Kate Hinds

Forced to trim $637 million from its budget, the FAA is closing 149 air traffic control facilities around the country.

The closures will start taking place early next month and will take four weeks to complete.

Air traffic controllers say this means more work for the pilots -- and could lead to delays. "When there’s no controller in the tower, it then becomes a one-in, one-out operation," said Sarah Dunn, a spokesperson for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, meaning pilots, not controllers, will be coordinating air traffic at these airports.  "All the pilots are on the same frequency checking to see who’s landing, who’s coming in and out."

But the FAA says the closures won't affect safety. “We will work with the airports and the operators to ensure the procedures are in place to maintain the high level of safety at non-towered airports,” said FAA Administrator Michael Huerta in a statement.

See the list of towers below.

FAA Contract Tower Closure List

Top stories on TN:
After Poisoning And Whacking Doesn’t Work, NYC Transit Tries Birth Control On Rats (link)
Judge Rules No ID Required to Ride NYC Subway (link)
Money Talking Asks, Is Energy Independence A Reality? (link)
NY School Bus Workers Face Major Pay Cut (link)

An old air traffic control tower at LaGuardia Airport.

The FAA is closing 149 airport control towers due to sequestration budget cuts. (FAA; list here)

Meanwhile, the agency is also considering allowing passengers to put their electronic devices into 'airplane mode' rather than having to shut them off. (Venture Beat)

Britain's state-owned East Coast rail route is to be put back into private hands. (Telegraph)

The Indian unit of Ford Motor Co. has apologized for advertisements decried as demeaning to women, including one depicting Italy's former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi with a trio of bound women in the trunk of a car. (AP via Detroit Free Press)

Is the founder of Zappos just what downtown Las Vegas needs? (Guardian)

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Montana's legislature voted to become one of a handful of states in the U.S. to allow drivers to collect roadkill for meat or fur. (Marketplace; interactive map here)

Only 111 or so stations in New York City's 468-station system have cameras focused on public areas. (New York Daily News)

How Google's Street View has changed behavior: some people use it to eliminate uncertainty. (BBC)

A Houston Union Pacific conductor was fired for stealing train horns and selling them on eBay. (KHOU)

How to crowdsource traffic reporting in Ghana. (Phys Org)

How much do we really "need" fossil fuels? “It’s absolutely not true that we need natural gas, coal or oil — we think it’s a myth,” says one engineer. (New York Times)

From Downton Abbey to the F train: cousin Matthew loves New York's subway. (Gothamist)

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How tennis player Serena Williams beat car traffic to get to a game: "It was probably one of my best memories I think ever, riding a bike to a match. That’s pretty cool.” (AP via Washington Post)

Fine dining on the International Space Station: how to make a honey-peanut butter tortilla. Why a tortilla? Because the crumbs from bread would get everywhere. (h/t Village Voice)

The lawyer appealing a lawsuit to remove the Prospect Park West bike lane has held a fundraiser and donated the maximum allowable amount to Bill de Blasio's campaign for New York City mayor -- but a de Blasio campaign spokesman says the candidate for Mayor, if elected, won't remove the lane.

James Walden's name shows up on a list of fundraisers released by the de Blasio campaign "to demonstrate Bill de Blasio's personal commitment to transparency."

Screen shot of Bill de Blasio's website, listing Jim Walden as host or co-host of a fundraising event.

Brooklyn resident Jim Walden, the attorney for Neighbors for Better Bike Lanes, held a January 10 fundraiser for de Blasio. New York City campaign finance rules state the limit for a contribution to a mayoral campaign is $4,950, and Jim Walden has given the maximum allowable contribution to Bill de Blasio's campaign.

Neither the de Blasio campaign nor Walden would comment on the reasons for his support, though Dan Levitan, a de Blasio spokesman, says "Walden has been a long time supporter of Bill's," dating back to de Blasio's days as a city council member.  Levitan says the Public Advocate,  if elected Mayor, won't remove that bike lane.

Walden has also given $1,000 to mayoral candidate William Thompson.

Former Giuliani Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro, Walden's law partner, has also given $2000 to De Blasio and $3000 to Thompson.

De Blasio spokesman Dan Levitan said the campaign doesn't comment on individual donors, and pointed out the candidate has already issued a statement expressing support for bike lanes.

"The need for safer streets for bikers, walkers, and drivers is one I feel in my core,” de Blasio said in his statement last month. “For that reason, I fully support bike lanes and I want to see them continue to expand around the city. They are clearly making many NYC streets safer. But I think we need to take an approach different from the Mayor’s. While more and more communities and riders want bike lanes, the City still hasn’t come around to proactively engaging those who are concerned by them.

