Pick Your Headline: No Fare Hike in 2002; Guaranteed Fare Hike in 2003, Hudson River Path Opens (Kind-Of), "Segway" Gyro-Device Creates Media Storm, West Side Fantasy, NYC Transpo Agencies Working Together in Post Disaster Accord

Potholes and Hazards:
212-CALLDOT or report them online at transalt.org/hazard [note: due to the WTC disaster, the form can no longer be processed online by the NYC.gov web site. Please phone in your hazard reports in the meantime.]

Read more about T.A.'s work to reduce street hazards at transalt.org/haz

Report Dangerous Cabs: 212-221-TAXI

Read more about T.A.'s work to make cabs safer for pedestrians and cyclists at transalt.org/cabs

The T.A. Bulletin is a bi-weekly publication of Transportation Alternatives.

Transportation Alternatives is a 5000-member NYC-area non-profit citizens group working for better bicycling, walking and public transit, and fewer cars. We work for safer, calmer neighborhood streets and car-free parks. Join T.A. today!

Week of December 17, 2001

Happy Holidays from Transportation Alternatives

Thank you for reading the T.A. E-Bulletin. Best wishes for a healthy and successful 2002. We appreciate your interest in T.A.'s advocacy for better cycling, walking and sensible transportation. But if you are not already a T.A. member, we have a message for you - join today! Our work to win car-free parks, bike paths and traffic calming depends on the financial and political support of our members. It's a simple equation. More members mean more results. Give us eight cents a day and we'll give you a better city.

Pick Your Headline:

No Fare Hike in 2002
Guaranteed Fare Hike in 2003

Thanks to Governor Pataki running for reelection, NYC subway and bus riders will have one more year of $1.50 fares. The governor told the Daily News this week that he will give the MTA state funding to fill this year's budget gap. Fares were last raised in 1995.

Assuming fares go up in '03, it will be the longest period without a hike since the period of 1904 to 1948, when fares went from a nickel to a dime. The bad news is that fares will almost certainly go up to at least $2 in 2003. The MTA's income took a massive hit on 9/11 that won't be covered by insurance and Federal aid. It should be noted that, because of monthly and weekly passes and discount MetroCards, the actual average NYC transit fare is about $1.09. (MTA will also freeze bridge and tunnel fares until '03.)

Hudson River Path Opens (Kind-Of)

Thanks to those of you who participated in the letter-writing campaign (428 in all), the Office of Emergency Management has opened the Hudson River Greenway between 46th and 57th Streets. However, the path is still strewn with concrete barriers which significantly narrow it at points.

Additionally, it appears that every time a Navy ship is docked at 46th Street (Piers 86 & 88), the path will be closed. It's good news that the OEM has reopened this section this section of the path, but OEM can do better. This is the busiest multi-use path in the United States. Path users deserve safe and congenial conditions.

Write to the Director of the Office of Emergency Management, Richard J. Sheirer using our quick form below!

Please use or modify the text below or compose your own text -- just click "Send my letter" when you are finished. If your e-mail program cannot handle forms, simply visit this page online. A copy of your message will be sent to T.A. as well as to the Director of OEM. Your messages will also be tallied and referred to in further correspondence T.A. has with other city agencies.

Subject:

Dear OEM Director Sheirer:

Thank you for opening the closed portion of the Hudson River Greenway. The path is important to all New Yorkers who bicycle and walk, and I appreciate your action. I urge you to take the next step and clear the path of barricades and obstacles which make it unsafe. Also, please keep the path open during events on the Intrepid and when Navy ships are visiting.

Thank you,

Name:
Street address:
City:
State: Zip:
E-mail:

Please include your full contact information so that your message will be treated as official correspondence!

Hudson River Path Update

Open except:


Closed at North Moore (two blocks north of Chambers)	46th to 57th may be closed during major events at the Intrepid as well as during terrorist alerts	135th to 145th open daylight hours only

"Segway" Gyro-Device Creates Media Storm

First came electric assisted bicycles from Lee Iacocca, then electric bikes from Ford. Now another invention for the transportation niche already nicely filled by the bicycle. The "Segway" is a 65-pound two wheeler. The upright rider steers by shifting his or her weight. It costs $3000 and is propelled by an electric motor that can reach a top speed of 12 mph. It is likely the gyroscopic steering likely has big money potential as a technology.

