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Connecticut Governor Blows Transit Funding Opportunities

Posted by
on February 26th, 2009 at 5:46 pm

Recently, Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell announced her budget for fiscal 2010 & 2011. Unfortunately for the state’s mass transit system, funding opportunities were blown. Tri-State Transportation Campaign Senior Planner Ryan Lynch takes a look at these blown opportunities in his entry:

Governor Rell announced her budget for fiscal years 2010 and 2011 last Wednesday in Hartford. With Connecticut facing a $922 million deficit, her proposal was mainly a laundry list of spending cuts, fee increases, and agency consolidations. With the exception of a speed camera pilot program, however, Governor Rell offered little vision on how to fund the transportation system moving forward.

Governor Rell missed an opportunity to call for some form of open-road congestion pricing on Connecticut’s roads, an action that in addition to generating revenue for the transportation system would reduce congestion and improve the environment.

The Transportation Strategy Board, tasked with directing transportation policy in the state, is set to receive the final report on congestion pricing from Cambridge Systematics on February 19. Her budget address would have been an opportune time to show support for an innovative funding policy that might be a heavy political lift.

Click here for the complete entry.

I can’t say that I follow the ins & outs of politics & issues involving Connecticut on a daily basis. However I do try to keep abreast of what is going on. I have to say I found the comment posted below the entry to be very interesting. The person who went by the name of “DingDong” stated:

The white suburban voters will always love Grandma Rell. She doesn’t get cities and doesn’t care about the poor, but neither do most Connecticut voters. This is part of the reason that ConnDOT didn’t do as bad as other agencies – and that the transportation funding decreases we did see were from programs specifically targeting lower-income residents.

Knowing the demographic & financial makeup of the state leads me to believe that “DingDong” might be on to something in terms of program decreases targeting lower-income residents. It is a shame that eventhough the lower-income residents do not make up the majority of Connecticut residents, their options are considered to not be as important. This is the wrong message to send in a day & age where we all should encourage as much investment into our transit programs as possible.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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How The MTA Fuels The Upstate Economy

Posted by
on February 26th, 2009 at 5:45 pm

Earlier this month, Tri-State Transportation Campaign Associate Director Veronica Vanterpool posted a must read entry about how the MTA helps fuel the upstate economy including regions they do not provide any service in. Here is a sneak peak:

Not surprisingly, most of the debate over the MTA’s financial problems has occurred in the MTA’s 12-county downstate service area, where transit riders face massive fare hikes and service cuts. But the entire state will lose out if the transit agency crumbles. As an MTA report released in March 2008, titled “The Economic Impact of MTA Capital Program Investment on New York State,” points out, the same transit projects that keep the NYC metropolitan area moving keep many upstate cities and towns working.

Overall, the MTA supports thousands of jobs in at least 37 cities in upstate NY. Many New Yorkers — and perhaps even some upstate legislators who must vote on the Ravitch Commission plan to fund the MTA with a downstate payroll tax and East and Harlem River bridge tolls.

MTA capital projects also provide jobs at dozens of companies on Long Island, in Westchester and Rockland Counties, and NYC. The report estimates that the 2005-2009 MTA Capital Program supports 18,500 to 38,500 jobs annually over a 9-year period (some contracts entered into as part of the capital program normally take years beyond the end of the program to fulfill). It also generates:

* $29.2 billion in economic activity/sales,

* $1.1 billion in state and local personal income and sales taxes,

* and $11.8 billion in wages and salaries.

Click here for the complete entry.

I am so glad that she posted this entry. I seriously wonder how many of our upstate based elected officials know this information? I bet they either feel the MTA only serves a purpose downstate & does nothing for their region or could care less. Either way, these same officials are a big reason why the MTA & its riders are facing huge budget deficits & possible “draconian” service cuts.

Lets hope that some of these so called leaders get this information & actually start to give a damn about helping the MTA obtain adequate funding year after year. If things remain status quo, the entire tri-state area will suffer.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Reappointment Is Truly A Blow To Mass Transit

Posted by
on February 26th, 2009 at 5:44 pm

Last June, one of the biggest transit stories was the defeat of a major transportation bill in Albany. The bill called for the installation of bus-mounted cameras to deter cars from using bus-only lanes. The main culprit behind the defeat of the bill was New York State Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman David Gantt.

Many transit advocates & bloggers including myself lashed out at the defeat of this bill & the typical anti-nyc transit attitude showcased by Mr. Gantt. The media even joined in as the New York Times called for New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to remove Mr. Gantt as the committee’s chairmanship. So you can only imagine how we all felt when Sheldon announced that he was reappointing David Gantt as Transportation Committee Chairman. Ben Fried of Streetsblog has more in this report:

On Thursday, Sheldon Silver re-appointed Rochester’s David Gantt to chair the Assembly Transportation Committee. Gantt is the chairman who engineered the defeat of bus lane enforcement cameras last June, when six co-sponsors of the bill wound up voting against it in his committee. With the city’s bus rapid transit plans relying on bus-mounted cameras to help keep BRT lanes free of auto traffic, the committee vote dealt a big setback to New York City bus riders.

Click here for the complete report.

