Kate Hinds

Columbus Avenue bike lane in September, 2011 (photo by Kate Hinds)

A stalled idea of putting a protected bike lane on a stretch of a Manhattan avenue is coming up for air, offering a test of public sentiment about New York City's often-contentious bike lane boom.

On the docket Thursday for Community Board 7's Transportation Committee meeting: whether to ask the New York City Department of Transportation to look at lengthening the existing two-year-old Columbus Avenue bike lane -- and redesigning Amsterdam Avenue to accommodate one.

Again.

When the Upper West Side's CB7 first began mulling over bike lanes in 2009, the group requested a study looking at protected lanes on both avenues, stretching from 59th to 110th streets. The DOT came back with a proposal for a single Columbus Avenue lane, running southbound from 96th Street to 77th Street. Amsterdam Avenue, the DOT decided, was too narrow to accommodate three travel lanes and a protected bike lane. The Columbus Avenue proposal was passed by the full board -- after failing at the committee level -- in 2010.

So why is an Amsterdam Avenue lane back on the table?

"This is an effort to see whether our priorities as a community might have changed," said Mark Diller, the chair of CB7, "not whether the width of a lane or the width of an avenue has changed."

He said that a member of the CB7 board wants the city to take another look at an Amsterdam Avenue bike lane -- as had other community groups. " It's a matter that's of interest to members of the community," said Diller, "so the community board will respond by taking a careful look at it."

And lessons learned during the first few months of the Columbus Avenue bike lane could help smooth the way for future lanes in the neighborhood.

Amsterdam Avenue and 84th Street (image from Google street view)

But Andrew Albert, the co-chair of CB7's transportation committee, said he couldn't ballpark what was going to happen at Thursday's meeting. "Because this hasn't come up yet, we don't know how the discussion is going to go."

Albert -- who in 2010 didn't support the installation of the Columbus Avenue lane --  said the committee wasn't won over by the idea of putting in another protected lane a block west. "There's a good number of people that don't believe the Columbus one is working as intended," he said, "so we're going to reserve judgment on Amsterdam for sure."

In one respect, said CB7 chair Mark Diller, the neighborhood had gotten off easy with the Columbus Avenue lane. Installing something similar on Amsterdam could require a politically sensitive decision that could spark some...lively debate. "Are we willing to trade a travel lane for a bike lane?" he asked.

Another view of  Columbus Avenue, with protected bike lane on the right  (image from Google street view)

 

Top stories on TN:
To Drive or Not To Drive: Two South American Countries Consider Congestion Pricing (link)
Virginia County Wants To Re-Envision Roads For City Rising West of Washington (link)

Obama and Romney largely steered clear of the auto bailout and transportation funding in last night's debate. (The Hill)
But one thing is clear: Romney likes coal. (New York Times)

Long Island Rail Road construction crews routinely report to work late, leave early and drag out jobs, according to a new report. (New York Daily News)

Drivers in Los Angeles kill pedestrians and bicyclists at a significantly higher rate than drivers nationally. "Pedestrians accounted for about a third of all traffic fatalities, or nearly triple the national average of 11.4%." (Los Angeles Times)

The population of Tokyo will drop by half by the year 2100 -- and almost half the residents will be over 65. (Japan Times)

What was originally viewed as a minor dispute over how to divvy up $6 million in transit funding among the CTA, Metra and Pace is turning into a full-scale, Chicago-versus-suburbs battle. (Chicago Tribune)

The new Sim City will turn you into an urban planning nut. (FastCoExist)

U.S. DOT secretary Ray LaHood might stick around for a second term after all. (Washington Post)

Nissan wants to revive Datsun as an affordable -- as in below $3,000 -- car brand. But to get there, you have to toss out airbags, then move on to anti-lock brakes, electronics, stability control and strong emissions control and other environmentally-friendly features. Add in two-cylinder engines, manual transmission, cheap interior fabrics and trim. (Marketplace)

Smashing pumpkins (and watermelons): a car plowed into some cucurbits outside a Manhattan bodega. Pictures at Gothamist.

