Kate Hinds

Los Angeles traffic camera (photo by stevelyon/Flickr)

After a surprising commission vote, Los Angeles's red light traffic cameras may be on the way out. (Los Angeles Times)

The Senate will hold a hearing on terror threats to rail next week. (The Hill)

Richard Florida writes about the financial benefits of living in a transit-friendly neighborhood. (The Atlantic)

The UK's top ten cycle theft hotspots are laid bare in The Guardian.

Boston's aging T trains need $100 million in work immediately in order to keep them running. (Boston Globe)

There's discord within OPEC as members fail to agree on raising oil production levels. (New York Times)

San Francisco OKs parking permits for nannies. (AP via Mercury News)

(Transportation Nation) NJ Transit, like many states and cities, already has a security campaign in place, urging customers to phone in reports of "suspicious activity." Now, the campaign has a new dimension: Text Against Terror.

Customers who see something worrisome -- an unattended package, or the aforementioned "suspicious activity" -- are being urged to text NJ Transit Police at NJTPD (65873).

"Texting is more discreet, so people can report their tip in a far more unobtrusive way," said Courtney Carroll, a spokesperson for NJ Transit.  "So if something is going on next to them they can immediately report it -- rather than having to move away and wait to make a phone call."

NJ Transit is the third largest transit system in the country, and NJ Transit police usually field 30 to 40 calls per year on the the existing security hotline.

(Transportation Nation) Anyone who's stood on a street corner in New York City has probably marveled at the general unwillingness of users to follow traffic rules. Now you can see an illustrated annotation of bad behavior taking place in one Manhattan intersection. Be sure to watch the video until the end as it's ordered by type of chaos, starting with bikes, then moving on to cars.

This master's thesis video, (first posted by Buzzfeed) by Ron Gabriel (which reminded me of the Air Traffic Controller game) exposes what he says is "a clash of long-standing bad habits — such as pedestrians jaywalking, cyclists running red lights, and motorists plowing through crosswalks."

3-Way Street from ronconcocacola on Vimeo.

(Via Buzzfeed)

(robotbrainz/Flickr)

NJ Transit is taking corporate bids for naming its stations, terminals, and trains -- and one bidder is crying foul. (The Star-Ledger)

If regional Detroit can't agree on an integrated rail and bus system, they risk losing millions in federal dollars -- and what may be "our last, best opportunity." (Detroit Free Press)

Mayor Bloomberg floated a new plan to expand taxi service in the outer boroughs by setting up hundreds of stands where livery cabs could legally pick up passengers on the street. (Wall Street Journal)

US DOT head Ray LaHood went to New Orleans for the groundbreaking of their streetcar expansion project. (Fast Lane)

Is texting while driving as dangerous as we think -- and is a ban the right way to prevent it? (The Takeaway)

Delta is scrambling to do damage control after charging a group of U.S. soldiers returning home from deployment in Afghanistan $200 each for extra bags. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

It took two years to plan for parking at the upcoming US Open in Bethesda. (WAMU)

Chicago will get protected bike lanes, and Rahm Emanuel bikes 25 miles on weekends. (Chicago Sun-Times)

97 degrees in Minneapolis = Twin Cities highway damage. (Boing Boing)

A dancing traffic cop has become a sensation in Manila. (BBC News video)

Owning a Harley-Davidson in China is a status symbol for a small slice of the aspirational Chinese consumer. (Marketplace)

The cost of New Jersey’s fight with the federal government over a bill for the canceled trans-Hudson tunnel project is mounting

The US Department of Transportation wants NJ Transit to return $271 million it gave the state for the ARC tunnel.

The digging had been underway for a year when Governor Christie killed the project last autumn out of what he said were concerns about potential cost overruns. When the Federal Transit Administration sent a bill, NJ Transit hired a DC law firm.

So far, New Jersey has spent about a million dollars in legal fees on the battle. Officials said the state doesn't have a set limit on legal costs. Meanwhile, interest on the $271 million debt -- which the feds say the state is also responsible for --  is accruing at 1%, or about $225,000 a month.

NJ Transit spokesman Paul Wyckoff said that “talks between parties are continuing.” He added: “Hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake, and taxpayers deserve the very best effort we can provide them.”

The US DOT said that there was no new update, and Governor Christie's office did not respond to requests for comments.

