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HomeMy WebLinkAboutTransportation In LI prepared by Tripp/Bauer for Sustainable LI TRANSPORTATION IN LONG ISLAND Prepared for Sustainable Long Islaml James T.B. Tripp, Janine G. Bauer Background Starting in the 1930's, and accelerating after World War II, Long Island became the nation's laboratory for suburbanization, big highway investment and auto dependency. Because Long Island is a peninsula, unlike other parts of the region, continued spread and decentralization of development faces physical boundaries at the water's edge. Now is therefore a propitious time for Long Island to change its patterns of transportation investment. A refocused transportation system will encourage land conservation, center- oriented, focused development and redevelopment of downtowns, and discourage sprawled, low-density residential and strip-mall commercial development. It will also reduce energy consumption and air pollution. Future investments in Long Island's personal and freight movement transportation system will have a major impact on the Island's air quality, levels of fossil fuel consumption and patterns of residential and commercial land development. While Long Island has an extensive rail system, largely in place by early in this century, the construction of major roadways in recent decades, with suburbanization have resulted in increasing auto and truck dependency. The Problem: Vehicle Dependency and Rising VMT As in the rest of the metropolitan area, traffic levels, as measured by vehicles miles traveled (VMT), have been growing in recent years (slowed only by the economic recession of the early 1990's) by about 2% per year for the last two decades, while population has been relatively stable. The result is extensive traffic congestion on major roads all over the Island. The State Department of Transportation (DOT), together with its local counterparts, have be<:n attempting to address this congestion problem by expanding highway capacity. Expansion of highway capacity brings more travel through "induced demand," reducing traffic congestion only to have the freed-up space fill up again with cars in a few short years, and doing nothing to reduce air pollution or land-consuming sprawl development. On-going expansion of the Long Island Expressway, the Northern State Parkway, the Sunrise Highway and other roads will foster continued. VMT growth and promote development in the five eastern towns and eastern Brookhaven where Suffolk County, the towns and 120% 110% Long Island Travel Growth: 1970-1990 100% 80% 60% 58% 40% 20% 2% 0% Tri-State Transportation Campaign-- 1 environmental organizations are pursing land conservation proposals. DOT has plans to expand other roadways, including Route 25A, 347 and 112. However, public resistance to highway expansion is mounting; indeed. various groups and elected officials are suing DOT over Rt. 25A and the proposed extension of the LIE HOY lane into Nassau County and Queens. Highway Spending Impacts the Economy Expanding highways is a fiscal and taxpayer drain. Losses due to traffic congestion include health care and other costs due to air pollution, wasted fuel, $1.1 billion in vehicle wear and tear, $5 billion in lost time due to delays and $10 billion in added delivery costs. (1996 NYSDOT Long Range Plan, at 57.) Capacity expansion projects have become so expensive that they crowd out other legitimate needs of the roadway system, such as critical safety improvements, bridge repairs and system maintenance and preservation needs. Recent reliable sources indicate that the existing roadway system is already so large that of . mTI'oU"",,,,,, (""".....""') keeping it in a state of good repair _"""''''''''''''''''''''''''odo (51971m) uses up much of the state 0"""'............-.("'""""""". transportation revenue sources. The ""_."'''Y.''''-) ($2.046mOoo) recent expansion of the Long Island Expressway (HOY Lane) has cost the state taxpayers a minimum of$14 million/mile according to DOT's own estimates. Currently, over 21 % of roadway related spending for Long Island is slated to be spent on the LIE HOY lane, and another 7% for other capacity addition projects. (See 1998-2002 Transportation Improvement Program for Nassau and Suffolk Counties.) Large expenditures for capacity additions have a detrimental impact on the state's ability to finance alternative forms of transportation and to improve its economy. L.I.E. & other road capacity projects: Share of roadway capital budget '" Transportation spending also impacts local property taxes. According to the NYSDOT 1995 Long Range Plan, state and federal funds pay for less than 25% of the $3 billion currently spent for local highways. Local property tax revenues-- mainly property and sales taxes-- finance the remainder. The size of the subsidy was detailed in a 1994 report by economist Charles Komanoff for the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, entitled Subsidies for Traffic. The report demonstrated that NY motorists pay $4.5 billion annually in transportation-related user fees, while all levels of government and authorities expend $6.9 billion annually for construction, operation and maintenance of streets, highways and bridges, safety, enforcement, regulation and administrative costs associated with these activities. NY property, income and sales taxes subsidize the $2.4 billion annual shortfall.) Reducing Vehicle Miles Traveled The first goal of a sustainable transportation plan should be to reduce YMT by 10% over the next 10 years to improve mobility and reduced economically costly delays. Most of that reduction would, in all likelihood, come in the latter half of the decade, after Tri-State Transportation Campaign-- 2 TRANSPORTATION IN LONG ISL Prepared for Sustainable Long Island James T.B. Tripp, J Background Starting in the 1930's, and accelerating after World War II, Long nation's laboratory for sub urbanization, big highway investment, Because Long Island is a peninsula, unlike other parts of the regil decentralization of development faces physical boundaries at the therefore a propitious time for Long Island to change its patterns' investment. A refocused transportation system will encourage 1m oriented, focused development and redevelopment of downtowns sprawled, low-density residential and strip-mall commercial deve reduce energy consumption and air pollution. Future investments in Long Island's personal and freight movem' will have a major impact on the Island's air quality, levels offoss patterns of residential and commercial land development. While extensive rail system, largely in place by early in this century, the roadways in recent decades, with suburbanization have resulted it truck dependency. The Problem: Vehicle Dependency and Rising VMT As in the rest of the metropolitan area, traffic levels, as measured traveled (VMT), have been growing in recent years (slowed only recession of the early 1990's) by about 2% per year for the last tv population has been relatively stable. The result is extensive traft roads all over the Island. The State Department of TransportatiOl its local counterparts, have be<:n attempting to address this conge: expanding highway capacity. Expansion of highway capacity brings more travel through "indw traffic conge: freed-up spac in a few shor nothing to reI land-consum On-going eXj Island Expre: State Parkwa and other roa VMT growth development towns and ea Suffolk COUl 120% Long Is/and Travel Growth: 1970-1990 110% 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% o%i~-. 2% Trf-State Trans \.ND mine G. Bauer sland became the ad auto dependency. a, continued spread and later's edge. Now is f transportation d conservation, center- and discourage Dpment. It will also ~t transportation system I fuel consumption and .ong Island has an construction of major increasing auto and ,y vehicles miles ,y the economic J decades, while ; congestion on major (DOT), together with :ion problem by ~d demand," reducing ion only to have the : fill up again with cars years, and doing uce air pollution or 19 sprawl development. msion of the Long ;way, the Northern . the Sunrise Highway 'S will foster continued' md promote n the five eastern tern Brookhaven where y, the towns and ortation Campaign-- 1 environmental organizations are pursing land conservation proposals. DOT has plans to expand other roadways, including Route 25A, 347 and 112. However, public resistance to highway expansion is mounting; indeed. various groups and elected officials are suing DOT over Rt. 25A and the proposed extension of the LIE HOY lane into Nassau County and Queens. Highway Spending Impacts the Economy Expanding highways is a fiscal and taxpayer drain. Losses due to traffic congestion include health care and other costs due to air pollution, wasted fuel, $1.1 billion in vehicle wear and tear, $5 billion in lost time due to delays and $10 billion in added delivery costs. (1996 NYSDOT Long Range Plan, at 57.) Capacity expansion projects have become so expensive that they crowd out other legitimate needs of the roadway system, such as critical safety improvements, bridge repairs and system maintenance and preservation needs. Recent reliable sources indicate that the existing roadway system is already so large that of keeping it in a state of good repair IIThel.LEllp'way ($009.8ni11ial) ."""."'Capoatyp,qeas ("97.1 m) uses up much of the state 0"""_"'*"'(.............. transportation revenue sources. The """'."""