But more to the point: Levitan said de Blasio "has no plans to revisit the Prospect Park west bike lane.”

So under a de Blasio mayoralty, a de Blasio-appointed DOT commissioner won't rethink, rework, re-pave the bike lane?

"No."

Jim Walden did not return several phone calls.

The lawsuit against the Prospect Park West bike lane -- dismissed by a Kings County Supreme Court Justice in August 2011 -- is currently under appeal.

Top stories on TN:
NY-NJ Port Authority Might Gobble Up Atlantic City International Airport (link)
Montana Lawmakers Consider Exempting Megaloads from Extra Environmental Review (link)
Maryland’s Future Transit Hub “Severely Compromised” by Construction Errors (link)

Snow on the NJ Turnpike (photo by johnmyleswhite via flickr)

It was the second costliest winter on record for the NJ Department of Transportation. (Star Ledger)

Two names being mentioned as possible successors to Ray LaHood: Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx and NTSB chair Deborah Hersman. Also under consideration: candidates already at the DOT. (Bloomberg)

New York Penn Station is a "shabby, hopelessly confusing entry point to New York, a daily public shame on the city" -- but the city has the opportunity to fix it. (New York Times; critic)

But all this hating on Penn Station has now put Second Avenue Sagas in the unlikely position of almost feeling sorry for it. Almost. (Link)

Automotive "black boxes" are now built into more than 90 percent of new cars, and the government is considering making them mandatory. Next up: privacy concerns. (NPR)

Orlando International Airport officials are backing away from building a new southern terminal, but they still want a $470 million monorail and parking garage for a train depot — despite opposition from the major airlines. (Orlando Sentinel)

The TSA says it's not uncommon to conceal swords inside walking canes. Surprise! (Washington Post)

Meanwhile, the TSA recently experimented with a controversial piece of technology that allowed agents to tap into the signal for passengers' Bluetooth devices and track their moves while walking through an airport. (WSBTV)

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A new poll now says less than half of all Californians support the state's high speed rail project. (Los Angeles Times)

The bill to permit a referendum on mass transit expansion in central Indiana cleared another Statehouse hurdle, but it continues to get pounded by critics. (RTV6)

After hundreds of merchants and residents gathered this week to blast a proposal to remove parking spaces along Polk Street in favor of bike lanes, the head of San Francisco’s transit agency agreed to go back to the drawing board. Said one local: “bike safety is great; pedestrian safety is great. But we can’t do it at the expense of our outstanding individual merchant corridor that we have.” (SF Examiner)

How one Bay Area traffic reporter does it: “It’s kind of like looking at a big ant farm." (KQED)

Truck drivers: make sure your navigation system warns about low bridge overpasses. In New York State alone, "trucks and buses struck bridges 255 times last year." (FastLane)

Your time-lapse film of the day: 24 hours in the life of NYC.

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Top stories on TN:
Following Public Pressure, Metro Will Add More Bus Service to DC’s Busiest Corridor (link)
Infrastructure report card says $3.6 trillion needed by 2020 (link)
Your Bike Goes Here: BART Welcoming Bikes on Trains All Week (link)

A MARTA station (photo by Chris Yunker via flickr)

So many Bay Area drivers are using the year-old pay lanes that revenue is already 50% above projections. (Mercury News)

Total U.S. energy usage has dropped 5% in the last five years. (New York Times)

A Second Avenue subway construction worker who was trapped in mud for several hours was rescued. (DNA Info)

A bill to partially privatize MARTA appears to have stalled in the Georgia senate. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Tea party activists are organizing the first formal opposition to expanded mass transit in Central Indiana, and they’re willing to spend cash to defeat a proposed referendum on the issue. (IndyStar)

Denver's auto-pedestrian crashes are up 46% for the first eight weeks of 2013 over the previous two years -- and hit-and-runs are up as well. (Denver Post)

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Bike share stations are going up right now in Salt Lake City. (ABC4)

The Chicago Tribune read the 1,000 page contract between the Chicago Transit Authority and Ventra for a new fare payment system -- and found a "long list of convenience fees and other unexpected charges." (link)

The majority of Connecticut voters support the return of tolls on state highways — under certain conditions — according to the latest poll from Quinnipiac University. (Mobilizing the Region)

Volkswagen says it will recall 384,181 vehicles in China to replace a part of their gearboxes, its largest recall in the country to date. (BBC)

To file under 'What could possibly go wrong?': A North Carolina legislator, tired of getting stuck behind slow-poke school buses on high-speed highways, is pushing legislation to let school bus drivers go faster. (NewsObserver)

Detroit Electric will debut an all-new, all-electric sports car next month, with plans to expand the brand over the next two years. (Autopia)

Subway of doom: the Air Force is considering constructing a network of underground subway tunnels to shuttle around its aging nuclear missiles. (Wired)

Why Berlin's transit system rocks. (The Source)

Time-lapse video of the day: how to build a really big ship in 76 seconds. (h/t Laughing Squid)

Building the World's Largest Ship (in 76 seconds) from Maersk Line on Vimeo.

