Kate Hinds

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (Governor's Office/Tim Larsen)

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was asked Tuesday about his support of a plan to eliminate the free ride benefit for NJ Transit employees. Here's his response.

"All these different kinds of perks that are given to employees just aren't justifiable to the general public. You know we had to raise fares on NJ Transit. We had to raise fares because their fare box had been ignored by the previous administration for their entire time here. YOu know? And artificially used federal stimulus money to keep fares stable. When we came in, NJ Transit was in really bad shape.  So what did we do? We made the hard choice, we bit the bullet, we raised fares. I don't think it's justifiable for me to ask a working man or woman in New Jersey to pay these higher fares and then have employees of NJ Transit get it for free. So there's really nothing more complicated behind it than that."

(NYU Rudin Center)

As New York's MTA mulls over specifics for its coming fare hike, NYU's Rudin Center is looking at what riders get for their money.

From the center's blog: "Even if the base fare is raised to $2.50, you’re still able to go about six times farther on a MetroCard than the MBTA Charlie Card, WMATA SmarTrip or any other city fare."

Unlike other systems -- DC's Metro, for example -- the New York City subway operates on a flat rate. So whether the trip is ten blocks or 31 miles (the distance of the longest ride with no change of trains), the undiscounted fare is $2.25.

Check out the twitter conversation about this story. And read the Rudin Center's post here.

Top stories on TN:
NYPD Focus Shifts on Bike Ticketing (link)
Pro-Tolerance Ads Begin Appearing In NYC Subway (link)

Coming soon: cashless tolls on the Henry Hudson Bridge (photo by Kate Hinds)

Can roads and public transit can work together? Discuss. (New York Times Room for Debate)

The New York Post and AAA say some NYC intersections have deliberately short yellow lights in order to run up ticket revenue. (Link)
NYC DOT commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan called this claim "bogus." (DOT)

The SpaceX rocket managed to get into orbit, despite one of its nine engines failing to deploy correctly. (WMFE)

Sixty-seven percent of Detroit residents polled by the Detroit News say the city's bus system is unreliable.

A woman covered up a controversial DC Metro ad with post-it notes that read "If you see something hateful, say something peaceful." (Washington Examiner)

What New York's coming fare hike could look like: two scenarios. (New York Daily News)

Meanwhile, the newly branded New York City MetroCard is confusing some transit riders because the cards are missing the traditional arrows running along the bottom indicating which way to swipe and the instructions “Insert this way/This side facing you." (DNA Info)

The Indian government is looking at implementing transit-oriented development in some places. (The Hindu Business Line)

New York's MTA is pushing ahead on cashless tolls. (Wall Street Journal)

Federal authorities say the Canadian tour bus that crashed in New Jersey this past weekend did not have the authority to operate in the U.S. (Star-Ledger)

California's gas prices have risen so quickly that some are suspecting a conspiracy -- and Senator Dianne Feinstein wants a federal investigation. (Los Angeles Times; editorial)

Should the market alone determine parking supply? (Atlantic Cities)

The state of Florida plans to ditch its iconic green and white license plate for a new tag that officials say will be easier to read and will save money by making it simpler to catch motorists who evade tolls. (Miami Herald)

A newly-resurfaced pedestrian/bike bridge is causing some confusion in Hertfordshire, England; the BBC photo will demonstrate why.

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Top stories on TN:
NYPD Focus Shifts on Bike Ticketing (link)
Pro-Tolerance Ads Begin Appearing In NYC Subway (link)

Los Angeles's CicLAvia event (photo by cyclotourist via flickr)

A federal judge said DC's transit system must allow a pro-Israel ad that equates Muslim radicals with savages. Sound familiar, New Yorkers? (Washington Post)

The first commercial supply mission to the International Space Station has launched successfully. (WMFE)

When should elderly drivers hang up the car keys? The real test: "would you let your parent or grandparent drive you or your children?" (NPR)

California Gov. Jerry Brown asked state regulators to permit the early sale of winter-blend fuel in an effort to curb prices at the pump. (KPCC)

New York Times opinion: "The Republican Party is, more than ever before in its history, an anti-urban party." (link)

Car ownership can help transport some people out of poverty. (Marketplace)

About 100,000 bicyclists, pedestrians and skateboarders flooded nine miles of Los Angeles streets for cicLAvia. (Los Angeles Times)

Jay-Z -- like thousands of other New Yorkers -- took the subway to Brooklyn's Barclays Center. (New York Daily News)

Mind the Gap: the clothing retailer will be advertising on the front of New York City MetroCards. (New York Observer)