Moves like this are exactly why so many consider politics to be the phoniest thing in existence. Sometimes you have to wonder why do so many of us fight for better mass transit when our so called “leaders” are more concerned with making choices to try & defeat us? There is no legitimate reason for this man to be reappointed for the chairmanship when he clearly lacks an unbiased mind towards the mass transit needs of our state, especially the downstate region.

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1

Staten Island Railway Gets New Locomotives

Posted by
on February 26th, 2009 at 5:43 pm

Staten Island Railway Locomotive2 of the 4 new locomotives for the Staten Island Railway. Photo courtesy of the MTA.

Earlier this month, the MTA announced that it will take delivery on 4 new locomotives for the Staten Island Railway. They issued a press release about it via e-mail:

MTA New York City Transit’s Staten Island Railway (SIR) is taking delivery of four new diesel locomotives manufactured by the Brookville Equipment Corporation of Brookville, Pennsylvania.

The locomotives traveled by rail to Port Newark and then by barge to the Stapleton Home Port. The cars were lifted by crane and trucked to the Clifton, where they were again lifted by crane and placed onto the tracks. They will undergo testing for about a month before entering service.

These new locomotives will replace four old second-hand locomotives: two that date from 1968 and two that date from 1940’s. They will be used year-round to support maintenance-of-way efforts in maintaining tracks, right-of-way and structures. They will be used daily during the autumn months to propel work equipment that steam-clean the running rails and apply traction-enhancing gel. In addition, during winter months, they can be used to clear the line in the event of a major snowstorm. And, they may even be used to haul passenger cars to maintain limited service should there be a temporary third rail outage.

Funded in 2006 with an $8.8 million capital budget, the final cost came in significantly under budget at approximately $1.6 million per locomotive. The locomotives were part of a combined order that totaled 16 units: six for Metro North Railroad, six for Connecticut DOT and four for Staten Island Railway. These low-emission locomotives each weigh 230,000 pounds with 2250 horsepower and are expected to remain in service for 35 years.

Purchases like these are just an example of why the MTA needs proper funding. These new locomotives will be very useful for the operation of the Staten Island Railway. Now just imagine if the agency’s finances continue to spiral out of control due to a lack of proper funding. If the continued lack of funding continued to be the status quo, you will see less & less of useful purchases such as these locomotives. In the long run, not only will the MTA suffer but so will its riders.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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MTA Starts Video Screen Pilot Program On The L

Posted by
on February 26th, 2009 at 5:42 pm

L Train Video ScreenOne of the video screens installed as part of the pilot program. Photo courtesy of the MTA.

The same act plays itself out at every single station in the system whether you are a new to the NYC Subway or a battle tested veteran. The act I speak of is the old bend over slightly & stare down the tracks to see where the next train is at. The MTA would like to see less of that along the L as they have started a test pilot program which introduces video screens that display real time information regarding the line. The test is being done at the Myrtle-Wyckoff Aves station in Brooklyn. The MTA issued a press release via e-mail to talk about the program:

While it is often said that there is never anything good on television, L line riders might be ready to disagree as an ambitious project to provide customer information using flat-panel video terminals is being piloted at the Myrtle-Wyckoff Aves. station. The new system will enable riders to view the locations of all trains along the line in real time. MTA New York City Transit is unveiling the new Train Locator Console (TLC) today.

After listening to complaints and comments from customers concerning next train information, Line General Manager Greg Lombardi asked if it would be feasible to display the locations of trains along the line on a video subway map for his customers, since the Rail Control Center system already tracks train locations along the Canarsie Line.

The answer was yes. With Computer Based Train Control (CBTC) and the related Public Address/Customer Information Screens (PA/CIS) already in place, the line had the infrastructure required to support the effort.

The real-time train locations are derived from the L line’s computerized operating system and then displayed for riders on the new flat-panel video terminals.

“The idea for this new system came directly from the customers who use the L line every day coupled with Greg Lombardi’s willingness to listen to the issues and then look into finding a way to respond to their concerns,” said NYC Transit President Howard H. Roberts, Jr.

The new system was developed in-house with CBTC & PA/CIS, the Electronic Maintenance Division and the Division of Stations teaming to create the interface and software on a minimal budget. The project quickly took shape under the direction of Robert Forlenza, Senior Director, and Wilson Milian, Director of the CBTC & PA/CIS TIS Applications Unit.

“Following Greg Lombardi’s motto of ‘keep it simple,’ I put together a terrific team and gave them a timeline of exactly nine months to have the pilot in the station and working. They met that challenge,” said Forlenza.

The TLC screens are split into two views: the bottom half of the TLC displays the locations of all trains moving along the entire L line; the top half is a magnified view of the station where it is installed, and the next station in both directions. Once the interface design was approved, 42-inch flat-panel monitors were purchased off the shelf and Myrtle-Wyckoff Avenues station was selected for TLC’s pilot location. Two platform screens have been installed along with a third screen in the fare control area for the pilot.

“This was an extremely worthwhile project. I had strong support and cooperation from everyone involved and it was great to be able to respond to my customers’ ideas on how to improve service,” said Lombardi.
If successful, the pilot will be expanded to other stations along the line. The system could also be rolled out along other lines in the future as they are upgraded with CBTC and PA/CIS technology.

I feel this is a great program which should prove beneficial to riders of the L if & when it gets implemented on the entire line. I hope this pilot works well as seeing it implemented system wide on the NYC Subway will be a great day for all riders.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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