Legal fees in New Jersey's fight over the canceled ARC Hudson River rail tunnel have passed $1 million -- and are growing. (AP via NJ.com)

Six months into the job, the governor of Connecticut still hasn't appointed a transportation commissioner -- perhaps because the department has a reputation for being more focused on highways instead of mass transit. (Wall Street Journal)

Chicago will officially mark the beginning of construction of 100 miles of new protected bike lanes today. (Chicago Sun-Times)

Building a bike lane in Chicago, 2007 (photo by TouringCyclist via Flickr)

The Bronx Borough President has a plan to expand taxi service in outer boroughs. (New York Daily News)

Is it mold? Is it chemical? Is it the Hudson River? Riders -- and an olfactory specialist -- try to ID that special PATH train smell. (New York Times)

The mid-Atlantic regions kicks off its "Smooth Operator" program -- which is a program that targets aggressive drivers, not a multi-state Sade concert tour. Drivers, take note: move in space with minimum waste and maximum joy. (AP via Washington Post)

The Beacon Theater is set to play host to the 65th Tony Awards on Sunday.

Sky Express might have continued to operate under another name despite a ban. (The Takeaway)

The New York Times expresses doubts at whether the city's upcoming bike share program will be financially viable.

Why haven't more cities followed London's congestion pricing scheme? (Next American City)

A tunnel on the Paris-to-Antwerp high-speed rail line has been topped with solar panels. (The Guardian; video below)

Beverly Hills school officials don't want Los Angeles's Westside subway to run underneath their high school. (Los Angeles Times)

Crains New York writes: "It took a week for the governor's office to deny a rumor that Christopher Ward would be dumped as executive director of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey after this summer."

Chicago is getting New York-style bike lanes. (WBEZ)

President Obama visits a Chrysler plant in Toledo today to talk about the industry's recovery. (Detroit Free Press)

Laura D'Andrea Tyson writes in the New York Times "the eroding quality of infrastructure is making the United States a less attractive place to do business."

Huntington Beach has become the first city in California to offer traffic school for bicyclists who break the law. (Los Angeles Times)

Ocean City, Maryland, is trying to lure tourists with the promise of free gas. (WAMU)

Ocean City (photo by Notyourbroom/Wikimedia Commons)

Some Chevy Volt dealers are taking the $7,500 tax rebate for themselves, then selling the cars "used." (The Takeaway)

The DOT fined Continental Airlines and US Airways for violating price advertising rules. (Los Angeles Times)

Long Island City (Queens) will get bike lanes this summer. (New York Daily News)

NYC DOT head Janette Sadik-Khan talked about pothole repair before the City Council. (New York Daily News)

In his second installment of "On the Go" -- a video question-and-answer session -- US Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is in full Your-Uncle-From-Peoria discovers youtube mode.

He went to little Jackie's baseball game, had Aunt Paula's delicious ribs on Memorial Day, and stayed out late waving glow sticks with little Brittney and Paul, Jr. No, just kidding.

He awarded $2 billion in high-speed rail grants, kicked off the "click it or ticket" seatbelt campaign, unveiled new fuel economy labels, and delivered two commencement addresses.

"I even got called a hipster by the Huffington Post," he said, "(and) I didn't know what that meant."

By the way, he really is from Peoria.

You can watch the video below, or go here.

The Sky Express Bus Company, involved in a fatal crash this weekend, had the worst record in the country for driver fatigue and falsifying driving records. Listen to the discussion from The Takeaway, below:

A Ray LaHood-mediated meeting yielded no agreement about where to locate the Dulles Metrorail station. (WAMU)

Chrysler is back in the Big Three. (WBEZ)

But: US auto sales slipped in May as supply dropped. (BusinessWeek)

Ah, summer at the Jersey shore: surf, sand, and bike thieves. (Asbury Park Press)

(Bikes On Transit/Flickr)

Atlanta adds -- and deletes -- items on its transportation wish list. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

Chicago will end free transit rides for senior citizens on September 1. (Chicago Tribune)

There's traffic of a different sort atop three New York City bridges these days.

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority sent out a birth announcement of sorts to report that there are now nine baby peregrine falcons atop three MTA-operated bridges.

Two females, named Rose and Sunset, hatched atop the 693-foot Brooklyn tower at the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge:

Rose and Sunset in their nest atop the Verrazano Narrows Bridge (photo by Patrick Cashin/MTA)

Three males, named Locust, Edgewater and Bayside, were born 360-feet atop the Bronx tower at the Throgs Neck Bridge:

Locust (with open beak), Edgewater and Bayside, named for communities near the Throgs Neck (photo by Carlton Cyrus/MTA)

And Floyd, Rocky, Marine and Breezy were born inside a World War II gun turret 215-feet up on the Rockaway (Queens) tower of the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge:

Two of the four new Marine Parkway chicks with nervous mama falcon in background (photo by Chris Nadareski/DEP)

The chicks were born in early May.