Inside Pablo Escobar's car collection. "He picked up whatever struck his fancy, and they were usually relatively pedestrian cars, especially for one of the richest men in the world and, probably, the richest criminal of all time." (Jalopnik)

How bad is traffic in Mumbai? An average taxi driver used to clock approximately 120km a day in 1996; today, it's 75km. (Times of India)

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Top stories on TN:
Pro-Tolerance Ads Begin Appearing In NYC Subway (link)
In Test of NYC’s Public Support for Bike Lanes, A Tabled Plan Gets Second Look (link)
NYC Subway Announcements Go From “Grrble the Dmffbll” to (Mostly) Clear (link)
MWAA Board Member Rips Secretary LaHood and Silver Line Funding (link)

A New Jersey appeals court has ruled that the state's Open Public Records Act doesn't apply to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. (AP via Wall Street Journal)

And: the NJ State Senate failed to override Gov. Chris Christie’s veto of a measure intended to impose more oversight over the sprawling Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. (Star-Ledger)

Boston is taking another look at its school busing system. "Many students go so far that transportation alone costs the city $80.4 million a year — about 9.4 percent of the school system’s operating budget, almost twice the national average." (New York Times)

The departments of Transportation and Homeland Security and Amtrak are combining forces to catch human trafficking victims who are riding the rails. “We cannot let the American transportation system be an enabler in these criminal acts,” said DOT head Ray LaHood said in a statement. (The Hill)

Chicago unveiled its plans for a $203 million makeover of a transit station. (Sun Times)

American Airlines is cancelling dozens of flights as it scrambles to fix seats that could pop loose during flight. (CBS)

Los Angeles officials have clamped down on security and significantly reduced public access to route the space shuttle will take through the streets next week. Yes, locals are angry. (Los Angeles Times)

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you: New York's one and only Candy Cabbie. (New York Daily News)

A new film profiles the working tugboats of New York Harbor. (MetroFocus)

Social Bikes is partnering with AT&T on a system that uses GPS to locate, reserve, and unlock a bike via smartphone app. (Smart Planet)

The blog Biking in LA debunks a report that said LA and NY are among the country's most dangerous places to bike or walk. (link)
Just in time for CicLAvia, which is this Sunday. (KPCC)

Locals criticized members of a Manhattan community board for not moving to implement more bike lanes. (Columbia Spectator)

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Columbus Avenue bike lane in September, 2011 (photo by Kate Hinds)

A stalled idea of putting a protected bike lane on a stretch of a Manhattan avenue is coming up for air, offering a test of public sentiment about New York City's often-contentious bike lane boom.

On the docket Thursday for Community Board 7's Transportation Committee meeting: whether to ask the New York City Department of Transportation to look at lengthening the existing two-year-old Columbus Avenue bike lane -- and redesigning Amsterdam Avenue to accommodate one.

Again.

When the Upper West Side's CB7 first began mulling over bike lanes in 2009, the group requested a study looking at protected lanes on both avenues, stretching from 59th to 110th streets. The DOT came back with a proposal for a single Columbus Avenue lane, running southbound from 96th Street to 77th Street. Amsterdam Avenue, the DOT decided, was too narrow to accommodate three travel lanes and a protected bike lane. The Columbus Avenue proposal was passed by the full board -- after failing at the committee level -- in 2010.

So why is an Amsterdam Avenue lane back on the table?

"This is an effort to see whether our priorities as a community might have changed," said Mark Diller, the chair of CB7, "not whether the width of a lane or the width of an avenue has changed."

He said that a member of the CB7 board wants the city to take another look at an Amsterdam Avenue bike lane -- as had other community groups. " It's a matter that's of interest to members of the community," said Diller, "so the community board will respond by taking a careful look at it."

And lessons learned during the first few months of the Columbus Avenue bike lane could help smooth the way for future lanes in the neighborhood.

Amsterdam Avenue and 84th Street (image from Google street view)

But Andrew Albert, the co-chair of CB7's transportation committee, said he couldn't ballpark what was going to happen at Thursday's meeting. "Because this hasn't come up yet, we don't know how the discussion is going to go."

Albert -- who in 2010 didn't support the installation of the Columbus Avenue lane --  said the committee wasn't won over by the idea of putting in another protected lane a block west. "There's a good number of people that don't believe the Columbus one is working as intended," he said, "so we're going to reserve judgment on Amsterdam for sure."

In one respect, said CB7 chair Mark Diller, the neighborhood had gotten off easy with the Columbus Avenue lane. Installing something similar on Amsterdam could require a politically sensitive decision that could spark some...lively debate. "Are we willing to trade a travel lane for a bike lane?" he asked.