."'") (ROO """"I recent expansion of the Long Island Expressway (HOY Lane) has cost the state taxpayers a minimum of$14 million/mile according to DOT's own estimates. Currently, over 21 % of roadway related spending for Long Island is slated to be spent on the LIE HOY lane, and another 7% for other capacity addition projects. (See 1998-2002 Transportation Improvement Program for Nassau and Suffolk Counties.) Large expenditures for capacity additions have a detrimental impact on the state's ability to finance alternative forms of transportation and to improve its economy. L.I.E. & other road capacity projects: Share of roadway capital budget 7% Transportation spending also impacts local property taxes. According to the NYSDOT 1995 Long Range Plan, state and federal funds pay for less than 25% of the $3 billion currently spent for local highways. Local property tax revenues-- mainly property and sales taxes-- finance the remainder. The size of the subsidy was detailed in a 1994 report by economist Charles Komanofffor the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, entitled Subsidies for Traffic. The report demonstrated that NY motorists pay $4.5 billion annually in transportation-related user fees, while all levels of government and authorities expend $6.9 billion annually for construction, operation and maintenance of streets, highways and bridges, safety, enforcement, regulation and administrative costs associated with these activities. NY property, income and sales taxes subsidize the $2.4 billion annual shortfall.) Reducing Vehicle Miles Traveled The first goal of a sustainable transportation plan should be to reduce YMT by 10% over the next 10 years to improve mobility and reduced economically costly delays. Most of that reduction would, in all likelihood, come in the latter half of the decade, after Tri-State Transportation Campaign-- 2 inti'astructurc improvemcnts and transit cnhancements are made to accommodate people shining trips from cars to alternate modes. Reduced VMT is not commensurate with economic recession or job loss, especially in the construction trades. Trips do not necessarily have positive economic impacts; they may have very negative economic consequences. Other countries and metropolitan sectors have vibrant economies without the per-person VMT that our region suffers. Jobs and Transportation Spending While job shifts are inevitable in any changing economy, refocusing transportation spending should not result in job losses. Construction should remain strong- despite some recent rough patches, the construction trade has remained healthy overall, growing from 4.3 million employees to 5.1 million employees from 1980 to 1995 nationally. Those specifically engaged in highway and street construction (except for a dip following the early 1990s recession) have also maintained stable employment at about 227,000 employees (1995) (up slightly from 226,000 in 1988). Because of the overwhelming needs of repairing the existing roadway system, shifting the focus from very expensive highway lane addition projects into rehabilitation and reconstruction work will not decrease and may increase the number of jobs in this sector. (Rehabilitation is generally more labor-intensive than new construction.) 12,500 10,750 Car Use Per Person (passenger km per head per year) ,- ~~'. .~ ,::~:,. "~~~ ~ '-.:;:>",.7 '...,,,.... 5,600 :;",- ";if!~ n~ ~.~::* ,,~::::t.~ .~ ..;~ ....,".r,. .-,~ 'c;,.1i;} ;~.:t~ ;!fJ ~ -:'::'~ -~:2:-.t1i: .~ ....~-~-.'j~ >t'i 1,800 US Cities Austrailian Cities European Cities Asian Cities The transportation sector has grown from 3.3 million in 1988 to 3.9 million employees in 1995, with some of the largest shares coming from alternate modes of transportation- local and interurban passenger transit employed 423,000 in 1995, up from 309,000 in 1988; local and suburban transit employed 202,000 in 1995, up from 117,000 in 1995; additional gains were seen in water transportation and water transportation of freight. As a sign of our truck and car dependency, however, employment also rose in the trucking and courier sector and in school busing, while it declined on Class I railroads and at Amtrak. The point is that changing our way of getting around does not create a 'Jobs vs. environment" split. The environmental groups and affiliates organized in the Tri-State Transportation Campaign have never recommended a decrease in capital spending on transportation- just a shift in where the money is spent, to transit and road system preservation. Transit (stations, lines, and facilities) can be a rich source of construction jobs (witness the construction and permanent jobs created or to be created by the Secaucus Transfer, Hudson-Bergen Light Rail lines, Kearny Connection-Midtown Direct service and Montclair Connection in New Jersey). Transit facilities need rehabilitation as well; the Federal Transit Administration recently estimated that 32% of the nation's bus facilities were in fair to poor condition and need repair. And Tri-State Transportation Campaign-- 3 there is a backlog of 3,800 rail cars and 28,000 requiring replacement because they are beyond their useful life. Manufacturing provides stable, well- paying blue collar jobs. New York has been a leader in trying to attract a transit manufacturing base. Little of the transit vendor/manufacturing work is presently based in Long Island. The net economic return on public expenditures for public transportation is 4 to I (according to Congress' Office of Technology Assessment). And everyone will benefit from reduced congestion, more livable communities and easily accessible work sites, and a growing transportation sector will provide many well-paying and stable positions. A study of the northern Virginia Metrorail project by KPMG Peat Marwick LLP concluded that by 2010, Metrorail will generate 91,000 jobs and $1.2 billion net additional tax: revenues. Secaucus Transfer rail stat/on construct/on workers welcomed House Transportation Committee Chair Bud Shuster in 1997 Livable Communities Traffic reduction is also a way to create "livable" communities. Whether a community is livable often translates to whether it is walkable, i.e. whether one can access important destinations-- downtown shops, schools, transit stops, parks and other points of interest, by walking or bicycling. Destinations within a one-half mile are generally considered walkable or "bike-able." Clustering destinations within one half mile of residential development makes a walkable town or village center an attractive, convenient and pleasant place. It is the kind of community in which many people want to live today. A big part of creating livable communities is protecting pedestrians and creating the street as a place of social interaction, commerce and children's play, often through traffic-calming and flexible design for streets and urban arterials. Traffic-calming means changing the physical layout or design of the street to slow cars and signal that they share the road with other users. The 1991 federal lntermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) makes traffic-calming and much easier to accomplish because it overcame two generations of car- and speed-oriented ingrained road design doctrine. The successor law to ISTEA, called TEA-21, calls for the federal Hazard Elimination Program to identify and remediate hazards to bicyclists, explicitly allows "traffic calming" expenditures by states and local jurisdictions, and requires highway safety construction projects to "minimize any negative impact" on non-motorized safety and access. The new Hazard Elimination language also attempts to de-emphasize the conventional highway motorist safety focus with language that is significantly more inclusive of non- motorized travel. And, in the National Highway System Designation Act (NHSDA) passed by Congress in 1995, highway and road design standards were loosened even further to promote traffic- calming and "flexible design standards." Using flexible design standards means design standards that do not conform to standard engineering requirements laid out in the American Association of Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Design Manual, also called the "Green Book." Until 1991, when ISTEA was enacted, the federal Tri-State Transportation Campaign-- 4 government required the use of AASHTO standards in all federally funded projects to build or reconstruct roads. The AASHTO Manual's mandate is to maximize design speed and levels of service (which generally means move traffic at the expense of other modes, particularly pedestrians); the guidelines had a general lack of regard for parks, historic properties, natural resources, pedestrian safety and community character. Many states followed the AASHTO Manual to the letter, even to the point of adopting it into law or regulation. To reinforce its changing point of view, the Federal Highway Administration (FHW A) issued a 200-page report called Flexible Highwav Design and other guidance specifically to encourage the use of flexible design standards for non-NHS highways. Under ISTEA, routes that are not designated as part of the National Highway System are no longer subject to any federal design rules whatsoever. Essentially, the federal government de-regulated traffic engineering standards for non-NHS projects. Furthermore, while ISTEA had limited permission to use non-federal flexible guidelines to non-NHS projects in areas of historic or scenic value, the NHSDA requires that all highway projects on the NHS-- regardless of their location-- "preserve environmental, scenic or historic values. " Long Island's communities should pursue every opportunity to use traffic calming and flexible design standards to keep streets and highways in keeping with community character. Towns and villages should institute neighborhood-based community improvement projects which include traffic- calming, native street tree planting, community gardens, street fairs and other pedestrian-friendly amenities that encourage people to interact. Partnerships can be developed between businesses and nearby residents to identify funding, Nassau-Suffolk Traffic Fatalities: 1993 Pedestrian Share of Total I. Pedestrians I I .otherl Pedestrians AlJother s $""".: NYSlale Depl. 01 MOlDrVohlcl". Noto: OMV ka beenllowlo .111._ lrallle Ialalllydall Clfl' e......lybaoli. since 1994. Mar_e<, DMVrepofled laJltyl9N dati for Sutrollr. County. I. 19I3number1l....uMd hwe. roles and responsibilities. 