Inventor Dean Kamen claims his vehicle will revolutionize just about everything and free cities from the shackles of dependence on the automobile. This is an unbelievable claim for a vehicle that has none of the advantages of either a car or a bike, and many of the disadvantages of both. A Segway is far more expensive than a bicycle, provides no exercise, can't handle potholes or maneuver at speed. Yet its users remain vulnerable to automobiles and exposed to weather. While cheaper than a car, it doesn't offer a motor vehicles passenger or freight carrying capacity, speed, security or safety. Our prediction: a very expensive novelty that will be a trivia question in five years.

West Side Fantasy

Subways are a good thing, and more subways a better thing. But even transit advocates are questioning Mayor Giuliani's parting proposal to extend the #7 train to the Javits Center and south. The problem is that the MTA is broke. The agency's capital plan is in shambles and every dime for transit expansion is already slated for the Second Avenue subway and the LIRR connection to Grand Central Station. Plowing hundreds of millions into the #7 means taking money from those two projects, both of which are well underway.

The extension of the #7 is the centerpiece of a massive development scheme for west Midtown. Whatever the merits of re-zoning that area for higher density, many observers are concerned that the plan will boil down to giant taxpayer payouts to real estate moguls. The Mayor's plan, published by the Department of City Planning, claims that increases in property value due to the #7 extension (the jargon phrase is "tax increment financing") will pay for the extension. But this is highly speculative. Intertwined in all of this are the Mayor's coveted Midtown baseball stadium and potential development for the 2012 Olympics. Good government advocates advise the public to watch their wallets when the words "stadium" or "Olympics" are brought up.

NYC Transpo Agencies Working Together on Post Disaster Accord

Last week T.A. had a chance to watch the a multitude of NYC, NY State and New Jersey transportation agencies working together during a meeting of the "Interagency Transportation Working Group." The multiplicity of local agencies began meeting post 9/11 to coordinate their emergency responses. Meetings are chaired and organized by NYC DOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall, who encouraged T.A. and other member groups of the Empire State Transportation Alliance to make a presentation to the assembled agencies. The meetings are an important step towards restoring regional transportation planning - which benefits everyone.

Read the latest news on this issue.

Hello? DOT?

T.A. is very sympathetic to the disruptions caused by 9/11. This said, it's time for NYC DOT to restore its "Call DOT" (225-5368) help line to its pre-disaster condition. This is the number T.A. members were using to report potholes, slippery plates and other street hazards. Whereas before 9/11 a caller could press two numbers and be in touch with a person, now callers must wait through a lengthy message about car-pool restrictions and alternate side of the street parking. The net result is that it used to take two minutes to report a pothole, and now it takes about seven. This is a big impediment to making streets safer for cyclists and DOT more responsive to the public.

Condolences to NYMTC

T.A. offers our condolences to the families and co-workers of See Wong Shum, Charles Lesperance and Ignatius Adanga. The three worked for the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council and were killed on September 11 at their offices on the 82nd floor of Tower 1. NYMTC is the regional transportation planning agency and conduit for Federal transportation funds. T.A. works closely with NYMTC staff to identify funds for bicycling and walking projects.

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Fall 2001 T.A. Magazine
This issue has already been mailed out to all T.A. members. It includes news on bicycle and pedestrian issues, features, ride listings and much, much more! View the Table of Contents or request a copy!

Sample articles

Motorists Given Five Lanes of W. Side Hwy While Adjacent Hudson Greenway Blocked

Keep Cars Off the East River Greenway

City's Dummy Red-Light Camera Plan a Smart Move

SI Right Turn on Red Waits Governor's Signature

Bike Lanes: Quality over Quantity

The World Trade Center Attack

Take Action

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transalt.org/volunteer

Advocacy Committees
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Bronx@transalt.org

Brooklyn@transalt.org,
transalt.org/campaigns/brooklyn

Centralpark@transalt.org,
transalt.org/campaigns/cpark

Gowanus@transalt.org ,
transalt.org/campaigns/sensible/gowanus.html

Citywide:
Info@transalt.org,
www.transalt.org

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