Transit

In a speech at a Crain's breakfast this morning, Senator Chuck Schumer called for reinvesting in infrastructure, including repairs to New York's existing transportation system and new transit projects. Schumer also blasted New Jersey Governor Chris Christie for killing the ARC tunnel and for his proposal to use Port Authority funds to pay for maintaining New Jersey roads.

One of the encouraging trends for American transit riders, in an otherwise bleak landscape of service cuts and fare hikes, is the growing number of agencies experimenting with ways to bring better information to their customers. Last summer Streetfilms explored how open transit data is helping to make riding the bus or the train more convenient in several cities.

It might be naive to think that New York politicians will one day stop accusing the MTA of mismanagement, shady bookkeeping and a lack of transparency. Few have the integrity or willpower to resist such a highly visible and convenient punching bag. But under its current leadership, the MTA continues to show itself to be one of the more accountable public authorities in the state.

The Twin Cities region is reassessing the role of highways in its transportation system.

With gas prices at their highest level since October 2008, the American Public Transportation Association’s monthly Transit Savings Report estimates that transit riders save, on average, $9,656 a year.

The assault on the MTA's already battered finances could now come from yet another front: the federal government. The new Republican majority in the House of Representatives passed a rule Wednesday that would allow reductions in federal transportation spending, including investment in transit. That puts previously secure federal funds on the negotiating table, making it that much harder for the MTA to balance its books.

A preliminary design for the proposed 34th Street Transitway is due this spring, DOT said officials at a community board meeting last night.

President Obama is about to sign the controversial tax-cut compromise into law, now that the House and Senate have both voted in favor of the bill. That means the transit benefit extension, hidden inside the $858 billion package, will become law as well.

In a bid to cut costs and improve transit service for New Yorkers with disabilities, the MTA and the Taxi and Limousine Commission will pilot a program to have yellow cabs provide Access-A-Ride service. The program could benefit everyone who rides subways and buses too -- if it proves effective at curbing the cost of Access-A-Ride, the federally-mandated service which has been eating up an increasingly large portion of the MTA's budget and putting strain on other aspects of the transit system.