69 237 A tragic result of our car-oriented society is the pedestrian injury and fatality toll. Nassau and Suffolk Counties have a particularly bad record in this regard. Social Equity and Transportation The transportation system in the metropolitan region, and in Long Island in particular, presents substantial questions of social equity and justice. Long Island's transportation system is overwhelmingly car-oriented. Seven percent of Long Island households, or about 57,000 households, do not have access to a car, according to the last Census. Low- income people, young people, the elderly, and people of color make up the primary groups of people that reside in these households. Long Island is about 89% white, 7 Tri-State Transportation Campaign-- 5 percent black and four percent other groups. Additionally, Hispanics comprise about 7 percent of Long Island residents. Long Island's transportation system includes a rich transit network consisting of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's nine branches of the Long Island Railroad, with 134 station stops serving 256,000 passengers daily, and its Long Island Bus division, with a fleet of 3 I 9 on 52 routes serving 85,000 bus riders daily. The Long Island Railroad is designed primarily to transport workers to and from Manhattan and eastern Queens (30 station stops), however. It is difficult to use LIRR to destinations within Long Island except along the same east-west corridors; high fares are cited as a reason why low- income people do not use the railroad for regular commuting or other trips. Even where stations are along the same branch of the railroad, substantial distances may separate actual destinations from the train stations, leaving transit riders stranded unless there is connecting bus or taxi service. Sprawl-type development contributes to the inefficiency of using transit to access destinations within Long Island. Connecting bus service at LIRR stations, which could help bridge the gap, is few and far between. Only 45 station stops in Long Island have connecting Long Island Bus service. Riders complain that such service is too infrequent to be meaningful while transit planners point out that with few riders, more frequent service is unwarranted. Advocates for low-income people and communities in need of social services have recently pointed to increased bus service and new routes to employment centers as primary unmet needs, highlighted by welfare-to-work analyses and programs. Several advocates pointed to the lack of frequent bus service or service that fails to match work schedules to major employment centers such as malls, hospitals and universities, including University Hospital at Stony Brook, Smith haven Mall and at sites along the Route 110 corridor in Suffolk County, and Melville, Garden City and Hicksville in Nassau County. Night service along LI bus routes is a problem, often ending early in the evening. The lack of underlying data analysis may be the first priority in persuading authorities of unmet needs, which may be met by the upcoming LI Bus study; lack of funding will present another obstacle. On the plus side, LI Bus was one of the first bus operations in the nation to "dump dirty diesel;" it no longer purchases buses that run on diesel fuel and is converting its fueling infrastructure to cleaner natural gas. Diesel fuel is very polluting, spewing fine soot over customers and the landscape. Such fine particles are associated with a high incidence of asthma and other respiratory ailments that plague lower-income populations. Poor transit service among LI suburbs-which do not have land uses arranged at cost- effective densities-explains why 75% of Long Islanders who commute to Manhattan use the LIRR but only 2.5% of people who live and work on Long Island reach their work sites by using transit. (Eleven percent of Long Islanders journeying to work in New York City but not Manhattan use transit.) A whopping 83% of Long Islanders who live and work on Long Island drive alone to reach their work destinations, 10% carpool and seven percent use other modes. Tri-State Transportation Campaign-- 6 Percentage of Households By Race Which Have A Mean Household Income Equal To Or Greater Than The Mean Household Income of L1RR Users Suffolk Nassau 21% 16%: 40% 33% er 22% 13% Several areas of the social justice/transportation problem stand out as opportunities for change. One is the future plan for LIRR stations and service. Under the federal Civil Rights Act, transit agencies must file a report every three years demonstrating that their provision of services, including routes, location and levels and quality of service, do not discriminate against minorities and appropriately serve their riders. Similarly, under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), transit agencies such as LIRR must file a "Key Station Plan" depicting important stations that must be accessible and justifying the closing of other stations, whether immediate or planned in the future. LIRR was sued in the early I 990s over its closure of certain stations, and while that lawsuit was settled without admission of liability on LIRR's part, LIRR made changes in response to the suit. However, in its Key Station Plan filed under the ADA, only 23 ofLIRR's 134 stations were designated as key stations, meaning that LIRR could theoretically close the remainder of its stations without any further notice or comment by the public or action by federal or state regulators. Advocates of disabled persons including Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association and SILO participated in the Key Station Plan process, and won a small increase in the number and distribution of key stations from 18 to 23; they had advocated more stations to be so designated. Some citizens whose only transportation is LIRR but who live at bypassed stations such as Center Moriches, Glendale and the LIU- Southampton Campus, appealed to the Federal Transit Administration and USDOT Secretary, thus far without success. A number of questions are raised by the LIRR's Key Station Plan. There seems to be no correlation, for instance between determination of whether a station is "key" and the population it serves that lacks access to an automobile, is elderly, disabled, poor, or participates in a welfare-to-work program, and whether these persons have access to another nearby station, through paratransit or connecting bus service. LIRR created three criteria each station designated as "key" must meet, but there is no such criteria in the governing USDOT regulation. Public officials should ensure access to records and accountability on the part of MT AlLIRR to federal guidelines for level and quality of service for LIRR and buses. Moreover, LIRR focused its ADA efforts on creating "path[ s] of travel" to and from stations by enhancing the "ability of disabled persons to return to their vehicles from a platform which is opposite to the one from which they departed." While that is important, many disabled people (and others) do not drive. The actual definition of "path of travel" is a measure of pedestrian accessibility-"a continuous unobstructed way of pedestrian passage..." to and from the station. More work needs to be done to define an adequate Key Station Plan in its next iteration. Walking, bicycling, carpooling, taxi and transit are the only ways to get around the Island without a car. Even these modes have serious social justice implications, however. Walking and bicycling modes must be made safer, and more accessible, especially in Tri-State Transportation Campaign-- 7 low-income communities and between them and major retail and employment centers. Doing so is one of the cheapest and most effective short-term solutions to transportation problems on the Island, especially for low-income and car-less residents. and would significantly improve the safety of walkers and cyclists. If tied to changes in land use policy that will encourage mixed-use developments, denser residential settings with commercial centers every quarter- or half-mile, and mixed use development around train stations and bus nodes, improvements in bicycle and sidewalk connectivity will have even greater impact helping the poor to access jobs and transit. Long Islanders already walk to work and other destinations in large numbers. Infact. more Long Islanders walk to work (about 33,000 daily) than take transit to destinations within Long Island. Another 2,500 bike to work. Improving safety, connectivity and accessibility for these modes is an excellent way to accommodate Long Islanders who do not wish to drive, cannot drive or have no access to a car and to protect them from car crashes. The low- income community of Wyandanch, for instance, has poor pedestrian paths, little lighting, and, not surprisingly, one of the highest pedestrian fatality rates in Suffolk County. A primary goal