Another view of  Columbus Avenue, with protected bike lane on the right  (image from Google street view)

 

Top stories on TN:
To Drive or Not To Drive: Two South American Countries Consider Congestion Pricing (link)
Virginia County Wants To Re-Envision Roads For City Rising West of Washington (link)

Obama and Romney largely steered clear of the auto bailout and transportation funding in last night's debate. (The Hill)
But one thing is clear: Romney likes coal. (New York Times)

Long Island Rail Road construction crews routinely report to work late, leave early and drag out jobs, according to a new report. (New York Daily News)

Drivers in Los Angeles kill pedestrians and bicyclists at a significantly higher rate than drivers nationally. "Pedestrians accounted for about a third of all traffic fatalities, or nearly triple the national average of 11.4%." (Los Angeles Times)

The population of Tokyo will drop by half by the year 2100 -- and almost half the residents will be over 65. (Japan Times)

What was originally viewed as a minor dispute over how to divvy up $6 million in transit funding among the CTA, Metra and Pace is turning into a full-scale, Chicago-versus-suburbs battle. (Chicago Tribune)

The new Sim City will turn you into an urban planning nut. (FastCoExist)

U.S. DOT secretary Ray LaHood might stick around for a second term after all. (Washington Post)

Nissan wants to revive Datsun as an affordable -- as in below $3,000 -- car brand. But to get there, you have to toss out airbags, then move on to anti-lock brakes, electronics, stability control and strong emissions control and other environmentally-friendly features. Add in two-cylinder engines, manual transmission, cheap interior fabrics and trim. (Marketplace)

Smashing pumpkins (and watermelons): a car plowed into some cucurbits outside a Manhattan bodega. Pictures at Gothamist.

Following British wins in the Tour de France and the Olympics, bike sales are up in the U.K. (BBC)

New York's Suffolk County is considering privatizing its bus service. (Newsday; subscription)

Illinois is putting together a statewide bikeway plan. "There are hundreds of miles of bike trails in Illinois but no overall plan to link or improve them."  (Chicago Tribune)

In the market for a used bike? The city of Hoboken (NJ) is auctioning off 78 of them. May the odds be ever in your favor, bidders! (GovDeals.com)

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Top stories on TN:
Pittsburgh’s “Paper Streets:” Hard To Maintain, Harder to Take Responsibility For (link)
NY MTA Budget, Once Critical, Is Reviving Thanks To Rider $ (link)
Subway Ad Recreates Edwardian Library (link)
19,000 Seats + Almost No Parking = More Foot Than Car Traffic at Barclays Arena (link)
Counting the Jay-Z Subway Crowd (link)
DC Bike Advocates Wonder Where the Completed Met Branch Trail Is (link)

(photo by Marionzetta via flickr)

How Michigan got Canada to pay for their new bridge -- and they might turn it down anyway. (Quartz)

In 2011, Italians bought more bicycles than cars for the first time in decades. (BBC)

American Airlines said improperly installed clamps were the reason seats came loose some of its jets. (Wall Street Journal)

Britain has torn up a deal awarding one of its biggest rail franchises to a private operator, in a humiliating U-turn that raises doubts about the government's handling of the privatized railways. (Reuters)

Self-driving cars are gaining legal acceptance, but kinks remain. One possible quandary: if a self-driving car runs a red light and is caught by police, who gets ticketed? (NPR)

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine crashed his bike in Central Park. Pro: he was wearing a helmet. Con: he crashed because he was reading a text message. (New York Times)

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo denied there was any effort to delay hydrofracking. (Capital Tonight)

The most dangerous intersection in San Francisco was actually paved with good intentions. (Bay Citizen)

A Denver city council member says bike share stations aren't equitably distributed throughout the city. (Denver Post)

Phoenix is considering a bike share program. (Arizona Republic)

MetroNorth is considering expanding service in the Bronx. (DNA Info)

Auto sales surged in September. (Detroit Free Press) But: General Motors has 240,810 trucks sitting on dealer lots nationwide -- and the truck market isn't exactly doing well. (Jalopnik)

The Weather Channel will be naming winter storms -- and one is named after a New York City subway line. Make sure you bundle up when the Q comes barreling through. (Weather Channel)

A NYC teen licked a subway handrail to win $1 (New York Post), prompting MTA chair Joe Lhota to tweet: "I'M WORRIED ABOUT AMERICAN YOUTH."

