Metropolitan
from Mobilizing the Region

Long Island
LIRR Station Debate
Nassau County Comptroller Fred Parola is threatening to withhold some of the $19 million his county owes the MTA for LIRR station maintenance, calling 23 stations "third world disaster areas." Meanwhile, NYC Comptroller Alan Hevesi says MTA overbilled the city $344,372 for station repairs, maintenance and security for LIRR stations is Queens. Of the 31 stations, Hevesi found 29 to be in sub-standard condition, citing rotted platforms, cracked stairs, leaky canopies, graffiti and peeling paint. MTA promised to adjust next year's maintenance charges for the overbilling.

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New Jersey
Walking Away
Although pedestrians are about one-quarter of the annual traffic fatalities in New Jersey, only one percent of the state's traffic safety spending is directed towards pedestrian safety. The Tri-State Transportation Campaign and NJPIRG Citizen Lobby report, Walking Away: the NJ Dept. of Transportation's Fatal Neglect of Pedestrian Safety documents the inequity and recommends simple capital projects - sidewalks and traffic calming installations - which would save lives and be more cost effective than other traffic safety investments. The Tri-State Campaign reports that DOT Commissioner John Haley is considering making some DOT local aid funds specifically available for pedestrians. Last year 184 pedestrians were killed in traffic in New Jersey. Walking Away is available at: http://www.tstc.org.

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Traffic Jams
How to Move a Bottleneck: E-ZPass
E-ZPass use is so high at the GWB toll booths that former NJ backups have moved
across the bridge to Manhattan on-ramps from the Cross Bronx Expressway. While the Port Authority says E-ZPass has reduced delays by about five minutes on average, others point out that the traffic clog has simply moved further along the bridge. E-ZPass proliferates, as the Lincoln and Holland tunnels come online, with no real toll plan in sight to deal with the extra road capacity the technology creates. The tunnels, already often at the max 1,500 cars/hour per lane, could have hundreds more cars speeding through the toll booths, only to wedge into big jams at the tunnel exits, with overflow pouring into the surrounding neighborhoods.

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