ofNYSDOT should be doubling the number of walking and bicycling trips as a percent of mode share on Long Island, while reducing the number and severity of car crashes, especially those involving pedestrians and bicyclists. An opportunity to accomplish this is presented by the LITP2000 study. More trips made by walking and bicycling will improve the environment, while reducing traffic and the property tax burden caused by providing services to sprawling development. Improving the accessibility of alternatives modes will reinforce options for motorists as well, who needn't choose their car for every trip. NYSDOT should establish a set-aside of state and federal transportation jitnds to build bicycle lanes and pedestrian paths and sidewalks connecting major residential and transit nodes with other meaningfUl destinations, such as schools, commercial centers and malls, senior citizen centers, and so forth. Another major opportunity to improve the transportation network for communities of color and low-income persons is presented by welfare-to-work programs and grants. With the demise offederal subsidies for Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC, or welfare), Long Island's welfare roles have been reduced. Major job growth has simultaneously occurred in the low-density suburbs, daunting many city or Long Island welfare residents with the task of getting to the suburbs to their employment sites. A domestic worker can spend three hours getting from his or her home in Long Beach, to ajob in Bayshore, for instance. See "Poor Without Cars Find Trek to Work Is Now a Job," New York Times, November 17, 1997. Some former welfare recipients are able to take transit, often by "reverse commuting" (instead of taking the train or bus to ajob in the city, the city resident takes the train or bus to ajob in the suburbs). "Reverse commuting" helps transit's balance sheet (currently, LIRR has about 7,000 reverse commuters) because trains are not empty when traveling "back" to the suburbs from Manhattan and Queens. But access to work has also put a strain on state transportation budgets as these agencies are asked to do more, with less money and no clear role. Welfare-to-work programs are being coordinated by local social service agencies and the state Department of Family Assistance, the state and federal Departments of Labor and groups of private employers (Private Industry COlfficils) which heretofore have been focused onjob training or provision of services to the needy. Tri-State Transportation Campaign-- 8 About $3 billion is available nationwide for the "welfare to work" program, of which about $700 million is set aside for competitive grants to fund job training programs. New York will receive about $97 million in a "block grant" under a formula worked out by Congress, of which some portion is set aside for the competitive grant program. The grant program will be run by the Private Industry Councils. Applications for grant funds are due soon, and are expected to be in the $ I -5 million range, Interestingly, transportation is not a major focus of the grant program, although applications that "have a transportation component" will receive a higher score, The state Department of Labor is responsible for submitting the welfare-to-work plan to the federal DOL for approval; advocacy should be begun immediately to ensure that improved access to transportation is a major focus of New York's (and Long Island's plan), Long Island's PICs include one in Hempstead, one in the Oyster Bay area, and one in Suffolk County. The fact that several disparate programs and agencies exist to handle the responsibility for getting former welfare recipients to new-found jobs, none of which overtly include the MTA, local bus service providers or NYSDOT, is a weakness of the program. Some states have begun programs that should be emulated or at least investigated, New Jersey has a "workpass" voucher for former welfare recipients, good on buses and trains, and other programs (vans, jitneys, etc.) that cost the state $3.7 million. Connecticut is funding expanded bus service in Hartford, New Haven and Bridgeport at a cost of $22 million. Results aren't in yet. Most transit providers feel they are not in the social service business, and look at the problem this way, "We get 95% of the people 85% of the way to their destination. The employer may have to pick up the rest of the tab." New York Times, Nov. 17, 1997. Along with other opportunities identified herein, an immediate effort should be made to gain input to the local and state welfare-to-work plans, to apply for funding or identify appropriate agencies to apply for funding to run needed services, and to retain a planner to identify needed services, How To Reduce VMT In its 1993 Citizens Action Plan, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign proposed a goal for the region of reducing VMT 1 % per year or 15% over a l5-year period starting in 1992 as the best way from an environmental, economic and social point of view of resolving the region's mounting traffic congestion problems. There is no one strategy or measure that is a "silver bullet" that will accomplish VMI' reduction. A combination of strategies, each contributing a small percentage toward the VMT reduction goal, is the best way to approach the problem. Citizens, town planners and elected officials, transit and transportation agencies and others need to develop alternative mode projects and annually push them into the "project pool" to compete for scarce capital dollars, against highway related investment. Even if we wanted to shift investment to alternate modes immediately, few such projects have "matured" through the capital project pipeline. Tri-State Transportation Campaign-- 9 First and forcmost, Long Island nceds to adopt as a matter of policy, planning and law- through its county governments, its regional planning commission, its regional office of the state Department of Transportation, and its towns and villages, and its citizens-- a an approach that ranks transportation investments according to which best serve the VMT reduction and "livable communities" goal, so that where capacity investments are made, they serve the most number of people most efficiently, Some states have imposed such hierarchies in their official "congestion management system" required under the federal Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA), A simply put hierarchy by which to plan investments follows, . strategies which eliminate trips or reduce VMT should be the highest priority for investments. . strategies which shift existing car or truck trips with trips on alternate modes are the next priority, . strategies that shift trips from single occupant cars to multiple occupant cars or vans, etc. are the next priority . strategies which improve highway operations are next, because, while they increase the efficiency of the existing roadway system, they usually add capacity and are not VMT reduction strategies. . dead last are investments which add general-purpose lane-miles to roads, add to capacity or accommodate additional single occupant vehicle travel. These manage congestion, and may reduce it in the short-term, but add VMT to the overall system. [Please refer to Tables I and 2,] BikeIWalk Journey to Work (% oflnps) 25 21 5 5 _D_______O US Clies Austrailian Cities European Cities Asian Cities Source 'Cities and Automobile Dependence" Ne'MTIan and Ken'M;lrthy, 1989 Screening criteria and technical models to judge how well strategies will do-- especially as synergistic packages of strategies to solve particular transportation or congestion problems--have been developed by other states (based upon a combination of research and experience) and are now in operation, Such a model should be adopted by Long Island and put into use as soon as possible. A table of strategies and hierarchy for investment choices (like those that appear at Tables I and 2) should be adopted into Long Island's town comprehensive land use master plans, from which zoning codes emanate. LITP 2000: DOT's Study to Reduce Congestion in the Future Another good place to adopt this hierarchy is the Long Island Transportation Plan currently being conducted by NYSDOT's regional office, called L1TP 2000. The plan is a "major investment study," under ISTEA, meaning that it is a plan to determine what major transportation investments will be made potentially with federal funds over the Tri-State Transportation Campaign-- 10 next decade or so. This study is an amalgam of several road-related smaller studies that were going to take place in the next few years, which have been combined for the purpose of studying the congestion problem Island-wide. While this is a promising start, the study is presently is using just one land use scenario as the basis for its vehicle trip projections. We have advocated that the study should consider at least one alternative land use scenario that assumes a more compact form of land development with emphasis on trip reduction and use of existing centers and rail hubs, to determine the effect of compact development on congestion. Since denser development and mixed (commercial, office, industrial, residential) land uses near each other have been shown to be effective strategies to reduce trips and traffic in numerous studies, development of such an alternative scenario for LITP 2000 is critical to influencing Long Island's congestion picture in the future. DOT revealed that it was pursuing an interconnected network of HOY lanes almost from the outset of the study, and by the end of Spring 1998, had proffered