A Portuguese composer is creating a musical based entirely of the sounds of the city of Lisbon -- and its tram system.

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Top Stories on TN:
How D.C.’s Green Line Changed a Neighborhood from Blight to Big Box Stores (link)
Work in Progress: Photos from NYC’s 7 Line Extension (link)
Electric Car Advocates Hope for a Quiet Revolution on Central Florida Streets (link)
Florida’s Flirtation with High-Speed Rail Recounted in New Book (link)

DC food truck (photo by Danspix via flickr)

The hits just keep on coming for American Airlines: the FAA is inspecting the airline after loose seats were found on two of its flights in the last three days. (Wall Street Journal)

The federal government announced $121 million in funding to improve rail service between New Haven, CT and Springfield, Mass.  AP refers to it as "high-speed;" the DOT says it will "improve travel times." (AP via Boston.com; DOT)

And: Los Angeles got a $546 million loan from the federal government to build a new light rail line to the airport. (San Jose Mercury News)

Food trucks in DC will now begin charging sales tax. (WAMU)

Boston's transit ridership went up in August, despite big fare hikes. (WBUR)

At least 30 people were injured in an Amtrak crash in California. (AP via KPCC)

The death toll is rising for a ferry collision in Hong Kong. (Bloomberg News)

Online grocer Peapod is expanding its virtual supermarkets to 17 Chicago area transit stations. (Chicago Tribune)

Driving While Immigrant: the Washington metro area is filled with adults relearning to drive in DC's cul-de-sacs, one-way streets, and traffic circles. (Washington Post)

The White House expedited transit projects in Cleveland and Minneapolis. (Politico)

Eye-opening info nuggets about city bus fuel economy, including this one: in 2010, NYC buses got less than 3 mpg. (PlanItMetro)

Two transit visions are competing for primacy in one Baltimore neighborhood: build a new streetcar or expand the existing bus circulator. (Baltimore Sun)

Want to buy a 100+ year old train depot? There's one for sale in Minnesota for $200,000. (Duluth News Tribune)

The Guardian test-drives bike rain gear. "I couldn't resist introducing myself as Sherlock Holmes while wearing Cleverhood's eponymous cape."

Federal Transit Administration head Peter Rogoff is spreading the good news about transit. "We have leaders who get it. We have a President who will stand before a joint session of Congress and speak specifically about the needs for improved transit around the country." (FastLane)

Speed = stability: the physics behind why pedaling faster on a bike helps keep riders upright. (Washington Post)

Inexplicable photo of the day: a macaque monkey carrying a Mercedes hubcap. (Cute Overload)

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The future 34th Street Station of the #7 line extension (photo courtesy of MTA Capital Construction's Facebook page)

Even subway construction projects share on Facebook.

New York's MTA regularly posts updates on megaprojects on its Facebook page, and the update to the #7 line caught our eye.

The #7 train currently goes between Manhattan's Times Square and Flushing, Queens. As part of the redevelopment of Hudson Yards -- a stretch of land on Manhattan's far West Side -- the city has been working on extending the subway line southwest to 11th Avenue and 34th Street.

Earlier this year, MTA chairman Joe Lhota said item  number 1 on his wish list is extending the line even further south to 23rd Street and 11th Avenue. But here's what he said won't happen: extending it across the Hudson River to New Jersey -- something Mayor Bloomberg had put some money into studying last year.

Ventilation building for the 7 Line extension at "Site K" near the Javits Center (photo courtesy of MTA Capital Construction's Facebook page)

According to the MTA, the $2.4 billion project will open for service in June 2014 -- later than originally planned.

The 7 line extension's ventilation building at "Site L" at 41st Street and Dyer Avenue in Manhattan (photo courtesy of MTA Capital Construction's Facebook page)

You can watch a video about the project below.

Top stories on TN:
PATH Train Connecting NY – NJ Gets Fare Hike Tonight (link)
As Critical Mass Turns 20, Founders Reflect on Sprawling Bike Protests (link)
CHART: How Barclay’s Center Opening Caused Subway Surge (link)
Neighbors of Brooklyn’s Brand New Barclay’s Center Want Their Benefits (link)
Data from Only State that Tracks Dooring Show Its Big Problem (link)

 (photo by Kate Hinds)

California's governor signed a new law that will allow hundreds of thousands of young illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses. (Los Angeles Times)

To encourage biking, ditch the helmets. (New York Times)

Novelist Gary Shteyngart recounting a disastrous flight: " Some of us were worried for our safety, but your employees mostly shrugged as if to say, 'Ah, there goes that altimeter again.'" (New York Times)

