Oil industry trolls in congress stage another attack on #publictransit

Union looks to save public transit fund for Northeast cities | TheHill: "The ATU's Hanley echoed that sentiment on Thursday, saying that "the seven Northeast states that have received 'high density' money since 2005 likely transport the majority of transit riders in America on a daily basis — New York alone has one-third.""

Councilman wants to remove almost a half-million cars from NYC

New York Post: "City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez said on Monday that he wants to reduce the number of Big Apple cars by 400,000 in an ambitious attempt to reduce traffic deaths and improve public transportation."

Public transportation can ease parking woes

Letter The Buffalo News: "Increased use of public transportation in the area can help to resolve issues like those the residents of the Fruit Belt face. It is critical that alternatives to automobile parking on the campus be rapidly developed and promoted. The Allen-Medical Campus Rail Station, as an example, is an integral part of the campus and should be better leveraged to reduce parking demand."

"Plan for cars, you get traffic": Why de Blasio would be wrong to depedestrianise Times Square

CityMetric: "Times Square will continue to be a tourist destination, and forcing pedestrians back onto narrow sidewalks is a recipe for certain danger and disaster."

Commuters Give Up Cars and Warm Up to Public Transportation

WXXI News: "Hodges says her co-workers pay more than $100 a month to park downtown.  She also likes the social aspect of public transportation. She has met people on the bus from her firm and other companies.

“It’s kind of neat how we look out for each other. If somebody hasn’t been on the bus for a few days people start asking around. Or if someone hasn’t been on the bus and they come back people ask, ‘Were you on vacation? Were you sick?’ "

There won't be an official tally on the number of people taking the ROC Transit Day challenge. Organizers say they handed out a thousand free bus fare cards. People who take them don't always use them."

Why New York City should ban cars

Business Insider: "New York City should ban all personal cars from not just the park, but from most of the city itself."

Auto-Free New York/vision42 Working Group Meeting: Melbourne’s Tramway Network

Streetsblog : "New York City can benefit from learning how other, more progressive cities have cut car use and enhanced their public transport systems.  An outstanding example is Melbourne, Australia which has a tramway system that’s a model for NYC and other U.S. cities. New York City dismantled its tram system, the largest in the world, in the 1930s and 1940s because Mayor La Guardia thought that streetcars got in the way of autos in the city.  Melbourne chose a different path."



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Albany buses are crowded, people want #publictransit

CDTA, public officials push for transportation bill - The Buzz: Business news: "“Most of our routes are overcrowded,” Basile added. But CDTA doesn’t have enough buses and other resources to address that."

Why It Is Easy to Hate the Poor

The Stranger: "But this is to be expected, because in our society it is easy for the middle class to hate the poor—to hate their lack of money (stalling a line in a store as they count pennies for a pack of cigarettes or bottle of beer or bag of diapers or can of food), their seemingly endless run-ins with the law, their bad habits, their constant neediness. Indeed, the hatred of public transportation is intimately tied with the hatred of the poor. Middle-class types who are unfortunate enough to use the bus expose themselves to the talk, the begging, the bad health of the poor. But instead of blaming the society, they blame the form of transportation. The unpleasant practices connected with poverty thus reinforce a generalized sign system that identifies these practices not with social conditions but with individuals. Poverty is identified as a "life choice." The use of food stamps, a character flaw. You notice chicken bones under a bus seat. The hatred grows."

Public transportation is right choice for Queens

Queens Chronicle: "If New York is serious about creating jobs and improving access to employment for hundreds of thousands of residents, it should invest in the Rockaway Beach right-of-way as a public transit option. Alleviating travel times for residents will better connect the outer borough to economic opportunity. Public transportation is the best choice for Queens."