maps of that HOY lane system to the citizens committee dealing with auto travel. While DOT should be commended for studying new light rail transit lines and better service, as well as High Occupancyffoll (HOT) lanes and at least one "take-a-Iane" conversion to an HOY lane, the general unpopularity ofHOY lanes coupled with their lack of use make a network of HOY lanes, or even the extension of the LIE HOY lane, a questionable future investment. With elected officials already calling for decommissioning the HOY lanes, it is likely that at some near-term point, HOY lanes could simply become new general purpose lanes that will attract even more traffic to them. Public participation for the LITP study was unfortunately balkanized into a modal rather than an investment planning approach; the public committees have been broken down into six- auto, transit, freight, special needs (including bicycle and pedestrian) and so forth. This formalistic approach robs participants of the cross-fertilization needed to put together synergistic packages of strategies that will work well together to achieve YMT reduction and a sustainable transportation network. More importantly, the structure keeps modal users from understanding the role each mode must play in an overall YMT reduction strategy. For instance, a good way to help ease peak-hour traffic congestion is to get a small percentage of motorists out of this traffic. This can best be accomplished by shifting these motorists to other modes or eliminating their need for trips, i.e., by implementing the strategies being discussed in the other committees. Fruitful debate and consensus cannot realistically be achieved if the modes are kept apart. Most people on Long Island have several modes accessible to them-they are not only pedestrians, or bus or rail passengers, or bicyclists, or only car users. The study's framework or hierarchy by which investments will be judged has been improved oflate, and made more transparent. One of the first tasks ofthe Sustainable Long Island group should be to use the forum of this LITP 2000 study to build the momentum to achieve a broad-based consensus on how to rank transportation investments, from which those investment decision will flow and to insert an alternate land use scenario that will help reduce the number of trips and thus congestion on the Island. Tri-State Transportation Campaign- 11 Redirect Transportation Investments Long Island is in the process of spending hundreds of millions of federal. state and county dollars on highway expansion. These capital dollars should be redirected away from highway expansion to improved maintenance of existing highways, separation of rail crossings, a strengthened and expanded rail system and a bus, shuttle and ferry system integrated with the rail system. The Island should therefore adopt a ceiling on spending for new highway capacity expansion projects until it has had an opportunity to devise a comprehensive, new, forward-looking transportation program consistent with its evolving land resource, downtown redevelopment, equitable access and environmental goals. That ceiling should be set at no more than 10% of state and federal funds. This is a reasonable figure that will allow enough breathing room to put into place a ranking system by which major transportation investments may be judged for their future efficiency and utility, as well as impact on fiscal reserves, the environment and the landscape. It is particularly important that Long Island protect the integrity of its beautiful parkways, including what remains of the Northern State Parkway after completion of the current construction project and the Southern State Parkway, and historically significant roadways, such as Route 25A. Once a "VMT reduction" ranking system is in place, specific, "place-based" or network solutions should also be explored. Many proposals are set forth below. Improve Rail Services and Connections. Providing a connection for the Long Island Railroad through the 63'd Street Tunnel under the East River into Grand Central Station is now a distinct possibility. This would allow for convenient access to the east side of Manhattan for residents of Nassau and Suffolk Counties who work there. New engines and cars that will be introduced starting in 1998 will improve LIRR service speed and convenience. On the other hand, few residents of Long Island who work in Nassau or Suffolk Counties use the LIRR to commute to work. Few places of employment that have located in Long Island are near railroad stations. Further, the major LIRR lines are aligned to serve Manhattan and are not inter-connected except at Jamaica and, to a lesser degree, Hicksville and Mineola. Long Island needs a bold, visionary plan to improve dramatically the LIRR as an intra-Long Island service. There could be several parts of such a plan, including: . increasing frequency of service between major intra-Long Island LIRR destinations . providing improved van and bus shuttle services from stations to employment centers . establishing low, commutation, intra-Long Island LIRR and connecting shuttle service fares, and . designing low-fare, convenient express bus routes to service key employment centers. Over the longer term, this plan could encompass consideration of new north-south light or heavy rail linkages in Nassau and Suffolk Counties to create rail loops, and adoption of town and county land use plan and tax incentives to promote location of new employment centers, as well as new, residential planned development districts, at or proximate to LIRR stations. On the outer, more easterly portions of the LIRR, the MTA should Tri-State Transportation Campaign-- 12 consider innovative ways to provide frequent, fast rail service with shuttle and bus connections. Freight Service. Long Island needs to concentrate on using the LIRR to move more freight than it presently docs, and to locate industrial and other bulk shippers along its lines, spurs and intermodal facilities (or places for future development of same). The NYSDOT needs to undertake an aggressive investment program for tracks, signals and sidings, partnering with the new LIRR freight operator, the NY & Atlantic Railway, towns and regional planning bodies in Long Island, to site businesses that could utilize rail for shipments along appropriate corridors. Currently, only a small portion of freight entering Long Island does so by rail or water. Land Use Initiatives. Creation of a more sustainable transportation network presents many opportunities for changes in land use to promote more "center-oriented" walkable communities through zoning changes, in-fill development and redevelopment. . The State is in the process of developing proposals for both Pilgrim State Hospital and Kings Hospital. From a land resource perspective, large portions of these tracts should be preserved. In each case, transit-friendly, mixed use developments on-site should be tightly clustered as close as possible to LIRR stations with provision for easy access to rail. Other facilities/areas ripe for redevelopment include state surplus facilities, Fairchild, Grurnann, LIDC and Central Islip. . The MT A and the Town of Brookhaven have worked on a proposal for a major development around the Ronkonkoma Station. This has only in part been realized to date. One or more major employment centers should be attracted to that location. . The LIRR provides excellent service to several old downtowns, such as Mineola, Hicksville, Babylon, Patchogue, Hempstead, Huntington, Port Jefferson and Riverhead. As part of the downtown revitalization project, the affected town and the two counties, with State support, should provide zoning, other land use, tax and other incentives to promote residential, retail and commercial development that can take advantage ofrail service. . Similar opportunities exist for redevelopment of the Grumann and Fairchild sites, which could couple new development with alternative or smart transportation linkages. . The Nassau County Master Plan is in the process of being updated, and can be used to refocus the transportation network toward center-oriented development. Travel Demand Reduction, Improved rail services will only have a modest impact on Long Island traffic levels, at least initially, Long Island must explore and implement comprehensive transportation demand management (TDM) programs to reduce congestion on its major highways. A number of sample strategies are found on the tables below. Simply put, demand reduction or demand management in the travel sector is similar to demand reduction of management in the energy sector. Electric utilities learned two decades ago that investing in demand management (off peak power use, cogeneration of electricity by volume steam users and more efficient technology would provide more capacity- more cheaply- than investments in new power plants (capacity). Investments in conservation also better protect the environment. In the demand reduction scenario, we need to substitute the word "travel" for "power" and invest in travel demand reduction strategies rather than new capacity. Tri-State Transportation Campaign-- 13 Economic Incentives. Although congestion carries with it a huge economic cost as well as environmental burden. those who travel in single occupant vehicles (SaVs) during congested periods are unaware of these costs bccause the use of scarce road capacity is li'ce. Congestion relief pricing not only provide market-based pricing incentives for cars and trucks to avoid traveling during highly congested periods and for commuters to use alternatives to Says; they