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Top stories on TN:
Traffic Fatalities Up in NYC, Speeding Top Culprit, DOT Says (link)
Obama Wants $2 Billion in Oil Money for Advanced Vehicle Research (link)
Florida Allows Texting While Driving, Local Dad Fights to Change That (link)

LIRR crews working to re-rail a derailed train in Rego Park, Queens. (Photo: Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Patrick Cashin)

Big changes ahead for SEPTA: first, fares go up; then smart cards replace tokens and gates go up. (Philadelphia Inquirer)

As red-light traffic cameras multiply, so does unhappiness with the companies that operate them. (USA Today)

Meanwhile, D.C. issued 91,550 red-light camera tickets -- a record number -- in its last fiscal year. (Washington Post)

The California High-Speed Rail Authority okayed the sale of $8.6 billion in bonds, despite questions about legality. (Sacramento Bee)

A legislative budget panel approved New Jersey Governor Chris Christie's plan to refinance up to $1.1 billion in state transportation debt, a move Democrats said marks a stark reversal on borrowing policy by the Republican governor. (The Record)

The nation’s infrastructure is crumbling a little bit less: the U.S. earned a D+ grade in the latest ASCE report card. That's up from a D in 2009. (New York Times)

A train derailment caused widespread disruptions on the Long Island Rail Road ahead of Tuesday morning's rush-hour commute. (DNA Info)

Have a suggestion for Moving Stories? Tweet it to us @TransportNation.

At least 37 people were killed in a horrific bus accident in India. “We cannot say whether the driver was drunk or not. Initial probe suggests that he lost his control and the bus fell down in the river.” (The Hindu)

It's spring break, revelers -- so the TSA is reminding travelers that key lime pies could receive extra attention. (Washington Post)

Japanese subway stations, with their multi-level designs and dozens of staircases/escalators, are reminiscent of dungeons in role-playing games. (Kotaku)

An increase in air travel is boosting the luggage industry. (Marketplace)

A Queens student who had an incredibly long post-Sandy commute to high school has moved closer to Bronx Science. (New York Post)

U.K. towns that take action "against the scourge of unnecessary traffic signs" will be rewarded. (Gov.UK)

A Canadian train enthusiast built a train car in his basement. It took four years. But you can watch him build it in 26 seconds, below. (Make)

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Top stories on TN:
Florida Allows Texting While Driving, Local Dad Fights to Change That (link)
DC Metro Wants Smarter Fare Card, Including FarePhones (link)
Montana Considers Legal Limit for Marijuana In DUI Laws (link)
Freakonomics Radio: Parking Is Hell (link)

(Photo CC by Flickr user Stephen Rees)

President Obama wants to divert $2 billion in revenue from federal oil and gas royalties over the next decade to pay for research on advanced vehicles. “The only way to really break this cycle of spiking gas prices, the only way to break that cycle for good, is to shift our cars entirely — our cars and trucks — off oil.” (New York Times)

Fayette County officials want no part of a mass transit plan for the Atlanta region. (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

Since New York's MTA killed the flashing blue lights on its Select Bus Service, there have been longer boarding lines and slower buses. (Capital NY)

A proposed high-speed rail link between Las Vegas and the Los Angeles exurbs is beset by political minefields. (Las Vegas Sun)

Ferry service between Oakland and South San Francisco - launched just nine months ago at a cost to taxpayers of more than $42 million - is only carrying a third of projected riders. (SF Chronicle)

Forbes columnist: now is the time to buy stock in railroad companies. (Link)

A New Jersey State Assembly committee voted to extend its subpoena power over the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. (The Record)

Want to attract development to your city? Don't require parking minimums, because they're "an automatic turn-off." (New Haven Independent)

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San Francisco will roll out a $7 million bike share pilot program this August. (SF Chronicle)

Not only is Chrysler recalling the 2013 Dodge Challenger, the company is telling owners of the V-6 model to not even drive the car. (Detroit Free Press)

Hours before the Los Angeles Marathon happened, the Wolfpack Hustle -- the largest urban-underground bike race in the world -- took place. (Los Angeles Times)

