Transportation roundup: How is New York City doing?
Posted on 02. Dec, 2010 by Eleanor Miller in Uncategorized
The last public trolley line in New York City shut down in the 1950s, ending a long run for a popular type of public transit– but some Brooklyn advocates want to bring it back. In October, the Department of Transportation announced a feasibility study to determine if a new trolley line could be efficiently installed between Red Hook, where there are few public transit option, and downtown Brooklyn.
While it’s not clear if the trolley proposal will actually go anywhere (though federal stimulus funds may be available to help sweeten the idea for a city facing budget shortfalls), the study is just the latest example of a mayoral administration focused on improving public transit (and minimizing its environmental impact) in a city where mass transit is essential (as much as one third of all mass transit users in the country live in the great New York area).
The last five or six years have seen a staggering number of transportation projects: everything from hybrid taxi fleets to bike lanes to encouraging more use of mass transit. The cornerstone of the Bloomberg administration’s efforts to improve clean, efficient and dependable mass transit was the mayor’s PlaNYC, launched in April 2007 to provide a framework by which to improve city services, prepare for population growth and make the city cleaner, greener and more pleasant.
The mayor’s numerous proposals have included:
•Congestion pricing: Proposed imposing a fee on cars entering Manhattan during the busiest hours. Though the idea was endorsed by the city council, required approval from the state legislature failed to materialize.
•Dramatically increasing the number of bike routes: Bloomberg wants to add as many as 200 miles of new bike lanes through the city. Nearly half have already been implemented. Just last month, an RFP was issued for a bike sharing service the city wants to launch by spring 2012.
•Improving outdoor spaces and traffic flow: actions included implementing Summer Streets (closing down major streets to vehicular traffic) and revamping traffic in Times Square and adding pedestrian walk areas
But the momentum in transportation projects may run up against the hard reality of a fiscal crisis. The mayor is currently trying to consider ways to fill in a budget gap that may be as large as $4.5 billion. In October, transit advocacy organization Transportation Alternatives, along with the Drum Major Institute, released a report in which they highlighted a number of key financial problems public transportation faces in New York City, including the fact that MTA funding is not guaranteed or preserved and can be modified by state legislators each year.
“This past year, we saw fare hikes and the worst service cuts in a generation,” said Kim Martineau, communications director at Transportation Alternatives. “It’s clear that our elected leaders need to fix some systemic problems with the MTA.”
TA proposed several initiatives, including placing money for transit in a “lockbox” so that it cannot be used to balance the overall budget or fill in other cuts, and increasing tolls on for commuters into Manhattan.
“The state should also consider tolls on East River bridges and/or a fee to travel into Manhttan’s most congested areas during the day,” said Martineau. “Transit riders have been asked to pay more, it’s only fair that motorists also pay for a public transit system that takes cars off the road, eases traffic and air pollution and frees up parking spaces.”
Check out the timeline of recent landmarks in city transportation initiatives for some recent transportation initiatives. Each flag includes a link to another site with more information.
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