Today’s Headlines

  • Jay Walder Says He’s Got the Chops to Navigate Albany (NYT)
  • London Labor Leader: Walder Will Clash With Unions (News)
  • Bowing to Pols, State DOT to Widen 1.2 Miles of SI Expressway (SI Advance, MTR)
  • State of Subways: 7 Line Rated Tops, C Brings Up the Rear (News, Post, NY1, City Room)
  • Bike Advocate Bruce Rosar Struck and Killed By Driver in NC (DC Examiner via Streetsblog.net)
  • Officer Struck By Curb-Jumping Car Loses Left Leg Below the Knee (News)
  • You Call This Green Building? Setting Aside Parking for Hybrids Counts Toward LEED (Green Inc)
  • Check Out Latest Pics of the Subway Station Overhaul at Bleecker St. (Curbed, 2nd Ave Sagas)
  • Tesla Motors Now Hawking Electric Cars at Manhattan Showroom (AMNY)
  • Street Safety Projects in Fort Greene and Williamsburg Moving Forward (Bklyn Paper, Your Nabe)
  • Susan Jhun Does It Again: Great Little Piece of Ped-Friendly Journalism From NY1

More headlines at Streetsblog Capitol Hill

  • Re: the expansion of the Staten Island Expressway:

    To me this is a great example of two phenomena: first, the limited extent of state DOTs’ responsibility (really only for roads, rather than for transportation overall); and second, the fact that the highway system, originally envisioned as for long-distance driving, is really for local use.

    I’m flabbergasted by this line: “It’s going to be painful, but what’s the alternative?” Well, other than spending $20 million to free up traffic for a month before it fills up again, I’m sure there ARE other options. I’m interested to hear others’ ideas – pricing? Improved public transportation (but funded how?)? Etc…

    This is a classic case of car mobility rather than mobility.

  • Larry Littlefield

    “I’m interested to hear others’ ideas.”

    Dynamic carpooling. It’s what’s left when you have density that is too low for transit except at exhorbitant subsidy (and energy use) per passenger, and too high for decent mobility with private autos.

  • RE: Walder Will Clash With Unions

    It will be darkly humorous if Walder’s (non)confirmation by the senate hinges on such union-inspired trivialities as whether station agents should suffer the indignity of having to pick up some trash while they’re walking around doing nothing.

  • vnm

    The Staten Island highway widening is bad enough. Meanwhile, Newsday supports building an automobile tunnel from Rye to Oyster Bay, on the grounds that it could be an evacuation route in case of an emergency. Of course, if evacuation was your real concern, you’d support a rail tunnel, which can move far more people per hour than a highway. Anyone who wants to see how well a highway performs at a large scale evacuation should do a Google search for Hurricane Rita evacuation.

  • Glenn

    I attended the Transpo forum hosted by NY Civic & the Museum of the City, of the State, of the Nation of the World of New York last night. Lots of socially dysfunctional transportation geeks were in attendence. I think I know why Education & Healthcare get more political attention – their advocates just seem more socially adept and better dressed…(however, biking advocates just look hot in whatever they wear)

    Bottom line: Brodsky was actually quite thoughtful, far more than many of his colleagues in the state legislature. He agrees that “beneficaries” like motorists and real estate interests should pay their fair share. But mass transit (including the MTA) needs a big face lift – we need to have the public’s support in valuing it as a basic necessity of life similar to housing, education and healthcare.

  • Joe Unum

    Unless Walder is an inert blob he will clash with the transit unions. The MTA’s biggest union, TWU 100, is in a state of civil war. The insurgents want to dump the incumbent faction because they aren’t confrontational enough — yeah, the guys who initiated the Christmas strike aren’t confrontational enough. The TWU is a made in New York sociology experiment which includes a melting pot of ethnicities, ideologies, clans, tribes and eccentrics, including sincere trotskyites and maoists.

  • Ian Turner

    I think the Times misread the LEED requirements. Under LEED v2, you get 1 point for accommodating “alternative fuel vehicles”, and one way to qualify is to provide as much preferred parking as is demanded, up to 10% of total parking. You can also get one point each for accommodating cyclists, vanpools, and telecommuters.

    Under LEED v3, they do away with these specific strategy tests and instead require building owners to show a “reduction in conventional commuting trips”. Trips are considered “reduced” if they are replaced with telecommuting, compressed workweeks, mass transit, walking, bicycling or other human-powered transport, carpools, vanpools, and low-, efficent-, or alternative-fuel vehicles. This item is worth 3-15 points for a reduction of 10-75% respectively.

  • Ian Turner

    Oh, and it goes without saying that these rules apply to the LEED certification for operations and maintenance of existing buildings, and not to the certification of new construction.

  • DCResident

    DC approved to get stimulus money to add 160 kiosks and 1600 bicycles to its bike sharing program.

    via http://bike-sharing.blogspot.com/2009/07/tiger-roars-in-washington-dc.html

  • Amtrak gets first rolling stock from stimulus funds. Yippee! Seriously!

  • The [widening the Staten Island Expressway] will cost about $20 million.

    That’s enough to pay four bus drivers for at least five years…

  • Ian Turner

    Larry will enjoy this. The Economist: “It is time to recognize the full costs of public-sector pension schemes to the rest of us”
    http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13988606

    Also from last week’s Economist, “The public-sector pension scam”
    http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13983688