Column: the Chicago Transit Authority soon will launch a new fare-payment system that affects almost every CTA and Pace rider, although transit officials have yet to fully explain how it will work. (Chicago Tribune)

A NYC artist/cabby secretly recorded passenger conversations and turned the highlights into an audio collage. (New York Times)

A Greyhound bus from New York to Atlantic City turned out to be infested with roaches. (CNN)

Not enough for you? 26 mostly depressing -- but occasionally awesome -- things you could see on public transit. (Buzzfeed)

Hey, 'Breaking Bad' fans: Jesse Pinkman's red Toyota Tercel wagon is for sale. (Jalopnik)

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Top stories on TN:
U.N.: Over 1 Million Die In Traffic Crashes Each Year – and Many Are in Poor Countries (link)
DC Metro Says Fare Increase & Loss of Tax Benefit Caused 2012 Ridership Dip (link)
Object Lesson: How Sequestration Could Affect Small Airports (link)

During Sandy a small section of the Atlantic City boardwalk collapsed. (Scott Gurian/WNYC)

The lawyer who handled Chrysler's restructuring has been appointed the emergency financial manager for Detroit. (Free Press)

Rebuild or retreat: while Governor Christie is giving New Jersey coastal homeowners cash to stay put and rebuild, Governor Cuomo is giving New Yorkers generous incentives to walk away. (The Record)

Ship happens: another Carnival cruise vessel is experiencing problems. (NPR)

NJ Transit is getting $144.4 million in disaster relief aid. (Star-Ledger)

Pope transit update: photo of the now Pope Francis on a bus full of cardinals on the same day as his election. (Actualidad y Analisis)

First King Richard, now the plague graves: Archeologists have discovered a lost burial ground during excavations for a massive new rail project in London which might hold the bodies of some 50,000 people who were killed by the "Black Death" plague more than 650 years ago. (Reuters)

The fate of a proposal to build a high-speed rail line connecting Dallas-Fort Worth to Houston may rest on whether North Texas leaders can agree on where to put a station. (Star-Telegram)

Denver's bike share program is expanding. (Denver Business Journal)

Why Phoenix might not survive climate change: "Phoenix is an air-conditioned city. If the power goes out, people fry." (Tom's Dispatch via Salon)

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The World Health Organization says 1.24 million people die each year as a result of traffic crashes, which are the leading cause of death for people between 15 and 29.

The Global Status Report on Road Safety 2013, released Thursday, also estimates crashes injure between 20 and 50 million people each year.

Worldwide, the report says pedestrians and cyclists constitute 27% of all road deaths. But "in some countries this figure is higher than 75%, demonstrating decades of neglect of the needs of these road users in current transport policies, in favour of motorized transport."

(The above video, which has hair-raising footage of schoolchildren crossing roads in developing countries, provides ample visual evidence of this.)

There's also a strong link between income and road deaths. While wealthier countries have made progress, the toll is rising elsewhere. "91% of the world's fatalities on the roads occur in low-income and middle-income countries, even though these countries have approximately half of the world's vehicles."

(Read TN's report on the link between income and pedestrian fatalities in Newark, NJ)

from the "Global Status Report on Road Safety"

Africa has the highest death rate per 100,000 residents — 24.1, compared with 16.1 in North and South America. The European Region has the highest inequalities in road traffic fatality rates, with low-income countries having rates nearly three times higher than high-income countries (18.6 per 100 000 population compared to 6.3 per 100 000). The Western Pacific and South East Asia regions have the highest proportion of motorcyclist deaths.

The report says the first step to reducing traffic mortality is a group of laws aimed at drinking and driving, speeding, and failing to use motorcycle helmets, seat-belts, and child restraints. Currently, only 28 percent of countries -- covering 7 percent of the world's population -- have laws addressing all of these factors.

Other steps are making road infrastructure safer, ensuring vehicles meet international crash testing standards, and improving post-crash care.

The report was funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the charitable arm of Michael Bloomberg, the mayor of New York City.

Read the entire report below.