The Port Authority of NY and NJ is in a race between revenue and repairs. (Asbury Park Press)

How power outages increase pollution from Gulf Coast refineries. (KUHF)

Apartment buildings in DC will have to provide secure, covered bike parking. (Washington Business Journal)

The current transit funding standoff between the city of Chicago and the surrounding suburbs is indicative of weightier turf wars to come as the city/suburbs divide re-emerges. (Daily Herald)

Car sales in austerity-hit France and Spain continue to fall -- and the rebound could be years away. (Reuters)

"What happens with the Tappan Zee Bridge -- particularly as it follows so closely on the heels of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s sudden decision to abandon the ARC Tunnel to Manhattan -- could be a bellwether of mega-project construction for years to come." (Next American City; subscription required)

The rise of license-plate tracking: a case study in how storing and studying people's everyday activities, even the seemingly mundane, has become the default rather than the exception. (Wall Street Journal)

The DOT redesigned its website.

 

Cupcake go-carts and MetroCard robots: on TN's tumblr page. 

Top stories on TN:
NY MTA Votes To Keep Taking Controversial Ads — With Disclaimer (link)
Dangerous Intersection Gets Local Revamp — but Albany Needs to Step Up, Says City DOT Chief (link)
Should We Trade Infrastructure for Debt? (link)
Some Air Travelers Are Actually Happy. Yes, You Read That Right (link)

DOT head Ray LaHood said a "new transportation era" will begin next week with the implementation of the recently passed $105 billion transportation bill. (The Hill)

Why does NYC still cling to the MetroCard? (Capital NY)

Meanwhile, next summer Chicago transit riders will be able to pay fares with their debit and credit cards. (Chicago Tribune)

Companies producing biofuels are turning to makeup and vitamins -- not fuel. (Bay Citizen)

Is the MBTA properly tracking fare revenues? The seven-year-old automated fare collection system used by Boston's transit system overstated fare box cash receipts by more than $101 million during a recent five-year period, says an audit. (WBUR)

MAP: where Americans use the most oil. (Atlantic Cities)

You know what hasn't been fun lately? Flying American Airlines during its labor troubles. (NPR)

Casting call: are you an actor living near the Second Avenue Subway construction? New York's MTA wants you. (DNA Info)

The protest over advertising policy wasn't the only spirited part of Thursday NY MTA meeting. Example: during a disagreement, MTA chairman Joe Lhota told a board member to "be a man."  Response? "Bring it on." (New York Times)

Now that the Washington Nationals have clinched a playoff berth, DC's Metro is canceling planned track work for two weekends in October and running the Metro after midnight. (Washington Post)

Competition for Zipcar: is short-term scooter rental the future of shared transportation? (FastCoExist)

Here come the self-driving cars! (On Point/WBUR)

VIDEO: go on, try crossing a street in Hanoi. But: locals say the motorcycle traffic is so slow that collisions are usually minor.

Four Self-Propelled Mobile Transporters (SPMTs) relocated the fully assembled 4.3 million pound, 394-foot-long, 67- foot-high truss bridge from its assembly site to its final position on the new bridge piers a few hundred feet away. (CDOT)

(image courtesy of Chicago DOT)

On Thursday's 30 Issues in 30 Days, the WNYC election series took a look at infrastructure.

Host Brian Lehrer notes that word did not come up in the convention speeches of either President Obama or Republican candidate Mitt Romney. Neither, for that matter, did transportation.

How times have changed. President Obama once talked so often about building roads and bridges we turned those mentions into an interactive chart.

Meanwhile, said one of the Brian Lehrer Show guests, it's not just that we have an infrastructure problem. "It's that we can't even deal with it how bad the problem is. "We are beyond denial of the crisis," said Infrastructure USA's Steven Anderson.

Listen to the conversation below.

Want to learn more about how infrastructure became a partisan issue? Go here.

 

Top stories on TN:
NYC Reining in Scofflaw Delivery Cyclists with Six Restaurant Inspectors (link)
This Election Season, Americans Pony Up for Public Transportation (link)
Beaver Family Out-Engineers Humans, Repeatedly Floods Road, Stays Cute (link)
Watch Amtrak’s 165 MPH Test Trains Whiz Past (link)

Chicago's Bloomingdale Trail (photo by Steven Vance via Flickr)

In the wake of an anti-Muslim ad campaign, New York's MTA will begin debating its ad policy at today's board meeting. (Wall Street Journal)

Half of the 16 traffic fatalities on the Garden State Parkway this year have involved men under the age of 30. (Star Ledger)