Following British wins in the Tour de France and the Olympics, bike sales are up in the U.K. (BBC)

New York's Suffolk County is considering privatizing its bus service. (Newsday; subscription)

Illinois is putting together a statewide bikeway plan. "There are hundreds of miles of bike trails in Illinois but no overall plan to link or improve them."  (Chicago Tribune)

In the market for a used bike? The city of Hoboken (NJ) is auctioning off 78 of them. May the odds be ever in your favor, bidders! (GovDeals.com)

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Top stories on TN:
Pittsburgh’s “Paper Streets:” Hard To Maintain, Harder to Take Responsibility For (link)
NY MTA Budget, Once Critical, Is Reviving Thanks To Rider $ (link)
Subway Ad Recreates Edwardian Library (link)
19,000 Seats + Almost No Parking = More Foot Than Car Traffic at Barclays Arena (link)
Counting the Jay-Z Subway Crowd (link)
DC Bike Advocates Wonder Where the Completed Met Branch Trail Is (link)

(photo by Marionzetta via flickr)

How Michigan got Canada to pay for their new bridge -- and they might turn it down anyway. (Quartz)

In 2011, Italians bought more bicycles than cars for the first time in decades. (BBC)

American Airlines said improperly installed clamps were the reason seats came loose some of its jets. (Wall Street Journal)

Britain has torn up a deal awarding one of its biggest rail franchises to a private operator, in a humiliating U-turn that raises doubts about the government's handling of the privatized railways. (Reuters)

Self-driving cars are gaining legal acceptance, but kinks remain. One possible quandary: if a self-driving car runs a red light and is caught by police, who gets ticketed? (NPR)

Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine crashed his bike in Central Park. Pro: he was wearing a helmet. Con: he crashed because he was reading a text message. (New York Times)

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo denied there was any effort to delay hydrofracking. (Capital Tonight)

The most dangerous intersection in San Francisco was actually paved with good intentions. (Bay Citizen)

A Denver city council member says bike share stations aren't equitably distributed throughout the city. (Denver Post)

Phoenix is considering a bike share program. (Arizona Republic)

MetroNorth is considering expanding service in the Bronx. (DNA Info)

Auto sales surged in September. (Detroit Free Press) But: General Motors has 240,810 trucks sitting on dealer lots nationwide -- and the truck market isn't exactly doing well. (Jalopnik)

The Weather Channel will be naming winter storms -- and one is named after a New York City subway line. Make sure you bundle up when the Q comes barreling through. (Weather Channel)

A NYC teen licked a subway handrail to win $1 (New York Post), prompting MTA chair Joe Lhota to tweet: "I'M WORRIED ABOUT AMERICAN YOUTH."

A Portuguese composer is creating a musical based entirely of the sounds of the city of Lisbon -- and its tram system.

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Top Stories on TN:
How D.C.’s Green Line Changed a Neighborhood from Blight to Big Box Stores (link)
Work in Progress: Photos from NYC’s 7 Line Extension (link)
Electric Car Advocates Hope for a Quiet Revolution on Central Florida Streets (link)
Florida’s Flirtation with High-Speed Rail Recounted in New Book (link)

DC food truck (photo by Danspix via flickr)

The hits just keep on coming for American Airlines: the FAA is inspecting the airline after loose seats were found on two of its flights in the last three days. (Wall Street Journal)

The federal government announced $121 million in funding to improve rail service between New Haven, CT and Springfield, Mass.  AP refers to it as "high-speed;" the DOT says it will "improve travel times." (AP via Boston.com; DOT)

And: Los Angeles got a $546 million loan from the federal government to build a new light rail line to the airport. (San Jose Mercury News)

Food trucks in DC will now begin charging sales tax. (WAMU)

Boston's transit ridership went up in August, despite big fare hikes. (WBUR)

At least 30 people were injured in an Amtrak crash in California. (AP via KPCC)

The death toll is rising for a ferry collision in Hong Kong. (Bloomberg News)

Online grocer Peapod is expanding its virtual supermarkets to 17 Chicago area transit stations. (Chicago Tribune)

Driving While Immigrant: the Washington metro area is filled with adults relearning to drive in DC's cul-de-sacs, one-way streets, and traffic circles. (Washington Post)

The White House expedited transit projects in Cleveland and Minneapolis. (Politico)

Eye-opening info nuggets about city bus fuel economy, including this one: in 2010, NYC buses got less than 3 mpg. (PlanItMetro)

Two transit visions are competing for primacy in one Baltimore neighborhood: build a new streetcar or expand the existing bus circulator. (Baltimore Sun)

Want to buy a 100+ year old train depot? There's one for sale in Minnesota for $200,000. (Duluth News Tribune)

The Guardian test-drives bike rain gear. "I couldn't resist introducing myself as Sherlock Holmes while wearing Cleverhood's eponymous cape."