Global Status Report on Road Safety 2013

Top stories on TN:
The New Pope Rides Public Transit, So Will He Ditch These Old Popemobiles (link)
DC’s Metro Takes Silver Line Plans to the People (link)
NJ Transit Wants $1.2 Billion in Fed Funds for Sandy Recovery, Future Storms (link)
Manhattan Buses Will Have Real-Time Status Updates … A Bit Later than Planned (link)
Private Contractors May Not Be the Answer to Public Transportation Cuts (link)
The Golden Gate Bridge Says Goodbye to Toll-Takers (link)

Montreal subway (photo by Alex Krasavtsev via flickr)

A messy, behind-the-scenes battle is underway in Minnesota over the way the electric car and its gas-powered adversaries are sold. "We’re opposed to electric vehicles not being sold by a franchised dealer, because if manufacturers run the market, it will be far less competitive for customers,” says an auto dealer association president. (Star-Tribune)

Houston's Metro is rolling out smaller size buses on its less-traveled routes. (KUHF)

Pope Francis rode the subway in Buenos Aires. (New York Daily News)

TSA Administrator John Pistole defended the agency's decision to allow knives on planes, saying screeners needed to focus on the threat from explosives. (The Hill)

A software crash shut down Montreal's entire subway system at noon on Wednesday. (Montreal Gazette)

According to census data, more than 1 in 3 U.S. counties are now dying off, hit by an aging population and weakened local economies that are spurring young adults to seek jobs and build families elsewhere. (AP via Businessweek)

Volkswagen has said it wants to be the biggest auto company in the world, but to do that, it must first figure out the U.S. market. (Marketplace)

Ohio's Senate voted to raise the speed limit to 70 mph from 65 mph on rural stretches of interstate. (Plain Dealer)

A bike helmet with turn signals embedded in it. (TreeHugger)

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Hoboken Terminal, post-Sandy (photo by NJ Transit via flickr)

New Jersey Transit is putting together a more than $1.2 billion request for federal aid to help it recover from Sandy and prepare for future storms.

Earlier this week, the agency's post-Sandy project list was approved by the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, a regional authority that has to sign off on federal funding requests. Of that $1.2 billion request, $450 million is direct cost from Sandy damage. (See photos of the damage here). The remainder would help the agency resist damage from future storms.

The largest chunk of money, $565 million, would go to resiliency funding devoted to upgrading its rail facilities and creating two new storage yards in Linden and New Brunswick. Agency spokesman John Durso Jr. said those yards would be built to withstand a storm at least as strong as Sandy.

The agency doesn't want a repeat of  last year's flooding at storage yards in the Meadowlands and Hoboken, which surprised the agency and damaged nearly a quarter of its rail fleet. According to the NJTPA document, those facilities "will require evacuation in future impending storms."

Speaking Wednesday at a NJ Transit board meeting, executive director James Weinstein said if the Linden yard clears a vetting process, the agency hopes to have it in place as the default safe haven in time for this year's hurricane season.

But that's not all NJ Transit has to do. Included in the project list:

• $194 million to replace wooden catenary poles with steel ones along the Gladstone Line, constructing sea walls along the North Jersey Coast Line, elevate flood-prone substations, and raise signal bungalows
• $150 million to upgrade the Meadowlands Maintenance Complex in Kearny, including building flood walls
• $150 million for flood mitigation at its facilities in Hoboken and Secaucus and to provide crew quarters "to ensure the availability of crews post-storms"
• $26.6 million to improve the resiliency of the Hudson-Bergen light rail and the Newark city subway.

"If you think about it," said Weinstein, "what Sandy has created (is) a billion dollar-plus capital program overnight, basically. And that billion dollar-plus capital program has to be evaluated, implemented, executed and completed, under some very strict guidelines that were enacted by Congress."

Should NJ Transit receive funding from the federal government, work would have to be completed within two years from the date of funding notification.

These are "hard core infrastructure projects," said Weinstein.

But he added that it may not be enough: "whether you can prevent boats from washing up on your bridge, I don't know of an engineering principle that would do that. But what we're trying to do is make sure that the structural integrity of this infrastructure doesn't get undermined in the future."

Top stories on TN:
Video Tribute to Fung Wah: “I’ll Think of You Always with Nostalgia and Fear” (link)
Anti-Islam Ads Return to Muni (link)
Want to Drive a Semi in Montana? Be Prepared to Wait (link)
NY City Council to Albany: We Need Speed Cameras to Keep New Yorkers Safe (link)
Car Sharing, Transit and Bike Access Could Render D.C.’s Parking Minimums Moot (link)

(Photo CC by Flickr user Stephen Rees)

The FAA approved Boeing's plan to fix the Dreamliner's batteries. (AP)

A "technical glitch" caused caused D.C.'s Metro to charge peak fares for an additional hour on Monday morning, affecting about 23,000 riders throughout the rail system. (Washington Post)

A planned streetcar line in New Orleans will run on a shared line - which becomes streetcar-only during "peak" traffic. (Gambit)

Utah wants to get its infamous smog problem under control, but some suburban areas are resisting stricter emissions checks. (Wall Street Journal)