According to the New York State Department of Environment Conservation, peregrine falcons were nearly wiped out in the 1960s because of pesticide use. They remain on the state's endangered species list.  The birds have been nesting on New York City bridges since 1983, and the city's Department of Environmental Protection estimates that there are 16 pairs of peregrine falcons living here. City falcons are banded so they can be monitored by federal wildlife officials.

“It doesn’t cost the Authority anything to have the falcons nest here,” said Throgs Neck Maintenance Superintendent Carlton Cyrus. “We just give them some peace and quiet and during nesting season make sure that our contractors and maintenance workers don’t disturb them. This allows the chicks to hatch and gives them a greater opportunity for survival.”

To learn more about peregrine falcons, check out the NYS DEC's peregrine website -- as well as their live falcon webcams.

DC's Capital Bikeshare may expand to Alexandria. (WAMU)

Downtown Miami may be getting a pedestrian-friendly redesign. (Wall Street Journal)

Ray LaHood  blogs about the new VW plant in Tennessee, and intriguingly incorporates (but doesn't explain) a photo with a mini Darth Vader. (Fast Lane)

(photo from Fast Lane/US DOT)

Plus: the transpo secretary tries one more time today to broker an agreement about the Dulles Metrorail link. (Washington Post)

Former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley has landed a job with the firm that helped negotiate Chicago's parking meter deal. (NBC Chicago)

NJ is racking up $225,000 a month in interest alone on its ARC tunnel bill as it battles the federal government over repayment. (NJ.com)

Meanwhile, NJ Governor Christie took a state police helicopter to his son's baseball game. (NJ.com)

Will transit-oriented development finally come to New Carrollton, Maryland? (New York Times)

High-speed rail-rejecting Florida governor Rick Scott is becoming "wildly unpopular." (Politico)

From L to R: Andrea Bernstein, Majora Carter, Adolfo Carrion, Gabe Klein, and Robert Bullard at WNYC's Greene Space (photo by Aaron Epstein)

(Kate Hinds, Transportation Nation)   We know what the problem is --but what are they going to do?  That was the question posed to the Chicago DOT Commissioner, Gabe Klein, the NY-NJ HUD Administrator, Adolfo Carrion, and Judith Enck, the NY-NJ EPA Administrator who came to speak (or in Enck's case, to be a member of the audience) at Transportation Nation's forum at WNYC's Greene Space to discuss our documentary "Back of the Bus: Mass Transit, Race, and Inequality."

(You can listen to the highlights here). Or: for the whole wide-ranging discussion, go here. It's well worth it.)

There, were, as you can imagine, caveats about the current, frugal fiscal environment, and cut backs in transit, generally.  But the panelists all seem motivated to take the issues discussed in the form back to their offices, circulate them among their staff, and make some real change.

TN  Andrea Bernstein moderated the discussion. Panelists were:

• Robert Bullard -- professor of sociology and director of the Environmental Justice Resource Center at Clark Atlanta University
• Adolfo Carrion -- HUD's NY and NJ Regional Administrator and former president of National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials
• Majora Carter -- president of MCG Consulting and founder of Sustainable South Bronx; host of Peabody Award-winning radio series "The Promised Land"
• Gabe Klein -- commissioner of the Chicago Department of Transportation, former head of the District Department of Transportation, and former VP at Zipcar.
  

Watching "Manhattanhenge" on East 42nd Street (photo by Kate Hinds)

Sales of small, fuel-efficient cars are revitalizing the American auto industry. (New York Times)

Meanwhile, Democrats try to use that industry's recovery as political leverage. (Wall Street Journal)

Is the Sacramento Kings' new arena putting a long-planned downtown transit center at risk? (Sacramento Bee)

A NY Times editorial lambastes NJ Governor Christie for withdrawing the state from a greenhouse gas emission reduction program. (Previous TN/WNYC coverage can be found here and here.)