Federal Transit Administration head Peter Rogoff is spreading the good news about transit. "We have leaders who get it. We have a President who will stand before a joint session of Congress and speak specifically about the needs for improved transit around the country." (FastLane)

Speed = stability: the physics behind why pedaling faster on a bike helps keep riders upright. (Washington Post)

Inexplicable photo of the day: a macaque monkey carrying a Mercedes hubcap. (Cute Overload)

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The future 34th Street Station of the #7 line extension (photo courtesy of MTA Capital Construction's Facebook page)

Even subway construction projects share on Facebook.

New York's MTA regularly posts updates on megaprojects on its Facebook page, and the update to the #7 line caught our eye.

The #7 train currently goes between Manhattan's Times Square and Flushing, Queens. As part of the redevelopment of Hudson Yards -- a stretch of land on Manhattan's far West Side -- the city has been working on extending the subway line southwest to 11th Avenue and 34th Street.

Earlier this year, MTA chairman Joe Lhota said item  number 1 on his wish list is extending the line even further south to 23rd Street and 11th Avenue. But here's what he said won't happen: extending it across the Hudson River to New Jersey -- something Mayor Bloomberg had put some money into studying last year.

Ventilation building for the 7 Line extension at "Site K" near the Javits Center (photo courtesy of MTA Capital Construction's Facebook page)

According to the MTA, the $2.4 billion project will open for service in June 2014 -- later than originally planned.

The 7 line extension's ventilation building at "Site L" at 41st Street and Dyer Avenue in Manhattan (photo courtesy of MTA Capital Construction's Facebook page)

You can watch a video about the project below.

Top stories on TN:
PATH Train Connecting NY – NJ Gets Fare Hike Tonight (link)
As Critical Mass Turns 20, Founders Reflect on Sprawling Bike Protests (link)
CHART: How Barclay’s Center Opening Caused Subway Surge (link)
Neighbors of Brooklyn’s Brand New Barclay’s Center Want Their Benefits (link)
Data from Only State that Tracks Dooring Show Its Big Problem (link)

 (photo by Kate Hinds)

California's governor signed a new law that will allow hundreds of thousands of young illegal immigrants to obtain driver's licenses. (Los Angeles Times)

To encourage biking, ditch the helmets. (New York Times)

Novelist Gary Shteyngart recounting a disastrous flight: " Some of us were worried for our safety, but your employees mostly shrugged as if to say, 'Ah, there goes that altimeter again.'" (New York Times)

The Port Authority of NY and NJ is in a race between revenue and repairs. (Asbury Park Press)

How power outages increase pollution from Gulf Coast refineries. (KUHF)

Apartment buildings in DC will have to provide secure, covered bike parking. (Washington Business Journal)

The current transit funding standoff between the city of Chicago and the surrounding suburbs is indicative of weightier turf wars to come as the city/suburbs divide re-emerges. (Daily Herald)

Car sales in austerity-hit France and Spain continue to fall -- and the rebound could be years away. (Reuters)

"What happens with the Tappan Zee Bridge -- particularly as it follows so closely on the heels of New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s sudden decision to abandon the ARC Tunnel to Manhattan -- could be a bellwether of mega-project construction for years to come." (Next American City; subscription required)

The rise of license-plate tracking: a case study in how storing and studying people's everyday activities, even the seemingly mundane, has become the default rather than the exception. (Wall Street Journal)

The DOT redesigned its website.

 

Cupcake go-carts and MetroCard robots: on TN's tumblr page. 