Select Bus Service, New York City's version of "bus rapid transit," falls short of the new standards for fast bus service, according to a transportation think tank. (Capital NY)

How a handful of Detroit drivers are protesting the threat of an emergency manager: by intentionally causing traffic jams. (Jalopnik)

The FAA's sequester-imposed hiring freeze threatens to disrupt the pipeline of new air traffic controllers needed to replace the thousands of workers eligible for retirement. (Politico)

Google acknowledged to state officials that it had violated people’s privacy during its Street View mapping project when it casually scooped up passwords, e-mail and other personal information from unsuspecting computer users. (New York Times)

Slideshow: after nearly eight decades of dreaming and several years of digging, California's transportation department announced the Highway 1 bypass at Devil’s Slide will open March 25. (Mercury News)

During last month's massive snowstorm, Connecticut's governor tweeted incorrect transit info -- earning a snappy retort from a Metro-North spokesperson. (AP via WSJ)

What lies beneath the Tappan Zee Bridge: a 100-year old shipwrecked coal barge. (Journal News)

Two Boston cab companies have filed a lawsuit against Uber's smartphone service. (WBUR)

BART is expected to begin its second experiment with allowing bikes aboard trains during peak commute times. (SF Examiner)

Please don't pee on an MTA elevator, people. (NY Daily News)

A snowstorm brought travel havoc to England, France and Belgium. (Guardian)

A protestor has been living in a treetop since January to try to block construction of a California highway. (KQED)

Even New York City district attorneys get ticketed. (Capital NY)

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Was your heartbeat racing, as fast as your wheels?/ When you flipped over on the Mass Pike, like a clown on a peel (...of a banana)

It was just such fears that led the federal government to shutter Chinatown bus operator Fung Wah earlier this month.

Now, Marc Phillipe Eskenazi has composed a mournful musical tribute to the end of $15 bus service between New York and Boston.

The song, a parody of Bob Dylan's "Farewell Angelina," is filled with gems like:

I'll think of you always with nostalgia and fear / Ian Grossman from the Department of Transportation wants to watch you disappear

But in the back alleys of my mind you've never been so dear / farewell, Fung Wah, your engines may be crazy, but they still got me here.

(via The New Yorker.)

NY City Council members James Vacca, Christine Quinn, and Jimmy Van Bremer (photo by Kate Hinds)

In the wake of several high-profile traffic deaths, key members of the New York City Council are throwing their support behind state legislation that would bring speed cameras to the city.

Speed camera legislation has languished in Albany for years, due in part to the steadfast opposition of Rochester democrat David Gantt, who chairs the Assembly's transportation committee. Most recently, in 2012, the state legislature failed to bring a speed camera bill to the floor for a vote, earning the ire of New York's mayor.

But advocates say it looks like there's more hope this time around: the Assembly bill has over 30 co-sponsors,  it's got strong support in the City Council -- which council speaker (and mayoral candidate) Christine Quinn says stands ready to deliver a home rule message to Albany -- and, perhaps most tellingly, the state assembly has included the pilot program in its 2013-2014 budget proposal.

"Speeding is, tragically, the number-one cause of fatal crashes in New York City," said Quinn. "This is a really significant problem. Anywhere in America, but (especially) in the biggest most congested city in the world, where we have such a pedestrian city -- to lack this type of enforcement...puts people at risk."

"We just need these cameras to help keep New Yorkers safe," she said.

According to city data, in 2011 70 deaths and 4,700 injuries were attributable to speed-related crashes. The New York City Department of Transportation has not released 2012 data yet.

Quinn was joined at a City Hall press conference by fellow council members James Vacca, Jimmy Van Bramer, Steve Levin and Gale Brewer.

The bill is co-sponsored by Assemblywoman Deborah Glick. Under the terms of the legislation, up to 40 speed cameras would be placed at high-risk intersections in New York for a five-year pilot program. Council members said the cameras would not photograph drivers, fines would not exceed $100, and insurance companies would not be notified of violations.

Those provisions may be necessary to sweeten the deal for opponents who say speed cameras are privacy-invading revenue generators. Because for New York City to get the cameras, the capital has to sign off -- and so far it hasn't proven eager to do so.

"This is a classic example where we are in the hands of Albany," said Jimmy Vacca. "I wish this was something we could do at a city level. If we could, we would." He added: "This is not something I view as a revenue-raiser. This is something I view as a lifesaver."

(Side note: New York City does have red light traffic cameras, although they are currently being litigated.)

