All Articles Tagged "transportation"
Terry Bellamy at the Wheel of the District Department of Transportation
(Washington Post) — Terry Bellamy walks to work. On days when he has meetings farther than a couple of blocks from the D.C. Department of Transportation’s offices atop the Navy Yard Metro station, he might grab one of Capital Bikeshare’s ubiquitous red bikes. On rare occasions, he’ll drive. He and his wife have even downsized from two cars to one. Bellamy, who was confirmed last month as the director of DDOT after six months as its interim director, said his style of travel is becoming more common in the District, where almost one-third of the residents don’t own a car. “We are the incubator of the world. Everybody comes to D.C. to see what we are doing,” he said when Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) nominated him. “We want to continue to bring the new technology to the world here in Washington, D.C.”
Brown Plans to Step Down from Metro Board
(Washington Examiner) — D.C. Councilman Michael Brown plans to step down from Metro’s board of directors, the latest change to hit the transit agency that has experienced record amounts of turnover. Brown, who has been an alternate on the transit agency board since January 2009, said he hopes someone with a transit background will fill the seat, arguing the agency needs more expertise. His departure was first reported by the Washington Post.
City Shelves a Plan to Legalize Hailing Livery Cabs
(New York Times) — An ambitious attempt by the Bloomberg administration to legalize hailing livery cabs on streets outside of Manhattan has been shelved after criticism from the taxi industry and lukewarm support from key lawmakers. Instead, the city is weighing a proposal to create a class of yellow cabs that would be prohibited from picking up passengers in most of Manhattan, the taxicabs’ traditional territory, but would be able to do so in other parts of the city, according to three people familiar with the discussions. Under the plan, which is being made final, new medallions would be issued for the restricted cabs. The medallions would be sold for a small fee, or, in one version of the plan, at no cost. Regular medallions, which bestow the right to pick up passengers on any city street, are typically sold at auction and can be worth nearly $1 million. Officials say the revised proposal would achieve their goal of providing better regulated, more equitable taxi service to the wide section of New York City that is perpetually underserved by yellow cabs, which congregate in denser parts of Manhattan where they are more likely to find fares.
‘Peach Pass’ Express a HOT Option for Hurried Motorists
(AJC) — How many times have you been stuck in traffic late for a “can’t-miss meeting”? How many times have you been parked in gridlock trying to get home to see your child in a school play or in a soccer game? I bet you would have been willing to pay money to avoid the jam and get to your destination in time. Well thanks to the Georgia Department of Transportation’s new I-85 Express Lanes project, you soon will be able to. As construction continues on the I-85 High Occupancy Toll lanes, I have found that commuters are still a bit confused about what the program will mean to them. Here are some basic facts to help you out. The HOT or express lanes on I-85 will be set up where the current HOV lanes are now on I-85, between the Chamblee Tucker exit in Dekalb County and just north of the Old Peachtree Road exit in northern Gwinnett County.
Manhattan’s Parking Court Mixes Anger, Officialdom and ‘Next!’
(New York Times) — Abu Kamara sat across a desk from the hearing officer with hundreds of dollars of cash in his pocket, four unpaid tickets from two cars and a list of excuses. After more than an hour in the Ping-Pong queue of Manhattan’sparking violations court, bouncing from Window 21 to Window 11 back to Window 21 again, he had won entry to the hearing room, where an administrative law judge sat behind a bare L-shaped desk, minutes from issuing a decision that could make life a lot harder for Mr. Kamara. “I’ll take your paperwork and your driver’s license,” said the judge, Michael Maceira. “How many tickets are you contesting?” The city issues nearly 10 million parking tickets each year, and about 1.2 million are contested in hearings. This week, the city announced that it would allow people to challenge tickets online, by submitting written rebuttals and uploading supporting materials for the judge to consider. The idea is to speed up the process and to make it “more customer-service oriented,”Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker, said proudly on Monday.
Go Online, Not Downtown, to Fight a Parking Ticket
(New York Times) — For years, New Yorkers have hurled obscenities, or simply given up, at the sight of a dreaded orange slip on their windshield, knowing that anyone brave enough to challenge a parking ticket would face interminable lines, stuffy hearing rooms and subpar snacks. But now distressed drivers will be able to fight City Hall without having to take off their pajamas. City officials on Monday unveiled an online alternative that allows residents to submit written rebuttals and upload supporting materials, like snapshots of where a missing traffic sign should be, to make their case. “It means that you won’t have to zip out of work to contest a parking ticket on your lunch hour,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said in a news conference. “You won’t have to spend time on weekends making photocopies and stapling documents to dispute your ticket by mail.” The system, one of the first of its kind in the country, promises a decision within 10 days.
