Andrea Bernstein

(David Shultz, WAMU) DC Metro will meet its funding deadline this evening. Metro needed to finalize a funding agreement between DC, Maryland. and Viginia. by the end of the day or it would default on a billion dollar contract for new rail cars. Thelma Drake, the director of Virginia's Department of Rail and Public Transit, tells WAMU she will sign off on the agreement later tonight - meeting the deadline by just a few hours. For more than a month, Virginia Governor McDonnell had refused to approve Metro's funding agreement.

(Charlie Herman, WNYC)  Auto sales increased solidly in June from a year ago when the economy was mired in a deep recession, but fell from the previous month as worries about the economy led to car buyers to put the brakes on purchasing a new car.

Total sales increased by more than 14 percent compared to a year ago but fell nearly 11 percent from May to June.  At the current sales rate, more than 11 million cars will be sold in 2010.  A year ago, the sales rate was 9.7 million.  Sales declined in part because automakers offered few incentives to buyers.  Incentives were down over 1 percent from May to June.  With few automakers offering deals going into the July 4 holiday weekend, analysts believe sales could be off to a slow start in July as consumers continue to worry about the economy and their own finances.

(Todd Zwillich, Transportation Nation, Washington, DC) Transit systems across the country would have to abide by a common set of safety standards under a bill that cleared a Senate panel this week.

The bill forces public transit systems receiving federal money to adopt new minimum safety standards created at the Department of Transportation. The agency could conduct ad-hoc safety reviews, and it also gets new powers to conduct safety investigations and issue subpoenas after transit accidents.

The bill was approved by the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee earlier this week. It was largely motivated by the last year’s Metro crash in Washington, DC that killed 9 people.

It’s one of several transit safety bills circulating in Congress now. Another beefs up funding and clout at the National Transportation Safety Board.

Meanwhile, the Homeland Security Department is trying to give rail safety a boost. DHS Sec.Janet Napolitano was in New York’s Penn Thursday morning launching a new safety campaign for Amtrak.The campaign is based on the “See Something, Say Something” message familiar to New York City subway riders.

(David Schultz, WAMU)  The Administration of Virginia Governor Robert F. McDonnell  has threatened to withhold funding from Metro's budget if they don't get more authority over the transit agency's operations. This is a big problem for Metro, because it just signed a multi-billion dollar contract with Kawasaki to purchase new, badly-needed rail cars. If Metro's regional funding agreement is not in place by the contract's deadline, the transit agency could default.

That deadline is tomorrow. Metro needs to have its funding agreement in place with Virginia on board and with the FTA's approval by today so it can tell Kawasaki to move forward with the cars by close-of-business tomorrow.

This morning, in a hastily-called emergency meeting, Metro's Board of Directors approved a final version of the funding agreement after reaching an 11th hour compromise with Virginia.

But...

(Azi Paybarah, WNYC) As if Toyota needs more bad publicity.

A ring of car thieves who stole vehicles from the tri-state area and shipped them to Senegal was able to get into the automobiles using keys obtained from Toyota car dealers, authorities said.

Seventeen people in the ring -- including two employees of car dealerships -- which stole about 500 cars were arrested early this morning. That's according to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is running for Governor.

Here’s how it worked, he said:  The thieves would get an “order” for a particular kind of car “down to the accessory package.”

(Andrea Bernstein, Transportation Nation) Senator John Kerry's spokeswoman, Whitney Smith, emails the following in response to our query about including transportation emissions caps in the new senate energy and climate bill:

"Majority Leader Reid will bring a final comprehensive energy and climate package to the floor this July, but the final details of what will be included in that package have not been determined.

Politico is reporting that Democrats have agreed "to scale back their ambitious plans to cap greenhouse gases across multiple sectors of the economy," but says President Obama is holding firm on setting a "price for greenhouse gases."   In a Q&A with reporters,  Senator John Kerry (D-Mass)  didn't specify whether  setting caps in the transportation sector would remain part of the bill.   More soon.    (And don't forget to read Todd Zwillich's full post on the behind-the-scenes maneuvering.)

From NYCtheblog:

Photo: NYCTheBlog

(Andrea Bernstein, Transportation Nation) Governors Island lies in New York harbor a short ferry ride from Brooklyn and Manhattan, within spitting distance of the Statue of Liberty. It's one of the jewels in the crown of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's New York, a shared public space accessible only by (free) boat, one you can get around only on foot, bike, or tram. A space filled with public art, free hammocks, and award-winning street vendor food.

But yesterday, thanks to the Prince of England, that vision of a plebian park paradise collided with, well, royalty.