also provide revenues to support van and other multi- occupant vehicles and improved rail and shuttle services to increase commuter options and choices. This also will improve the ability of reverse commuters and citizens who do not own or have access to their own cars to get to employment centers. Employers can separately and together also provide opportunities for travel to work by means other than Says. With today's information technologies and Internet access, groups of employers in the same location can provide information that will allow employees to find others commuting between common points of origin and destination. By charging employees who commuter in Says parking fees and returning those fees to those who arrive at work in carpools, van pools or buses or by rail, employers can also provide a clear economic incentive that supports commuter choices and options, plus improved access for those without cars. This is known as "cash out" parking, and removes the employer subsidy of "free" parking for employees who drive. Recent changes to the federal tax code will promote private firms ability to employ "cash out" parking as a strategy to shape their employees' commuting habits. Recent changes in the federal transportation law (ISTEA, now TEA-21) also makes Transitchek more attractive and easier to implement for employers. Conclusion Long Island has great potential to re-orient its transportation and land use to reduce car dependency and reduce traffic congestion. It will require the use of market-based incentives, compact and mixed-use land development especially in transit hubs, and greater investment in public transportation and demand management strategies. angoing studies provide appropriate forums to influence future investments. The Tri-State Transportation Campaign invites local elected leaders, transit and land use planners, developers, citizens and others to join with us in this endeavor. For more information, contact: Janine Bauer, Executive Director Tri-State Transportation Campaign 240 W. 35th Street, Suite 801 New York, NY 10001 Email: ibauerlqJ,tstc.org Amber Levofsky, LI Coordinator Tri-State Transportation Campaign 315 Main Street Riverhead, NY 11901 Tel. 516-369-616I/Fax 369-3389 James T.B. Tripp, General Counsel Environmental Defense Fund 257 Park Avenue South, 16th FIr. New York, NY 10010 Email: jim_tripp@edf.org Tri-$tate Transportation Campaign-- 14 Table 1. VMT Reduction Strategy Hierarchy Strategies toEliminate.'J"rcipsior ReduceVMJ" Growth Management/Activity Centers Congestion Pricing Transportation Demand Management Center Oriented Land Use Regs/Incentives Site Design Standards Location of Jobs and Housing Road User Fees Parking Fees/Cash Out Telecommuting Trip Reduction Ordinances 'so Exclusive r.O.W. - rapid rail, commuter rail, light rail Exclusive r.o.w. - busways, bus lanes Bus bypass ramps Fleet Expansion Vehicle replacement/upgrade Improved intermodal connections Park-and-ride facilities - jitneys serving RR stations Service provision/enhancement/expansion Traffic signal preemption Fare reductions or reduced rates of fare increase Transit information systems Transit coordination Increased transit security Transit marketing Intelligent bus stops Advanced mode choice systems Bicycle Facilities Bicycle storage systems Pedestrian facilities Ferry service Strate ie ~d - "",>0h,g ~-" Transit Operational Improvements Intelligent Travel Systems (ITS) Alternative Modes Encourage high occupancy vehicle use Transportation Demand Management Table 2. Congestion Management Hierarchy S.~r.a~egi'~,t9?J!!lI:l.!;g,~~; igIJ0""ilY';Qplt~t!s>]~~.f." Traffic Operational Improvements Freeway operations and management HOV lanes, ramp bypasses, toll savings Park-and-ride lots Guaranteed ride home programs Employer trip reduction programs Parking Management Rideshare matching services Van pooling programs Intersection improvements Traffic surveillance and control systems Truck restrictions Elimination of bottlenecks Tri-State Transportation Campaign-- 15 Commercial vehicle lanes Ramp metering Incident removal Construction management Access Management Driveway control Median Control Service Roads Intelligent Travel Systems (ITS) Automated Toll Collection Advanced traveler information systems Commercial vehicle operations Advanced vehicle control systems Strate ies,to;Add~G~li=.. hPur.ose'''''a. aliifu,,+~\.~ ~,g""+{.~'''4o,;t''';+''"';'","''Ak' we,' .:.",,!iP~~=t"$~;>P:,,-;\tiw,:/::~"/~'Y:':".>b Addition of General Purpose Lanes Freeway lanes Arterial lanes Tri-State Transportation Campaign-- 16 . CAMPAIGN \1 1/ Ii 1 / j ~ j II,~ t h, U, g I Ii 1/ Long Island Rail Station Access in Suffolk County. Tri-State Transportation Campaign is a coalition offourteen environmental and public interest organizations in the New Y ork/New Jersey/Connecticut region. Tri-State's goal is to have an environmentally sound, economically efficient, and equitable transportation system throughout the area. SUMMARY OF PROJECT On Long Island, discussions of station access issues are few. Ridership has been climbing on the Long Island Railroad for the past five years, however and is expected to increase rapidly at some locations due to the introduction of dual mode engines (allowing more direct service) and bi-Ievel passenger cars (adding seats). Numerous communities report severe and growing parking shortages. Several articles have appeared in newspapers warning of the impending crisis and defaulting, by turns, the railroad and host community for failing to solve the problem. The proposed project in Suffolk County draws on the successes of an ongoing project. The Tri-State Transportation Campaign is currently engaged in a project, funded through the Environmental Protection Agency, to promote the use of alternative (non-auto) modes of travel to train stations on the Morris and Essex Lines in northern New Jersey. The urgency of the project stems from the rapid growth in ridership on the lines and New Jersey Transit's rush to accommodate these new riders with as many parking spaces as the towns will accept. The opportunity to promote less pollution and less intrusive modes of train station access arises from many towns' resistance to added parking in their downtowns. The project has had remarkable success and has received extensive success in local and regional papers. For example, the Town of Maplewood implemented a station shuttle that has sparked the interest of surrounding communities and has led to increased federal and state support for the project. TRI-STATE TRANPORTATION CAMPAIGN'S ROLE Tri-State has extensive experience in successfully advocating alternative modes of transportation at the community level. Tri-State's role, through its Long Island Coordinator, will be to identifY promising communities in which to work on Long Island, to assist those communities in developing alternative station access strategies, and to assist towns in obtaining funding. TRI-STATE TRANSPORTATION CAMPAIGN - LONG ISLAND OFFICE 315 E. Main Street, Riverhead, NY 11901 z (516) 369-6161 (T), (516) 369-3389 (F) 240 WEST 35TH STREET. SUITE 801 NEW YORK. NEW YORK 10001 PHONE 12121268.7474 FAX (2121268.7333 E-MAil ttc@ttc.org WEB http://www.tstc.org -~-~-~-----_.._-'----- STATE EDITION WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 1998 THE NEWSPAPER FOR NEW JERSEY Feds discover joys of the jitney Towns to split $3.5 million for rail shuttles -- --------- . . --"'",.~ . .. PHOTO BY JIM PATHE At the Montclair Heights train station yesterday, Rep. Bill pascrell details a $3.5 million sel-aslde In lederal lunds for localjllney service. By Kelly Heyboer STAR-LEDGER STAfF Jitney buses - popular at the turn of the century for shuttling people around for a nickel - are about to make a multimillion.dollar comeback. Within the next year, rail com- muters across northern New Jersey could find a free shuttle bus next to the tracks waiting to take them home, Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-8th Dis!.) announced yesterday. The federai government is setting aside $3.5 million for dozens of towns to set up jitney service between crowded train stations and residen- tial neighborhoods. Jitney buses - small shuttles that travel a regular route on a flexi- ble schedule - recently were reintro- duced in Maplewood as a way to alle- viate parking problems at the train station. passengers who once circled lots each morning looking for spaces now leave their cars at home in favor of the shuttles, which loop through the town at rush hour. The success of the service, which has grown from 10 riders to nearly 200 in less than 18 months, prompted Pascrell to set aside funds in the lat- est federal transportation bill specifi- cally for jitney services at rail sta- tions. "No longer will communities wishing to have a shuttle bus system . . be left out in the cold." said Pas- crell. Municipalities along the Morris. town, Gladstone. and Boonton Unes will be ellgible for the funds, in addi- tion to towns with stations on the Montclair Branch and Main and Ber- gen llnes, transit officials said. The $3.5 million will be used to help im- prove existing jitney services, like the one in Maplewood, and start new shuttle services. other grants already have been handed out to start jitney programs PLEASE SEE BUSES, PAGE 25 . .. . :+,.,::~,.-!:rf:d~i/fi~~';;i:5/i._tHif::<'_~'~,~i.ti\ :fie: . """'~"'<'f""';;-'"":;'-"",":,','n'l'ill!<2:ltf;',''''I!"''i'.'''''q>,;".....,"".~:_~7""~'lt:,;:$i;kf"j;;,f;;1~~-b~ :,~~f.ll..!f,;lH:~"~~..":\!~;m'"'!\?"~.~:o.Jtf;f,1k-;-;,.,;li'_"''''''';\.1l,,"F."Jt".""-,,r...-'..