What should DC's Metro look like in 30 years? Passengers weigh in. (Washington Post)

Chicago is planning to turn an abandoned elevated rail line into a park. But the Bloomingdale Trail probably won't resemble New York's High Line. (WBEZ)

Greyhound's foray into long-distance bus service in the U.K. has ended, a year after it began. (Los Angeles Times)

New parks along the Bronx River are beautiful -- but you must navigate dangerous streets and crumbling sidewalks to get there. (DNA Info)

Louisville may add more highways, which puzzles the New York Times architecture critic -- who says the city needs more transit. "I can only say that 40 years after the interstates supposedly started pumping life into Louisville’s downtown, the streets here looked pretty empty, especially at night." (New York Times)

Driving rates and car ownership are plateauing in the developing world. (Economist via GGW)

Grand Central Terminal is restoring its "kissing room." (Wall Street Journal)

Hawaii received an FAA grant to develop commercial space transportation. (Pacific Business News)

One-third of the NYC DOT bike inspection team: Demel Gaillard (L) and Ronald Amaya. (photo by Kate Hinds)

(New York, NY - WNYC) When it comes enforcement of cycling laws, New York City is willing to employ the stick. But first, the city wants businesses -- and their delivery men -- to eat carrots, at least until January.

On a recent afternoon, Department of Transportation inspector Demel Gaillard paid a visit to Haru, a Japanese restaurant on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The manager, Jamyang Singye, greeted him at the door.

"How can I help you guys?" Singye asked. "We’re just here to see if you guys have your posters posted," said Gaillard. "Outlining the commercial bicyclists law?"

Gaillard is one of six DOT inspectors, and his job is to make sure business owners know the commercial cycling rules and are communicating them to their employees. Singye brings him downstairs to the kitchen, where the rules are displayed on one of many text-heavy postings. "I’d be happy to give you a new poster," says Gaillard, offering up the newer, full-color edition.

"Do you also have it Chinese?" asks Singye. In fact the poster comes in seven languages -- a necessity in a polyglot city where bicycle food delivery men often hail from abroad. Haru, which has a Japanese sushi chef, Chinese delivery staff, and a manager from Nepal, is no exception.

Jamyang Singye, Haru's manager (photo by Kate Hinds)

"That would be great," says Singye.

What's not great is the public's perception of bike delivery guys. Speaking at a hearing earlier this month, New York City Council member Jimmy Vacca said the city's rogue cyclist problem is "tremendous."

"There’s not a day that goes by that I’m not in Manhattan where I don’t see a commercial cyclist on the sidewalk, going the wrong way on a one-way street," he said. "This is a constant occurrence.”

Delivery bikes parked on Amsterdam Avenue (photo by Kate Hinds)

DOT commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan hears these complaints all the time. Her inspectors can't enforce moving violations -- that's the domain of the police. In July, Sadik-Khan explained what her department can enforce.

"Our emphasis here is making sure that everybody knows you need to wear a helmet," she said, ticking off the requirements. "You need to wear a vest, you need to have bells and lights and have a bike that's in working condition and follow the rules of the road."

Commercial bicyclists also need reflective devices on their bikes or tires, and a numbered business ID card. Business owners must provide this equipment for their employees.

From the DOT's "commercial bicyclist safety" poster

Since July, the DOT has visited over 2,100 businesses to tell managers like Singye what he needs to do to follow the law and, as Inspector Ronald Amaya explained, what will happen if he doesn't.

"In January 2013," Amaya said, "if you’re not in compliance with all the rules and regulations – like your delivery men not having their vests, their helmet, ID cards, and the poster’s not up in your establishment, we will be issuing a fine, anywhere from $100 to $250."

Here's the important distinction with enforcement: if a DOT inspector sees a delivery guy riding without a vest, the inspector will issue a ticket to the business. If a police officer sees a delivery guy breaking a traffic law by, say, riding on the sidewalk, the officer will ticket the bicyclist. Brian McCarthy, a deputy chief for the NYPD, told TN the department has expanded enforcement and so far this year has issued 8,959 commercial bicycle summonses. That's about 25 percent of all bike tickets.

Meeting notice on door of St. Agnes Library (photo by Kate Hinds)

The DOT is holding public forums to hammer this point home. At a recent meeting on the Upper West Side, DOT staffers handed out posters, bells, and even samples of reflective vests to over a hundred managers and delivery workers. Department educator Kim Wiley-Schwartz explained details of the coming crackdown to a standing-room-only crowd of managers and bike delivery workers. She spoke about the need to wear helmets and vests and carry ID. Then she did a little consciousness-raising about the need to follow the rules of the road -- and yield to pedestrians.