The bill could also be riding a tide of renewed energy to combat traffic deaths. Recently, the New York Police Department announced it was reforming how it investigates traffic crashes -- which it now refers to as collisions, not accidents.  NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly told a City Council budget hearing Tuesday that the department will add up to 10 new investigators to its collision squad. "One of the challenges we had in setting up this squad is handling the number of accidents that can be handled by the number of people that we have," said Kelly.

That squad currently has 19 investigators.

Previously on TN:
Post-Sandy Repairs To NYC Subway Will Cause Years Of Disruption (link)
With the A Train Gone, Traveling to the Rockaways Becomes Much Harder (link)
After Spate of Traffic Deaths, NYPD Surfaces Long Sought Reforms (link)
NYC Subway Ridership At 62 Year High, Despite Sandy Disruptions (link)

Happy Women's History month: According to New York's MTA, these are the first 12 women hired as toll booth operators at the Queens Midtown Tunnel in 1943. (Photo via New York MTA)

Bike share is coming to Pittsburgh in 2014. (Post-Gazette)

Will Chicago's new fare system unfairly burden the poor? (Chicago Tribune)

Here's a list of the 238 air traffic control towers that could close on April 7 as the FAA imposes budget cuts. (FAA)

House Republicans want the Obama administration to reject a $5.5 billion loan being sought by a private Nevada company to build a high-speed rail link to Las Vegas. (AP via Miami Herald)

The U.S. government sold off nearly half a billion dollars in General Motors stock in February. (Detroit Free Press)

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Mega-commuter number crunching dashes some perceptions: "Typically, commuting lengths have been very, very stable in terms of time for the better part of a century." (Marketplace)

Top stories on TN:
How Gender Matters on American Roads (link)
Toll Lanes Touted as Congestion Fix for Central Florida’s I-4 (link)
Old South Ferry Station, Replaced At a Cost of $530 Million, Pressed Back Into Service (link)
FTC Sticks Up for Taxi Apps in Colorado (link)

Public transit ridership is up. (Photo of PATH WTC station by Kate Hinds)

The NYPD is now investigating traffic crashes that result in severe injury, not just death, and they're doing it with a newly renamed unit: it's now the "Collision Investigation Squad," not the "Accident Investigation Squad." (New York Times)
To read about the previous policy, go here.

Mass transit usage rose nationwide in 2012 to the highest numbers since 2008-- despite the massive loss of trips due to Sandy. (USA Today)

Speaking of Sandy: the commute time between the Rockaways has virtually doubled since the storm took out the A train. (WNYC)

Transit crime is down in New York City. (New York Daily News)

Parsing the reasons behind BART delays: aging equipment, police investigations, medical emergencies. (San Francisco Chronicle)

Running buses along the shoulders of highways has proven successful in the Chicago area. (Chicago Tribune)

Thousands of speeding convictions in the U.K. could be overturned because the font used to display the numbers on some variable speed limit signs may not have complied with traffic regulations. (BBC)

NY Senator Charles Schumer wants the TSA to reverse its decision relaxing a ban on small knives on planes. (CNN)

Dubai is building more pedestrian bridges to combat road deaths. (Emirates 24/7)

Worried about climate change? Land Rover's solution: buy an SUV. (Quartz)

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Top stories on TN:
NYC Taxi E-Hail Program Delayed (link)
BART Fares and Parking Fees Set to Rise (link)
Bicyclists in D.C. Lobby for Safety (link)
Old Diesel Equipment Still Spewing Soot Into Pittsburgh’s Air (link)

Golden Gate Bridge toll booths (photo by chrisinphilly5448 via flickr)

Manhattan's old South Ferry subway station will be pressed back into service the first week of April. (AP via Wall Street Journal)

Setting clocks back one hour this weekend will generate a 300 million-hour national sleep debt. "In transportation, this lost sleep kills, injures, and costs billions of dollars." (NTSB blog)

Los Angeles harbor commissioners approved a $500-million rail yard that could dramatically boost business but also drive more noise and dirty air into schools, parks and low-income neighborhoods. (Los Angeles Times)

Legal sticky wicket of the day: if a driverless car crashes, who's liable? (NPR)

All-electronic tolling will begin March 27 on the Golden Gate Bridge. (SF Examiner)

The shuttering of Chinatown bus Fung Wah has thrown some long-distance relationships for a loop. (DNA Info)

How much more Williamsburg development can the L train take? "As it turns out, quite a bit." (Observer)

Halting the EE!eeEEE!ee!EEEE!!! train: how to make NYC subway trains quieter. (Narratively)

New York Post opinion: NYC needs to enforce its own traffic laws. "The NYPD gave out 6,458 summons for illegal trucks last year — 29 percent fewer than the 9,098 in 2011." (Link)

Radio alert: tune into WAMU's Metro Connection today at 1pm (eastern) to hear @MartinDiCaro talk about DC's big parking debate.