Development is following New England's future high-speed rail line. (AP via NECN)

Ridership on Boston's transit system climbed last month to its highest number since September 2008. (Boston Globe)

A mostly empty bus system in Central Indiana seems to indicate that until the state is prepared to invest in mass transit that will offer residents a viable alternative to their cars, even some of the most avid transit supporters will stay away. (Indianapolis Star)

Theories abound as to why Melbourne's year-old bike share program is underperforming -- maybe it's due to bad weather, the roads, or the relatively few (50) stations. (Sydney Morning Herald)

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In case you missed it on Transportation Nation:

--Panasonic moved to Newark to be near transit (link)

-- car-free Central Park not happening anytime soon (link)

-- a survey of pedestrians seeks to quantify why walkers walk (link)

-- a profile of the MTA board member engaged to Sir Paul McCartney (link)

-- NYC subway ridership is up (link)

-- DC tries to get a handle on excessively wordy Metro station names (link)

-- higher gas prices didn't deter Californians or Floridians from leaving town on Memorial Day

-- TN's Alex Goldmark talked about mapping bike ticketing on the BL Show (link)

-- why did NJ Governor Christie exit the 10-state cap-and-trade program? (link)

PHOTOS. Take a peek at the twice annual phenomenon known as Manhattanhenge where the sun sets in perfect alignment with the Manhattan street grid. Named after Stonehenge in England, the city's version comes every May 30 and July 12. On Monday, New Yorkers observed the sunset at 8:17 p.m.

PHOTOS. Take a peek at the twice annual phenomenon known as Manhattanhenge where the sun sets in perfect alignment with the Manhattan street grid. Named after Stonehenge in England, the city's version comes every May 30 and July 12. On Monday, New Yorkers observed the sunset at 8:17 p.m.

Central Park's Great Lawn (photo by Kate Hinds)

(Kate Hinds, Transportation Nation) Neither New York City Mayor Michael Blooomberg nor City Council Speaker Christine Quinn is getting behind legislation banning cars from Central Park's loop drives -- even on a trial basis.

City Council member Gale Brewer's bill has four co-sponsors. But no hearing has been scheduled, and both the Mayor's office and Speaker Quinn said this week they had no official position on the measure.   The speaker generally controls the council agenda (and most of the votes in the heavily Democratic body), and legislation with her support tends to pass overwhelmingly.

A report on the Central Park Conservancy's website says the presence of cars is one of the most common complaints.

Last week Brewer sent a letter to the mayor asking for a six-week trial closure this summer.  But the Mayor says he won't discuss the matter until there's a hearing, and a spokesman for City Council Transportation Chair James Vacca says there's no room in the schedule for a hearing until September, at the earliest.

Pedestrians perambulating (photo by Kate Hinds)

(Kate Hinds - Transportation Nation) Hey, I'm walking here!

But where? And for how long? And why? That's exactly what a new survey wants to know.

Milczarski, who's a professor of urban planning at Hunter College in New York, is researching a book on pedestrians that he's planning to co-author with colleague Peter Tuckel, a Hunter College sociology professor. "It's all about behavior, attitudes, and motivation of people who walk," he said. So the pair needed data.

The nonprofit America Walks, is co-sponsoring the survey -- which has received about 5,400 responses to date.  It be up on the America Walks website until June 3rd. You can find it here.

We'll keep you up to date on the findings.

Cars heading toward the Holland Tunnel yesterday (photo by Kate Hinds)

Listeners have been texting the price of gas at the pump to The Takeaway. Today, TN's Andrea Bernstein discusses those findings.  (The Takeaway)

While exiting cap and trade program, NJ Governor Chris Christie pivots on Climate Change (WNYC's Empire Blog)

High gas prices won't be affecting holiday travel. (Marketplace)

House Republicans want to takeaway the Northeast Corridor from Amtrak, giving private investors the task of building and operating high-speed rail service between Washington and Boston. (Washington Post)

There may be less car owners in Manhattan, but real estate developers are betting that the wealthy will pay extra for in-house parking. (New York Times)

DC's Metro will be shortening station names. Names like U Street/African American Civil War Memorial/Cardozo or New York Avenue/Florida Avenue/Gallaudet University. (WAMU)

The Los Angeles Times debates the location of future subway stations -- and one participant protests his community's exclusion. "It is inconceivable to many of us who live, work and worship in South Los Angeles that the Crenshaw/LAX line would bypass the heart of the community."

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In case you missed it on Transportation Nation:

-- DC's Metro unveils new LED signs...look familiar, NYkers? (link)

-- the new NY MTA website is easier to use -- unless you're mobile (link)

-- Christie pulls plug on NJ's greenhouse gas initiative (link)