NYC DOT staffer Kim Wiley-Schwartz, explaining commercial cycling rules

"You do not have the right of way. I don’t want a ‘ding ding ding ding’ as people are crossing the crosswalk when they have the light," she said, imitating the sound of a frustrated bicyclist leaning on his bell. "They have the right of way."

After the meeting, a lot of workers said the rules made sense. But Lawrence Toole, who works at a restaurant in the theater district, said he felt a little picked on.

"These are small businesses, and what they’re doing is they’re hiring people that need jobs," he said."It’s bad enough that there are no jobs out there. Now you’re going to penalize the people that are giving the jobs to people."

But a few seconds later, he reached acceptance. "But we got to follow the law all the same."

City Council woman Gale Brewer, who represents the Upper West Side, says there needs to be a culture change -- and it won't come easily.

"It is a very challenging job to convince the delivery people and their managers -- the managers change often, the delivery people change often," she said. There needs to be "constant education that safety comes before a customer who wants their food right now."

Starting in January, businesses that don't follow the rules could pay the price.

Top stories on TN:
Bus to Stoplight, “Obey!” NYC Gets Traffic Signal Priority (link)
NYC Aims to Stop Bike “Dooring” by Targeting Taxis (link)
Feds Gives Final OK to Tappan Zee Bridge Replacement (link)
Where The (Potential) Voters Are: Subway Edition (link)
“From the Draconian to the Inane:” Uber Taxi App vs D.C. Regulators (link)

California Governor Jerry Brown, escorted to a bill signing in a driverless car (image courtesy of NBCLA's facebook page)

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that would allow self-driving cars on California's roads. “We are looking at science fiction becoming reality in a self-driving car,” he said. (Los Angeles Times)

Politics -- and money -- is holding up implementation of the FAA's new-age satellite navigation system known as NextGen. (Politico)

Security experts discovered a flaw that could allow "technologically skilled transit riders" to use cell phones to restore value on certain MUNI paper farecards. (San Francisco Chronicle)

A battle is brewing over California's coastal infrastructure -- a state agency wants sewage plants and other facilities relocated further inland, but towns say it's too expensive. (Wall Street Journal)

Commuters in Belfast are complaining that the addition of bus lanes has made congestion worse. (UTV)
But: a transport minister says people need to adjust to the "settling-in period." (BBC)

New York Senator Charles Schumer wants the U.S. Department of Transportation to investigate truck drivers crashing into low bridges while relying on GPS devices. (The Hill)

A newly completed audit says Atlanta's MARTA is spending $50 million above the national average for employee benefits -- and should privatize some functions. (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

American Airlines says it's cancelling hundreds of flights because of labor problems. (New York Times)

The opening of Brooklyn's Barclays Center has triggered a new round of calls from local residents for residential parking permits. (New York Daily News)

New Jersey is going after toll evaders, and it's paying off. (The Record)

Ahead of this weekend's Carmageddon II, Los Angelenos fear traffic jams...in the sky, where helicopters will crowd around filming footage of the highway work. (NPR)

NY MTA chief Joe Lhota tweets about the coming pork apocalypse: "stock up on bacon."

They mapped that: 5 million London bike share trips, rendered as hypnotic blue lines. (Guardian; video from New Scientist)

Want to see a 'no parking' sign from Greenland? Check out our Tumblr page.

Registering to vote in New York's Union Square subway station (photo by Andrea Bernstein)

Looking to register more voters in New York City? Take out your MetroCard.

That's what a coalition of nonprofits did on Tuesday as part of National Voter Registration Day. The groups set up tables in subway stations across the city. "Times Square has always been the site with the most new registrants," said NVRD New York State coordinator Kristina Andreotta in a statement, "and we don’t expect anything less from Tuesday."

Fun fact: according to MTA statistics, the average weekday ridership at the city's five busiest subway stations (Times Square, Grand Central Terminal, Herald Square, 34th Street/Penn Station and Union Square) totals about 653,000 people. That's more than the populations of either Wyoming or Vermont, but the NYC subway doesn't get a Congressional district.

(photo by Andrea Bernstein)

(photo by duluoz cats via flickr)

The federal government has given its final approval to New York State's plans to replace the Tappan Zee Bridge. It's the final regulatory hurdle the $5 billion project had to cross before the state could award a contract and begin construction.

In a conference call with reporters Tuesday morning, Governor Andrew Cuomo was elated by the Department of Transportation's decision, which is the result of a year-long sprint by his administration to fast-track plans to replace the 56-year old bridge linking Westchester and Rockland Counties.

