across the city, New Yorkers are still demanding their transit back. A dozen elected officials joined the Transport Workers Union on the steps of City Hall this afternoon to demand that all of 2010's MTA service cuts be restored. Around one-third of the eliminated service will be reinstated under a plan released by the MTA last week.
July 24, 2012
Bus Lane Rehab and Utica Ave SBS Win Federal Transit Grants
New York City was awarded nearly $50 million in federal grants to improve its bus service, the Federal Transit Administration announced today. The money will go toward both the basics, like a new radio system for buses, and new and improved bus lanes to speed service further.
July 23, 2012
Even a Paltry $150M For Tappan Zee Transit Is Too Much For Andrew Cuomo
Earlier this week, Streetsblog reported that Governor Andrew Cuomo is dishonestly overstating the cost of building Tappan Zee Bridge transit. Cuomo has repeatedly said that building a 30-mile bus rapid transit system would cost $5 billion, and that the state can't afford to spend that much. But that number is inflated by the inclusion of billions of dollars in highway improvements, like new climbing lanes for trucks, many of which are entirely unrelated to providing transit.
July 12, 2012
State Reports Belie Cuomo’s Claim That Tappan Zee Transit Will Cost $5B
At the beginning of the week, Governor Andrew Cuomo launched a media offensive to defend his decision to halt all work on building new transit infrastructure across the Tappan Zee Bridge. "The bus system would roughly double the cost of the bridge," Cuomo told radio host Fred Dicker.
July 11, 2012
Brookings: Inadequate Transit and Sprawl Cut Off Workers From Jobs
If there’s a problem connecting workers with workplaces, it stands to reason that there’s a problem connecting workplaces with workers. A new report from the Brookings Institution has teased out the subtleties of this side of the transit/jobs equation.
July 11, 2012
County Execs Want More Details Before Voting on Tappan Zee Replacement
Faced with a crucial vote that could have set federal funding in motion for the Cuomo administration's transit-less Tappan Zee Bridge replacement, three county leaders have asked for more information before signing off on the project.
July 5, 2012
Transpo Bill Preserves Transit Funding, Wastes Opportunities For Progress
In H.R.7 -- the transpo bill so backwards even the House couldn’t pass it -- the roads-only crowd threw transit riders under the bus, as it were, eliminating dedicated funding for transit, which was left to fend for itself off scraps from the general fund.
June 28, 2012