Top stories on TN:
NY MTA Votes To Keep Taking Controversial Ads — With Disclaimer (link)
Dangerous Intersection Gets Local Revamp — but Albany Needs to Step Up, Says City DOT Chief (link)
Should We Trade Infrastructure for Debt? (link)
Some Air Travelers Are Actually Happy. Yes, You Read That Right (link)

DOT head Ray LaHood said a "new transportation era" will begin next week with the implementation of the recently passed $105 billion transportation bill. (The Hill)

Why does NYC still cling to the MetroCard? (Capital NY)

Meanwhile, next summer Chicago transit riders will be able to pay fares with their debit and credit cards. (Chicago Tribune)

Companies producing biofuels are turning to makeup and vitamins -- not fuel. (Bay Citizen)

Is the MBTA properly tracking fare revenues? The seven-year-old automated fare collection system used by Boston's transit system overstated fare box cash receipts by more than $101 million during a recent five-year period, says an audit. (WBUR)

MAP: where Americans use the most oil. (Atlantic Cities)

You know what hasn't been fun lately? Flying American Airlines during its labor troubles. (NPR)

Casting call: are you an actor living near the Second Avenue Subway construction? New York's MTA wants you. (DNA Info)

The protest over advertising policy wasn't the only spirited part of Thursday NY MTA meeting. Example: during a disagreement, MTA chairman Joe Lhota told a board member to "be a man."  Response? "Bring it on." (New York Times)

Now that the Washington Nationals have clinched a playoff berth, DC's Metro is canceling planned track work for two weekends in October and running the Metro after midnight. (Washington Post)

Competition for Zipcar: is short-term scooter rental the future of shared transportation? (FastCoExist)

Here come the self-driving cars! (On Point/WBUR)

VIDEO: go on, try crossing a street in Hanoi. But: locals say the motorcycle traffic is so slow that collisions are usually minor.

Four Self-Propelled Mobile Transporters (SPMTs) relocated the fully assembled 4.3 million pound, 394-foot-long, 67- foot-high truss bridge from its assembly site to its final position on the new bridge piers a few hundred feet away. (CDOT)

(image courtesy of Chicago DOT)

On Thursday's 30 Issues in 30 Days, the WNYC election series took a look at infrastructure.

Host Brian Lehrer notes that word did not come up in the convention speeches of either President Obama or Republican candidate Mitt Romney. Neither, for that matter, did transportation.

How times have changed. President Obama once talked so often about building roads and bridges we turned those mentions into an interactive chart.

Meanwhile, said one of the Brian Lehrer Show guests, it's not just that we have an infrastructure problem. "It's that we can't even deal with it how bad the problem is. "We are beyond denial of the crisis," said Infrastructure USA's Steven Anderson.

Listen to the conversation below.

Want to learn more about how infrastructure became a partisan issue? Go here.

 

Top stories on TN:
NYC Reining in Scofflaw Delivery Cyclists with Six Restaurant Inspectors (link)
This Election Season, Americans Pony Up for Public Transportation (link)
Beaver Family Out-Engineers Humans, Repeatedly Floods Road, Stays Cute (link)
Watch Amtrak’s 165 MPH Test Trains Whiz Past (link)

Chicago's Bloomingdale Trail (photo by Steven Vance via Flickr)

In the wake of an anti-Muslim ad campaign, New York's MTA will begin debating its ad policy at today's board meeting. (Wall Street Journal)

Half of the 16 traffic fatalities on the Garden State Parkway this year have involved men under the age of 30. (Star Ledger)

What should DC's Metro look like in 30 years? Passengers weigh in. (Washington Post)

Chicago is planning to turn an abandoned elevated rail line into a park. But the Bloomingdale Trail probably won't resemble New York's High Line. (WBEZ)

Greyhound's foray into long-distance bus service in the U.K. has ended, a year after it began. (Los Angeles Times)

New parks along the Bronx River are beautiful -- but you must navigate dangerous streets and crumbling sidewalks to get there. (DNA Info)

Louisville may add more highways, which puzzles the New York Times architecture critic -- who says the city needs more transit. "I can only say that 40 years after the interstates supposedly started pumping life into Louisville’s downtown, the streets here looked pretty empty, especially at night." (New York Times)

Driving rates and car ownership are plateauing in the developing world. (Economist via GGW)

Grand Central Terminal is restoring its "kissing room." (Wall Street Journal)

Hawaii received an FAA grant to develop commercial space transportation. (Pacific Business News)

One-third of the NYC DOT bike inspection team: Demel Gaillard (L) and Ronald Amaya. (photo by Kate Hinds)

(New York, NY - WNYC) When it comes enforcement of cycling laws, New York City is willing to employ the stick. But first, the city wants businesses -- and their delivery men -- to eat carrots, at least until January.