~l1,*~\~--"""""""'" .. . Buses e',JNTINlIEIJ fROM PAGE 19 Feds to undeIWrite rail jitney service in Easl Oran~('. Wpst Orang-e, Berke- ley rl('i~hts, Spntl~n('ld and Chatham Town:;l1ip. Town.s that nllssed out on the imrial grants, including Montclair and Somh Orange, will be considered for the new federall\mding. Ot1cials were unsure yesterday exactly how the $3.5 million would be divided. But based on the start-up costs 0: ::;imilar jitney programs, doz- ens of municipalities could get a piece of the money, federal officials sald. Montclair. with its six train sta- tions, \\rill be given special considera- tion, transit oftkials said. The town, which has more rail stations than any other municipality in New Jersey. ex- pects a parking cnmch in 2000 when the Montclair Connection is built_ The rail link will connect the Mont- clair Brancb and Boonton Line and give thousands of passengers their Ilrst non-stop ride into Manbattan_ Montclair's daily ridership, whicb now stands at 1,500, is expected to spike once the direct service to New York City opens_ An inOux of riders could bring serious parking problems at all six Montclair stations. Standing in the small parking lot at the Zllontclair Heights traln station in Upper Montclalr yesterday, Coun- cilman Bob Russo said the town soon will be faced with a dilemma. NJ Transit has guaranteed that the Montclair Heights parking lot will not be ,expanded for at least seven years because of objections from residents. "Montclair really is ripe for jitney service," Russo. said. "I'm already thinking of routes." Though the new jitney buses will be run by the individual towns, NJ Transit v.ill help select the grant re- cipients and ass~st them in setting up schedules and routes, said NJ Transit Executive Director Shirley DeLibero. Mass transit advocates heralded New jitney service Stations along the Morns/Essex, Bergen/Main and Boonton lines are eligible for $3.5 million in new federal funding to start jitney services. l_~_~~nt~~J i? j! i .~ 8 ~ " I " ~ I!'. 15 ~ c c '" ~ 0 w ~ 0 c ~ E: 6 J: '- ~ ~ " " :5 U CI> CI> , ~ u ~ " c . ~ ~~~8 w 0 '" " 0 ~ '" ~ ~ lllESTAfI-lEDGER the new focus on alternatives to driv- ing to traln stations. In addition to aI- leviatine: narkiml oroblems. iitnevs re- duce suburban tramc and cut air 001- lution. said Patrick Schultz of the Tri- State Transoortatinn Camn~iP'n The idea is a tbrowback to a tum. of-the-century idea. Jitneys - sbort- travel vehicles named alter the jitney, or nickel, fare - have practically dis- appeared from downtown sbopping districts. But the concept is being re- vived around the country as a simple way to encourage train traveL Los Angeles and Denver are among the cities considering bringing back jit- neys, Schultz said. "In New Jersey, it's a good envi- ronment for it to take off," Schultz sald. "Maplewood has served immea- surablyas a catalyst." The Maplewood jitney service began in March 1997 as a way to avoid building parking garages or new downtown lots. Nearly 10 per- cent of the town's 2,200 train com- muters use the two buses, which loop a portion of the four-square-mile Mahwah Ramsey A1lendale WaJdwick Ho-Ho-Kus Ridgewood Glen Rock Main Glen Rock (8oroHall) Radburn Hawthorne Paterson Clifton Passaic Delawama 8roadway Plauderville town for two bours during the mom- . ing and evening rush hours. "I usually take the jitney every day. I love it," sald Margaret Marbury as sbe got off the traln at tbe Ma- plewood station last nigbt. Marbury and other riders 1!1ed off tbe traln and onto the waiting bus for the 2()' to 30-minute loop tbrougb town. "Every day it's more people," sald jitney operator Pierre Louis, who . drives one of the 2O-Seat buses; "Sometimes it's over 30 people, A lot, of people do stand in the bus. (The service) is really working." The jitney has had other benefits, too. "Maplewood has seen a great run-up in real estate values," said Mayor Gerry Ryan. Commuter Gene Zielinski could only watcb fellow Maplewood resi. dents Ille onto the free jitney last night and bope that tbe new federal funds would help expand the service. "It doesn't stop where I live," Zie- linski said, as be hit the pavement for his dally walk home. Staff writer Dave Newman contributed to this report. 1..L.L..I....Ja_I-E.l1~Lk;.L ';...;:'~_,\;::.:.IU~,'...;:::.,,~,~~.- !,'L!~-l;c~hk;. ~ '~'~.~ '\"~1. \ 'LJ-~ ; ~..lrl _~4~'" Business One of the tarnished real estate gems in Leona Helmsley's New Jersey portfolio found a new owner. PAGE 43 _-__'o. TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1997 mer School bus, which also was used by senior Citizens, has picked up and dropped off adults at designated loea- Instead of paving over tree-filled ttons. Three new small buses soon will acres near the train station and build- tSke over its route and more, travers- ing a parldng lot, Maplewood insll- ing the township's 60 miles of streets, tuted a jitney bus system that takes Davenport said. And the old bus will commuters to and from the terminal return to use by seniors. Two-and-a-hal! years alter the The expansion of service should trees were saved, and uproar over a further reduce the number of people planned 400.car parking garage who drive to the NJ Transit rail sta. abated, the free bus system is work- tiOD for the popular Midtown Direct ingso well It Is heingexpanded. train servlee to Manhattan, omc1als Yesterday, Mayor Ellen Daven- said. port, Rep. Bill PasereU Jr. (D-8th Dis- "The jitney has proven to be a trict), township committee members great success. and by expanding the and alternate transportation advo- program, we will bring the service to cates proclaimed the jitney an essen- more and more residents... smd Pas- tial part of Maplewood and a SIIgges~ crell, who Is ere<lited with helping to tion of what can happen elsewhere. secure funding for the expansion. For the l!lSt seven months, a for- He added.. "We1'~ avoided putting n___~_nn-.l_____~.._ ~ By KevIn C._ STAR-lEOOER STAFF P"GE 38 DE DE Essex . . . money into a parking garage and en- couraging more cars on the road- ways." The jitney service Is vital because there are only 560 parking spaces for the estimated 1,400 commuters who dally use the train station. Pascrelllohhled the state Depart- ment of Transportation to make $215,000 available so the munlclpailty could purchase two natural.gas pow- ered, 22-seat mini-buses. The new vehicles are expected to be in operation between January and March, Davenport predicted. The mayor said NJ TransIt Execu- tive Dlreetor Shirley DeLlhero has agreed to give Maplewood - as early as next month - a so-called "Wheels" mint-bus at no cost. The new routes Jwl11 bring the JIn- ~ tey service to two-thirds of township residents that currently do not have access to the free service in those northwest sections of the four-square- mile community, including Rldge- wood Road and Collinwood Road, of- Dclslssald. It was seven months ago that Ma- plewood began the experimental jit- ney service and started providlng five morning and five evening runs be- tween the train station and several 10- cations. A one-year grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the international Counell for Local Envtromnental Iniatitlves in Berkeley, Cll1If, ailowed Maplewood to secure $16,000 and use the money to pay the part-time salaries.of~tney PlEASE SEE JITNEY, PAGE 38 I , .~ I mtt ~tar-1.tb1\tr Maplewood to expand free bus service to trains Jitney CONTINUED FROM PAGE 37 drtvers. As commuters realized they could travel to and from the station in 13 m1nute~ ridership grew. Today, some of the mOrninJ Jitney runs are staod- ing-room-oriiY. . -. . . "We estimate that the Jitney Is saving 60 to 70 roundtrips by car, In. eluding those dropped all," said Vicki Herzfeld Arteln, a Park Road resident and member of the township's volWl. teer transportation committee, Arteln and Davenport both pointed to the help the jitney receives from Therese Langer, a member of the Trt-Blate Transportation cam~ palgn, a Manhattan nonproDt consor- tium that promotes transportation al- ternatives in New Jersey, New York and CoIlneclleul They also lauded Maplewood CommItteeman Morris "Mickey" stem ''We need alternate strateSes to ' stmde OCCUD8IlCY vebtclea." said Jan. 1: B~.state'. exeeutlve d1rec' tor. "Jltoev's are not Democratic or Reoublloan. They're rrood Ideas that relate to lransoortatlon." Langer, who works as a staff sci- entist With Rutgers University Envi- ronmental Law ClInic in Newark, said Maplewood's jitney experience. Is II prime example of what transporation refonn Is aD about. PHOTO BY CtlRIS fAYTOK Offtclats announce plans tG expand free bus service for commuters using the NJ rranall trafn staUon In Map_. Mayor Ellen Davenport, right, Is ' joined by Janlne Ba.ar of the Tri _ Transportation campaign and Rep. - Bill PeacralI. . '" ' , 1 \/ I I . I TRI-STATE TRANSPORTATION CAMPAIGN ,\1 0 hi! i z i TJ g the Reg ion "'11,\ '. \ '., ~ ~ ~, .- . ~.. ,,- ..-... HOW DID WE GET INTO THIS? "Ij gill' o A clustered population used public transit to reach work, shopping, beaches and ballparks swiftly and conveniently. !;f.".