"From my point of view, that was the most difficult step all along here," Cuomo said. "Building the bridge is actually the easy part. Relative to the environmental review, it's a straightforward task. "

The environmental review is a 10,000 page document laying out the environmental impact the project will have on the surrounding Hudson River area -- and demonstrates how the state will conform to federal law.

"It doesn't build the bridge -- we still have to pick a contractor, we still have to work out the financing," said the governor, "but the environmental review is basically completed."

The state is currently reviewing bids from three contractors. Once a team is picked, which is expected to be later this year, it will be constructing the bridge under New York's new design-build legislation. Last week, the governor named a design team to help review the bids and provide aesthetic guidance.

But one big question has yet to be answered: how the state will pay for the new bridge. New York is in the process of requesting a low-interest loan from the federal government, and Cuomo has said that the basic source of financing will come from tolls. But the state has yet to release a comprehensive finance plan.

Still, the governor said, the hardest step was in the rear-view mirror. "I'm going to exhale today," he said.

 

Top stories on TN:
Anti-Jihad Ads Posted in NYC Subway Stations (link)
Amtrak to Test New Top Speed of 165 m.p.h (link)
How Infrastructure Politics Turned Partisan: Looking Back on Four Years (link)

The newest MTA subway connection transfer point - the Bleecker Street - Broadway Lafayette Station (image courtesy of Joe Lhota via twitter)

The trickiest part of flying? The runways, where safety efforts are lagging. (New York Times)

The Port Authority's bond rating was downgraded, primarily because of the World Trade Center reconstruction. (Wall Street Journal)
Meanwhile, two U.S. Senators called some Port Authority agency officials "obstructionist" in a letter. (The Record)

The head of MARTA was tapped to lead Boston's transit system. (Boston Globe)

Starting today, New Yorkers can now transfer between the uptown #6 subway at Bleecker and the Broadway-Lafayette B, D, M, and F lines. (DNA Info)

Your speed limit may vary: speed limits on parts of one Georgia highway will change depending on road and traffic conditions. (WABE)

It didn't take long for people to begin re-imagining the anti-jihad ads in the New York City subways. (MondoWeiss)

Text size and type font used in dashboard displays may be overlooked culprits in distracted driving. (USA Today)

Electric car company Tesla is unveiling a new network of superchargers — refueling stations that can top off the batteries in its cars in under an hour. (NPR)

The FAA approved American Airline's request to let its pilots use iPads as an “electronic flight bag." Weight savings: 35 pounds of paper. (Dallas Morning News)

Legislation legalizing Google's autonomous car technology has passed California's senate and assembly and is now awaiting action by Governor Jerry Brown. (The Bay Citizen)

Chrysler is temporarily halting work on a test fleet of plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles after several of the advanced batteries in its pickups overheated. (Detroit Free Press)

The 'affect heuristic': why people make judgements with emotion instead of logic -- and how this applies to drivers who hate bicyclists. (Slate)

On today's Leonard Lopate Show: the history of trains in America. (WNYC)

Mitt Romney, speaking at a fundraiser, wondered why airplane windows don't open. "I don’t know why they don’t do that. It’s a real problem." (Los Angeles Times)

Top stories on TN:
How Infrastructure Politics Turned Partisan: Looking Back on Four Years (link)
Central Florida Mulls Region-Wide Bike Share (link)

Crowded L train platform at 1:30 on a Saturday night (Sunday morning)

New York Daily News column praising the city's subways: "The trains have never been more reliable, traveling hundreds of thousands of miles between mechanical breakdowns. The air conditioning works, and the announcements are clearer than they have ever been."

Reaction to said column, from MTA head Joe Lhota: "Someone please pick me up off the platform."

More good news: starting tomorrow, New York's long national nightmare of being unable to transfer between the uptown 6 train and the B, D and F line at Broadway-Lafayette is finally over. (New York Times, New York Daily News)

Reagan National Airport is strained by rising passenger numbers. (Washington Post)

New Jersey's motor vehicles department is launching a driver's ed program for elderly drivers. (Star Ledger)

Duluth's "Share the Road" campaign is turning its attention to pedestrian safety -- and crosswalk "ambassadors." (Duluth News Tribune)

Los Angelenos brace for Carmageddon, part deux. This time it's personal. (USA Today)

General Motors plans to accelerate the replacement of steel with aluminum after researchers achieved what the company described as a "breakthrough" in welding technology. (Detroit Free Press)

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