(Matthew Schuerman, WNYC) Tens of thousands of New Yorkers faced longer and more inconvenient commutes this morning as a result of the MTA’s bus and service cuts. They were most poignantly felt, however, by immigrants who had no idea that the changes were coming because they don’t speak or read English well or at all. (More here)

WNYC reporter and director of the Transportation Nation blog Andrea Bernstein checks in on how service cuts are impacting riders and commuters. WNYC's Matthew Schuerman calls-in after talking with commuters.

How was your commute this morning?  Post your comments here!

(Matthew Schuerman, WNYC)  : Beginning Sunday, 38 bus routes will be cut entirely, while another 76 will run shorter routes or shorter hours. Off-peak subway service will be reduced on 11 subway lines starting Sunday, while two others will be eliminated as of Monday. Along with reductions on commuter railroads, the cuts are expected to save the MTA $93 million annually. The MTA is facing a $750 million budget deficit this year. 

The majority of bus routes will remain the same, however, and every subway station will continue be served, though some of them less frequently.

On air, we've used a somewhat vaguer number.  Our count here includes express buses and routes in the MTA Bus Company. Also, we consider a route eliminated when its number is retired, even if service is improved on a neighboring route to pick up some passengers.

MTA TRIP PLANNER WEBSITE is here.

NEW YORK CITY TRANSIT INFORMATION LINE: (6 am- 10 pm) 718-330-1234.  Ask for "customer service" when you get a prompt.

(Andrea Bernstein, Transportation Nation) There's not a transit system in the nation that isn't under water. MARTA in Atlanta is looking a cutting a quarter of its service. The board of the Caltrain, through Silicon Valley, is reserving the option of ceasing to exist entirely. But why is the NYC MTA, the nation's marqee transit system, facing an $800 million budget gap?

Andrea Bernstein, WNYC reporter and director of the Transportation Nation blog, talks about the service cuts and helps us say goodbye to the discontinued bus and subway lines. Also, Richard Yeh, WNYC reporter, talks about what the bus cuts mean for commuters in eastern Queens.

Are you losing bus or subway service? Post your transit eulogies here!

New York, NY —

It's 6:30 in the morning, and most New Yorkers are still in their pajamas. But it's a party on the B51 bus in downtown Brooklyn. I take a seat. Someone else's it seems.

"Miss, I don’t mean to be rude," a rider named Della tells me, ...

(Andrea Bernstein, Transportation Nation) Facing system-wide cuts in mass transit this weekend, WNYC has learned New York City is looking to vastly expand it private commuter van network. So-called dollar vans, which actually cost $2.00, operate throughout the city, picking up passengers who flag them down and dropping them off along specified routes. The vans, which are privately operated, are regulated by the city Taxi and Limosine commission, or TLC. According to those with direct knowledge of the situation, the TLC has been quietly meeting with dollar van operators to expand their routes to pick up much of the slack left by bus line cuts. Those cuts go into effect on Sunday, though the expansion of dollar van routes isn’t expected to take place that quickly.

(Andrea Bernstein, Transportation Nation)  Since New York began experimenting with select  bus service, there's  been one giant obstacle:  New Yorkers tend to view painted bus lanes (and bike lanes for that matter), as optional.  The city's been stymied in its efforts to suggest otherwise by lack of authority to install cameras which could help police the lane.  But now a few simple words in a legislative deal reached today: "establishes a bus rapid transit demonstration program to restrict the use of bus lanes by means of bus lane photo devices (Part II)" could change on that.  The language still needs a vote, but if passed, the city can begin installing cameras which give the terra cotta lanes some, er, teeth.

(Andrea Bernstein, Transportation Nation)  President Barack Obama travels to Columbus , Ohio today to cut the ribbon on the 10,000th Recovery Act highway project.   The move, clearly timed to emit some good news in the cloud of BP spill-related bad news, was heralded Thursday in a conference call by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Vice President Biden's Chief Economist, Jared Bernstein.

LaHood said the news could be even better.  "The problem is getting the governors to enter into contracts through their Departments of Transportation to get these contracts awarded so people can be hired."

(Matthew Schuerman, WNYC). School systems have been under pressure around the nation to cut transportation costs. Minneapolis plans to cut bus service for students who elect not to go to their district schools. Douglas County, Colorado, will start charging school kids to ride the yellow bus. But some 300,000 New York school kids will get to keep their free Metrocards to ride the bus or subway to get to school, under a tentative deal worked out in Albany.

Sources in Albany tell WNYC that New York Governor David Paterson will submit a transportation budget bill tomorrow that would give the Metropolitan Transportation Authority 25 million dollars to save the program. That's not as much as the MTA has wanted. But the bill would include other provisions that the MTA had sought, such as an increase in the debt limit for its capital program.

(Marianne McCune, WNYC) Painting on the protected Second Avenue bike lane got underway overnight.   The lane, which will go north to 34th Street, is part of the city DOT's plan to extend its bike lane network -- though more slowly than promised.

The photo is of the block between 5th and 6th street.