Media Links
February 15, 2012
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Source: Streetsblog Capitol HillWith more and more Republicans coming out against provisions of the House transportation bill, the GOP leadership has opted to split their massive bill into three parts to be debated and voted on separately, Politico reports.
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Source: Transportation NationThe House is gearing up to start floor debate Wednesday on Republicans’ five-year $260 billion highways and infrastructure bill. But near-unanimous opposition from Democrats and significant revolts from within their own ranks have also forced GOP leaders to resort to some deft legislative tactics to help the bill along to passage.
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Source: Wall Street JournalNew York will seek a $2 billion loan from the federal government to help pay for the replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge, state officials said in a letter released Tuesday, which also revealed that the estimated cost of the project could climb to $6 billion.
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Source: Main StreetThe goal of a “right to work” law is the same as the goal of Ohio’s Senate Bill 5 – weaken the voices and power of working people. Where Senate Bill 5 went through the front door, RTW laws go through the back door, draining the resources of the institutions that protect workers.
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Source: DNAInfo.comAccording to the MTA, service between Essex Street and Marcy Avenue in Brooklyn, was interrupted in both directions for about a half hour.
February 14, 2012
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Source: Times Herald-Record"I don't know what happened, but it's a kick in the stomach regardless, because it emphasizes how this process is totally closed, particularly to the case for transit," said Nancy Proyect, president of the Orange County Citizens Foundation. "Without transit, all we're going to gain is a safer bridge, which is good, but it isn't good enough."
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Source: Capital New YorkThe 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.
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Source: Transportation NationU.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who has already called the House Transportation bill “the most partisan ever” and the “worst bill in decades,” heaped more criticism on the GOP-sponsored bill.
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Source: Transportation NationFormer Governor Elliot Spitzer was Governor from June 2007 until March 2008. He says the latest Port Authority audit by Navigant Consulting was unfair to his successor Governor David Paterson and Paterson’s pick to lead the Port Authority, Executive Director Chris Ward.
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Source: Mid-Hudson NewsTARRYTOWN – This is “a crucial moment for the environment and mobility” of the region and to build a new Tappan Zee Bridge without a transit component would be a bad decision, according to Tri-State Transportation Campaign. The not-for-profit group supports constructing the full project at once.
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Source: NY Daily NewsMTA's FasTrack maintenance program will shut down major stretches of track for 59 more nights this year. That's 413 hours of no service - or 17 days.
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Source: NBC New YorkNew York City's new transit chief says he opposes a bill that would ban food on the subways despite a rat infestation in the system.
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Source: NY1Straphangers are bracing for service shutdowns and delays as the MTA rolls out its Fastrack program on the 1, 2, and 3 subway lines between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. this week. NY1's Tina Redwine filed the following report.
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Source: New York Daily NewsA proposed $260 billion transportation bill is so hard on cities that it has Republicans and Democrats working together to lessen the blow.
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Source: NY PostThe MTA has finished all of the tunneling for the 7-train extension to 11th Avenue and completed carving out the mezzanine — a complex job that paves the way for train operation by 2013.
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Source: NY TimesThe No. 1 train will not run between 34th Street and South Ferry, and the No. 3 train will not run at all. The No. 2 train will not run between 34th Street and Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn; it will run between 34th Street and East 180th Street in the Bronx, and then run on the No. 5 line to Dyre Avenue. Transit officials estimate that the delays will add about 20 minutes to travelers’ trips and say workers will be at stations along the Seventh Avenue line to help riders find alternative routes.
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Source: MetroDr. Richard Lee, who tested Police Officer Alonzo Harris’ uniform, said the contaminants found in the World Trade Center dust were “created by the extreme forces acting on building materials, such as insulation during the collapse of the buildings, and by the ensuing fires that consumed the spilled fuels, building contents and construction materials.”
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Source: Streetsblog New York CityThe hits keep coming against the Republican House of Representatives’ radical transportation bill, especially its unprecedented attack on dedicated transit funding. In New York, the region’s Congress member — of both parties — and editorial boards have now been joined by that most traditional GOP constituency: big business.
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Source: amNY
As the world mourns the loss of Whitney Houston, tributes in her honor are popping up everywhere - even on the subway. Straphangers on the No. 2 train busted out their own impromptu rendition of "I Will Always Love You" recently. It's not exactly as good as the queen of pop, but moving nonetheless.
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Source: Sheepshead BitesAllan Rosen, a Manhattan Beach resident and former Director of MTA/NYC Transit Bus Planning (1981): In the past I have criticized Operations Planning for perhaps being the most arrogant of all departments. They rarely listen to the public because they consider themselves the “experts” who can learn little from the average passenger. They have rejected more than 50 of my suggestions for bus routing improvements that I have made to them over the years. Cost was the reason most often stated for rejection, and sometimes reasons conflicted with one another. Additional cost was the sole reason for rejecting one simple change I recommended, which would have required an operating cost increase of a little more than $100 a day extra, not accounting for the increased ridership that would have resulted.
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