Transit

This spring, there was a glimmer of hope that Webster Avenue in the Bronx would get the first center-running bus-only lanes in New York. With NYC DOT and the MTA bringing Select Bus Service to Webster Avenue, the center-running option would have been the city's boldest effort yet to implement high-quality bus rapid transit. While Select Bus Service is still in the works for Webster Avenue and bus trips are on track to improve, the project won't include center-running lanes, which do more to keep buses moving smoothly through traffic than bus lanes next to the curb or the parking lane.

Phineas Baxandall is a senior analyst at the U.S. Public Interest Research Group.

Next month, 19 transit-related measures will come before voters. If the rest of this year is any guide, 16 of them will pass.

The Census has released a new set of data that helps shed some light on how New Yorkers get to work. Nationally, the percentage of workers driving to work alone edged down, while transit made a tiny gain. New York City saw the same pattern, with carpooling also showing a slight drop.

The Republicans have retreated from their insistence on cutting transportation spending by 35 percent to match Highway Trust Fund revenues -- for now. But the problem is far from solved. As a reminder of the dangers such a policy presents, the Bipartisan Policy Center and the Eno Center for Transportation put out a new report yesterday on the potential consequences of a 35 percent cut in transportation spending.

The idea of investing in transit is popular with Americans, even among those who don't depend on it. But trains and buses, buses in particular, have always had an image problem. U.S. transit providers could take a cue from this Danish ad, which makes light of the mundane nature of bus travel (free handles!) in a way that actually makes transit look "cool." Turn on the captions for the full effect.

When asked what would solve traffic problems in their community, 42 percent of Americans say more transit. Only 20 percent say more roads. And 21 percent would like to see communities developed that don’t require so much driving. Two-thirds support local planning that guides new development into existing cities and near public transportation.

On Wednesday, a state Supreme Court judge ruled the Payroll Mobility Tax unconstitutional, saying that because the "budgetary crisis of the MTA is not a substantial state concern," the law required a home rule message from the affected counties. Now, the MTA says it will appeal directly to New York's top court.

Saying that the “budgetary crisis of the MTA is not a substantial state concern," a state Supreme Court judge ruled yesterday that the MTA Payroll Mobility Tax is unconstitutional. Although taxes will continue to be collected as the MTA appeals the case to a higher court, yesterday’s decision puts $1.5 billion, or approximately 12 percent of the MTA’s annual budget, at risk.