Plans to develop a new commuter rail line in Texas were dealt a serious blow when the Fort Worth City Council rejected a resolution supporting the project. (Star-Telegram)

Flight attendants aren't happy about the TSA's new knife rules. (Marketplace)

Onion story of the day: the TSA is relaxing some security protocols and allowing small terrorists on planes. “After reviewing our longstanding policies, we have decided to ease our boarding requirements to allow any terrorist 5 feet tall or shorter to enter the airplane cabin."

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(photo by bluepix52 via flickr)

A pilot program allowing New Yorkers to hail taxis via smartphone will not begin Friday after all.

On Thursday afternoon, New York State Supreme Court Justice Carol Huff issued a temporary restraining order, blocking the city from implementing its e-hail app program while she considers the case. She is expected to make a decision on March 19.

Livery car companies sued the city last month, saying the e-hail program violated the law. They got a boost Wednesday when two New York City council members filed amicus briefs in support of the suit.

A representative for two of the groups suing the city -- the Black Car Assistance Corporation and the Livery Roundtable -- issued a statement saying the groups were "relieved," adding: "This is the first step in sending a clear message that no one is above the law. We now look forward to presenting our case in court."

NYC Taxi and Limousine Commissioner David Yassky said in a statement that "passengers can wait ten days to enjoy the latest technology.” Michael Woloz of the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade, a coalition of fleet owners siding with the city, said e-hail technology will "potentially make hailing yellow taxis more modern and more efficient." He also dismissed the livery car companies' argument as "pure nonsense."

Updated 8:28pm

For more, read this.

Top stories on TN:
Sequestration Means Less $$$ To Harden Northeast Transit Against Future Storms (link)
CHART: January a Deadly Month for NYC Pedestrians (link)
DOT Head Questioned Over Support of MWAA Leadership (link)
Meet the Feline Station Master of the Wakayama Electric Railroad (link)
California is Least Improved in Highway Conditions (link)

Cycling in London (photo by Tejvan Pettinger via flickr)

On this morning's Brian Lehrer Show: WNYC investigative reporter Robert Lewis discusses a government-approved $776 million effort to rebuild in flood-prone areas. (WNYC)

The mayor of London laid out a £913m 10-year plan to make London safer for cyclists... (Guardian)

...and London's Assembly criticized it as "not ambitious enough" and called for Boris Johnson to double its budget (ITV).

Ray LaHood needs more convincing that Boeing's proposed fixes to its Dreamliner battery are adequate. "I am going to ask a lot of questions" before a final decision is made, he said. (Wall Street Journal)

Texas prosecutors are using social media to help them go after people who provide alcohol to drunk drivers. "Because we know that if people are out there drinking, they're taking pictures of themselves with alcoholic beverages and also the people who are serving them." (KUHF)

Chicago's Transit Authority is expanding its employment program for people exiting prison. (WBEZ)

Freight railroad company BNSF is switching from diesel to natural gas. (Marketplace)

Bike sharing is coming to Tampa this fall. (WTSP)

After a year of underground work preparing the way, crews began laying street car tracks in Downtown Atlanta for the first time in decades. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Houston's new parking rules are more flexible. (KUHF)

Traffic police officers who are short, obese or abusive are being removed from the streets of Vietnam's capital. (BBC)

Why people give up on transit. (Forbes)

Kansas City bus advocates are pleading with a City Council committee to increase funding for the Area Transportation Authority, saying the proposed budget violates a promise to voters. (Kansas City Star)

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Here's another way to attract people to transit -- put a cat in charge of the local train station.

In 2007, Japan's financially beleaguered Wakayama Railroad was on the verge of closing its Kishi Station. But after a railroad executive adopted a local stray, Tama the calico cat became something of a local celebrity. Responsibility soon followed, and she was officially appointed station master. Her job, when she's not napping, is to greet passengers. (According to Wikipedia, "in lieu of a salary, the railway provides Tama with free cat food.")

Mitsunobu Kojima, the CEO of Wakayama Railroad, Kojima credits her with reviving the moribund railroad ("single-pawedly," according to the above Animal Planet segment.) Tama was credited with pumping as much as 1.1 billion yen (10.44 million dollars) into the local economy in 2007 alone.

Now, Tama has a Facebook page, Wakayama Railroad is chugging along, the trains have been redecorated, and the town is so cat-crazy it's possible to ride in a taxi cab festooned with 880 cats.

The cat train of the Wakayama Electric Railroad. (Photo by Douglass Sprott via flickr)