- ~- . Ii () As suburbs grew, highways sprang up. Previously inaccessible areas then became avail- able for homes, shopping centers, and oHice parks. I ~ Sprawl required more highways, which pro- moted still more sprawl: a vicious circle that now is paralyzing the region. It's time to face what all of us know: our transportation system is broken. Traveling in our region has become 0 nightmare. Getting to work and bock isn'tll1e only hassle. So is getting away for lI1e weekend. Or just gening to lI1e bollpork, lI1e moll, or even II1rough town. The endless delays. The incessant rood repairs. The deafening trucks. The occiden~. We know lI1e horrors personally, 011 too well. And yet lI1ecombined cost to society is even greoterll1onwe realize. In fact, transportonon is our region's Number One economic and environmental problem. The economic costs. TIre direct cos~ 01 our highway.centered tronspoctotion system ore staggering. Gas, insurance, upkeep and deprecionon cost cor owners on overage $3600 per cor per yeor. Taxpayers pay onoll1er $2 billion 0 yeor for rood building and maintenance. Lost work nme, occidental injuries, and illness from air pollution cost tens of billions more. Inadequate tronsportotion cripples our region's competitiveness. In choosing where to locote, businesses focus on convenience in gening to work and the overall livability of lI1e area. Traffic congestion hurts our region on boll1 coun~. In oddinon, inadequate suburban transit isolates suburban businesses from lI1e urban lobar populonon. Congesnon also affects trucks, increasing lI1e cost and reducing lI1e reliability of freight movement in our region. Environmentol ond sociol costs. Overuse 01 motor vehides is poisoning our air. Next to Los Angeles, our region has lI1e most unheolll1y air in lI1e country. Children and lI1e elderly ore seriously affected, os ore 1I10se will1 allergies or respiratory illness, and anyone who exercises outdoors. Motor vehicles ore by lor lI1e biggest source of pollunon, contribunng neorly 50% of our region's ozone, and 90% of the corban monoxide. Suburban sprowl is despoiling the land. Highway expansion fosters decentralized development. Open space gives way to low-densityhousing, officeporks and strip molls. Ironically, suburbanites must now travel for from lI1eir communines to find rural ambience- creating snll more congesnon in lI1e pracess. Accidents doim live lives every day in our region. And 1I10usonds of serious injuries each year. In addition, excessive motor vehide use: . Decimates locol downtown areas os regional molls draw shoppers away. . Makes communines uncongenial to walking and bicycling . Creates noise pollunon 1I10t raises stress and lowers prapertyvolues. . Increases us. dependence on foreign oil, os well os habitat destruction from oil drilling and lI1e risk 01 oil spills in transit. I . fll ", ......... iii r , I I I . t Region The Trl-5to e . . f 32 counties consists 0 . New York, New 10 d Connecticut. Jersey an .. . ~ ~ -. , ....1 ., I L' .1 l .... 'J if .1 ;t r~ TInkering with the system will not work. It's time for comprehensive solutions. Extending 0 highway here, and adding 0 lone there will not begin to solve our problems. Such piecemeal approaches only connnue the spirol that is gening us nowhere. We need 0 whole new approach: 0 comprehensive, multHoceted effort with 0 scope equal to that of the problem. A network solution. We need 0 more voried and functional tronsportonon network. One that lessens our dependence on motor vehides by providing genuine alternatives. One that moves people more quickly and safely, not only into and within New York City, but also within communines, between suburbs, and across the region. And moves more freight by roil and less by truck. Envision on intelligent tronsportonon system. In which people could get to the airport by train. To the troin stonon by bike. To the video store by foot. Congesnon would ease. Pollution would plummet. Business would prosper. And communines would thrive. Not just possible, essential. Restructuring our transportation system con't be done overnight, but it con be done. The kinds of proposals discussed in the following pages ore already being implemented elsewhere in Americo and Europe. The trKtote oreo con do os well-ond must do so if we ore to remain compentive os 0 world commercial center. Vehide for lhange: a broader perspedive. Comprehensive solunons come only from comprehensive planning. Yet today, no one is looking at the big picture. Seporote transportation departments, transit agencies, and Metropolitan Planning Orgonizonons in the three states pu~ue their individual proiects---iltren without coordinonng with each other, without examining the total economic, energy, and environmental effects, and with only token consideronon of olternonves. We need to change the focus of our thinking: away from individual components of our system, such os highways, and toword the tronsportonon network os 0 whole. Traffic Growth (in billions of vehicle miles) 150 136 125 112 100 75 50 64 rill 1970 1994 2010 HIGHWAY DEPENDENCY Each year our already crowded highways take on more traffic. We need transportation alternatives to halt our growing dependence on cars. There is no one simple answer for our region. There are dozens. I The tran~ormonon we envision is sweeping ond fundomentol, yet it consists of very concrete ond pracncolsteps. The following praposols form 0 guide, noto blueprint. Some ideos will be modified, others odded. Token together they serve most of 011 to show how much we con do to build 0 nonsportonon system that no longer limits us, but serves us. I I Improving tronsit. Maintain and upgrade rail and bus systems. . Modernize rail infrastructure, os well os signal and passenger information systems. . Upgrade rail stonons for easier access and convenient shopping. Amenines in stonons eliminate the need for seporote nips by cor. . Convert municipal bus fleets from diesel fuel to compressed natural gas. Develop incennves for private fleet owners to do the some. REDUCING DEMAND An important key to improving trans- portation is to reverse our growing dependence on private cars. The past 20 years have seen a 58% iump in licensed drivers, a 40% rise in vehicle miles driven. The results are all too apparent. Every change that reduces demand for COf travel is a step in the right direction. One place to start is to make visible the hidden costs of car trovel-and to link those costs to people's day-ta-day driving decisions. For example, when drivers pay the actual cost of IIfree parkingll at their office or shopping mall, car pooling increases dramatically. Similarly, if motorists paid for their auto insurance each time they filled up . . . if they paid per-mile the cost of highway maintenance _ . . if they paid extra to drive at peak times or in the most congested areas, auto use would quickly decline. And necessary vehicle travel would become less burdensome. Integrate our historicolly separote bus, subway and roil systems. . Coordinate schedules and integrate passenger informonon. . Ofler 0 low.wst regional fore cord for intermodol novel on 0 single-trip, monthly, or unlimited basis. Expand coverage. . Extend subways to unserved oreos of the five boraughs. . Provide L1RR service to Grand Central Stonon. . Provide new roil service in Connecticut, the Hudson Volley, and cennol and northern New Jersey, using exisnng corridors. . Connect Brooklyn, Queens and the Branx with 0 new transit line, enhancing novel options between and within these boraughs. . Ease Monhonon congestion with 0 midtown trolley. . Provide train access to loGuordio and Kennedy airports. . Expond ferry service throughout the region. . Snmulote private suburban bus and van service between residennol oreos and transit stonons ond between stonons and office complexes. Strengthening raillreight. Trucks cause for more road damage and pollution than autos, yet our system encourages truck freight by charging trucks only a fraction of their true costs. . Reduce taxpayer subsidies by taxing nucks according to weight and distance traveled. . Build the long-deloyed freight tunnel across the f1udson and improve rail service to revitalized intermodol hubs in f1orlem, Brooklyn, and Staten Island. . Snengthen nuck emissions stondords. Enhancing personol trovel. Bicycling is one of the cheopest ways to reduce pollution and congestion. . Build 0 network of safe bike lanes and off.,treet paths. . Establish bike porking at transit stonons, office buildings, and recreonon centers. . Provide for bike nonsport on 011 buses and trains. Encouroge walking. . Build or expand sidewalks os needed on suburban and city roods. . Use "traffic colming" techniques developed in Europe to make streets more wolker.friendly. . Rezone downtown oreos to increase density and reduce walking distances. Imprave auto trove/. . Provide bener prevennve maintenance on bridges and raods to reduce the reconsnuction thot keeps paralyzing traffic . Enforce and imprave vehide emissions inspecnons. Improving lond use. Break the cyde of suburban sprawl, which pramotes driving, pollunon, and loss of open space. Instead of continuing to devour open space, future development should be sited near existing or planned transit services. . Limit state infrasnucture funds (for roods, water, and sewerlines)toprajectsintronsitilmssibleoreos. . Require new office and shopping centers to indude bus/van shelters, bike lock-ups, and otheromenines to encourage non,or access by customers and employees. . Establish regional commissions to shope land use and nonsportonon decisions. The move is on. The rood to the future beckons now to 011 of us: businesses; developers; freight and passenger transportonon providers and planners; environmental agencies; state and locol officials; motorists, snophongers, and every cinzen. The Tr,Stote Transportonon Campaign will work with 011 concerned graups and individuals. We hope to be working with you. Contact us for more informonon at the phone number shown on the bock of this brochure. And together let us get our region moving again. - . . ~ I - -~- . '.,. ... ,-,""""" , - T ..... - . -' I , .J' ~.~ _----.e:4J1/ij}'"'''' 'r i I ~ ,