Sunday, January 27, 2013

Wall Street Journal: problems restoring PATH service

Wall Street Journal article about problems restoring PATH service:

The pink, rectangular icon on the computer screen representing the progress of PATH train 5780 blinked, as the cars rolled out on the westbound tracks from the World Trade Center station. Then, just at the mouth of the tunnel under the Hudson River, the pink rectangle disappeared.

To dispatchers in Lower Manhattan, that is the most obvious sign that all is still not well with PATH, a vital link for New Jersey commuters that still isn't back to full operation nearly three months after superstorm Sandy.

On one section of the system, restoring even limited service has required workers to reach back in time, using a system to move trains that dates to the age of the telegraph.

link to rest of article

Ferry traffic post Sandy

The Wall Street Journal has published an article regarding increased ferry commuting post Sandy, especially with the PATH problems.

It remains to be seen if improved ferry service could possibly help address the Pulaski Skyway construction issue to downtown starting  in 2014.

link to article

Thursday, January 24, 2013

NJ Transit looking at possible train storage facility in New Brunswick

NJ Transit looks at options after Sandy flooding
The Record
 
NJ Transit is in talks with Philadelphia-based Conrail to lease a rail yard in Linden that would shelter rail cars and locomotives during a destructive weather event like Sandy, agency officials said Thursday.
Spokesman John Durso, Jr. acknowledged the talks are the result of the severe hit NJ Transit's rolling stock took when 323 pieces of rail equipment were left in a Hoboken rail yard and at a maintenance complex in Kearny - both of which flooded, costing at least $100 million in damage. The agency has faced a torrent of criticism over their decision to leave equipment in the flood-prone yards after weather predictions and climate change reports warned the yards were in danger of flooding from storm surges.

link to article

Thursday, January 10, 2013

Proposed improvements post-sandy inluding Bus Rapid Transit

Facilitating quicker bus movements with bus rapid transit would be a big step forward.

Commuter Parking Advisory Committee

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Sandy Commission Draft Report Recommends Key Transit Improvements but Little Funding Detail


Although final recommendations from Governor Cuomo’s NYS 2100 Commission are expected to be formally released tomorrow, some details have begun to leak out. The implementation of “World Class Bus Rapid Transit,” the creation of a second tunnel under the Hudson River, and connections for Metro-North trains into Penn Station emerge from the transportation section–all ideas Tri-State has called for in the past and is pleased to see in the draft report.
The report also recognizes one of the most successful transportation stories to come out of Sandy: the 150 percent increase in cycling over the East River bridges in the days after the storm. As a result, the report recommends that the state fully deploy federal Transportation Alternatives funding to pedestrian and bicycle facilities, a call Tri-State had been making even before Sandy hit. The bump in cycling in the aftermath of Sandy would likely not have occurred if New York City DOT did not invest so heavily in safe cycling and walking infrastructure in recent years. This recommendation recognizes more needs to be done to ensure walking and cycling are even more viable transportation modes in the years to come.

link for article