Regional Flights Could Lose Subsidies
(AJC) — Airline flights from Atlanta to Athens and Macon could lose eligibility for federal subsidies as Congress looks for ways to cut programs some legislators consider wasteful. The federal Essential Air Service program subsidized 20-minute flights on nine-passenger planes that often flew nearly empty between Atlanta and Macon until January, and it continues to subsidize flights between Atlanta and Athens.
U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., cited support for Atlanta-Macon flights as an example of “the most wasteful government spending” last year, noting an Atlanta Journal-Constitution report that the subsidy amounted to $464 per passenger based on actual ridership. The Senate passed an aviation funding bill last month that included a Coburn amendment to ax the subsidies for cities within 90 miles of larger airports and for flights that carry fewer than 10 passengers per day. The House is considering a version that would not immediately change eligibility — but would gradually dismantle the entire subsidy program everywhere but Alaska and Hawaii.
Taxi Panel Focuses on Destination Discrimination
(New York Times) — Can’t find a cab to take you to Brooklyn? Join the club. The city is seeing a big rise in complaints about scofflaw cabdrivers who refuse rides based on the passenger’s requested destination, officials said on Thursday. The Taxi and Limousine Commission said it received 2,341 reports of refusals in the last half of 2010, a 38 percent increase from the same period a year prior, when 1,693 complaints were received. It is illegal for a yellow cab driver to reject a passenger wishing to travel within the city or certain surrounding areas, but refusals remain a perennial problem. Particularly late at night, when taxis are scarce, many cabbies prefer to stay in Manhattan, where they are more likely to pick up another fare.
Even with Addition of Reed, Transportation Panel’s Makeup Upsets Urban Leaders
(AJC) — With a regional referendum and billions in transportation dollars at stake, House Speaker David Ralston was trying to quell an urban backlash. But adding Atlanta’s mayor to the panel taking first crack at a metrowide project list hasn’t placated some key Fulton and DeKalb leaders, who still say they’re being marginalized under the Transportation Investment Act of 2010, or House Bill 277. “Kasim Reed is the mayor of Atlanta,” Fulton County Commission Chairman John Eaves said. “He’s not the mayor of Fulton County. Similarly unimpressed south Fulton Commissioner William “Bill” Edwards said he’ll “absolutely” campaign against the sales tax going on an August 2012 ballot, unless the Legislature alters the structure of the 21-member, suburb-weighted “roundtable.” He also wants lawmakers to rethink having Fulton and DeKalb residents, already paying a penny tax for MARTA, pay 2 cents for transportation while other core counties pay 1 cent.
Amtrak Unveils $13.5B Hudson River Tunnel Plan
(Crain’s) — When New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie killed plans to build a commuter rail tunnel under the Hudson last fall, the quest to expand commuter service into Manhattan seemed all but dead. But two plans have risen from those ashes and the second proposal, announced Monday by Amtrak, could prove more ambitious—and more expensive—than the original. With the support of New Jersey’s Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg and Sen. Robert Menendez, and New York Sen. Charles Schumer, Amtrak officials proposed a $13.5 billion project to build two commuter rail tunnels connecting New Jersey to New York, replacing the $9.7 billion ARC tunnel project shelved by Mr. Christie. The Gateway project would be completed by 2020 and would increase New Jersey Transit commuter rail volume into midtown Manhattan by 65%—to 33 trains per hour during peak periods, compared with 20 today. New Jersey Transit trains would travel through a new tunnel that would begin at Penn Station in Newark and terminate at Moynihan Station, which connects to Penn Station in Manhattan. Amtrak Chief Executive Joseph Boardman and board member Anthony Coscia announced at a press conference in Newark that the company would fund a $50 million engineering study of the project. The company said it will take the lead in finding ways to pay for the project by asking for contributions from local, regional and state governments including New Jersey, New York state, New York City, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, as well as private investors. Mr. Christie recently replaced Mr. Coscia as the Port Authority’s chairman.