On a recent afternoon, Department of Transportation inspector Demel Gaillard paid a visit to Haru, a Japanese restaurant on Manhattan's Upper West Side. The manager, Jamyang Singye, greeted him at the door.

"How can I help you guys?" Singye asked. "We’re just here to see if you guys have your posters posted," said Gaillard. "Outlining the commercial bicyclists law?"

Gaillard is one of six DOT inspectors, and his job is to make sure business owners know the commercial cycling rules and are communicating them to their employees. Singye brings him downstairs to the kitchen, where the rules are displayed on one of many text-heavy postings. "I’d be happy to give you a new poster," says Gaillard, offering up the newer, full-color edition.

"Do you also have it Chinese?" asks Singye. In fact the poster comes in seven languages -- a necessity in a polyglot city where bicycle food delivery men often hail from abroad. Haru, which has a Japanese sushi chef, Chinese delivery staff, and a manager from Nepal, is no exception.

Jamyang Singye, Haru's manager (photo by Kate Hinds)

"That would be great," says Singye.

What's not great is the public's perception of bike delivery guys. Speaking at a hearing earlier this month, New York City Council member Jimmy Vacca said the city's rogue cyclist problem is "tremendous."

"There’s not a day that goes by that I’m not in Manhattan where I don’t see a commercial cyclist on the sidewalk, going the wrong way on a one-way street," he said. "This is a constant occurrence.”

Delivery bikes parked on Amsterdam Avenue (photo by Kate Hinds)

DOT commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan hears these complaints all the time. Her inspectors can't enforce moving violations -- that's the domain of the police. In July, Sadik-Khan explained what her department can enforce.

"Our emphasis here is making sure that everybody knows you need to wear a helmet," she said, ticking off the requirements. "You need to wear a vest, you need to have bells and lights and have a bike that's in working condition and follow the rules of the road."

Commercial bicyclists also need reflective devices on their bikes or tires, and a numbered business ID card. Business owners must provide this equipment for their employees.

From the DOT's "commercial bicyclist safety" poster

Since July, the DOT has visited over 2,100 businesses to tell managers like Singye what he needs to do to follow the law and, as Inspector Ronald Amaya explained, what will happen if he doesn't.

"In January 2013," Amaya said, "if you’re not in compliance with all the rules and regulations – like your delivery men not having their vests, their helmet, ID cards, and the poster’s not up in your establishment, we will be issuing a fine, anywhere from $100 to $250."

Here's the important distinction with enforcement: if a DOT inspector sees a delivery guy riding without a vest, the inspector will issue a ticket to the business. If a police officer sees a delivery guy breaking a traffic law by, say, riding on the sidewalk, the officer will ticket the bicyclist. Brian McCarthy, a deputy chief for the NYPD, told TN the department has expanded enforcement and so far this year has issued 8,959 commercial bicycle summonses. That's about 25 percent of all bike tickets.

Meeting notice on door of St. Agnes Library (photo by Kate Hinds)

The DOT is holding public forums to hammer this point home. At a recent meeting on the Upper West Side, DOT staffers handed out posters, bells, and even samples of reflective vests to over a hundred managers and delivery workers. Department educator Kim Wiley-Schwartz explained details of the coming crackdown to a standing-room-only crowd of managers and bike delivery workers. She spoke about the need to wear helmets and vests and carry ID. Then she did a little consciousness-raising about the need to follow the rules of the road -- and yield to pedestrians.

NYC DOT staffer Kim Wiley-Schwartz, explaining commercial cycling rules

"You do not have the right of way. I don’t want a ‘ding ding ding ding’ as people are crossing the crosswalk when they have the light," she said, imitating the sound of a frustrated bicyclist leaning on his bell. "They have the right of way."

After the meeting, a lot of workers said the rules made sense. But Lawrence Toole, who works at a restaurant in the theater district, said he felt a little picked on.

"These are small businesses, and what they’re doing is they’re hiring people that need jobs," he said."It’s bad enough that there are no jobs out there. Now you’re going to penalize the people that are giving the jobs to people."

But a few seconds later, he reached acceptance. "But we got to follow the law all the same."

City Council woman Gale Brewer, who represents the Upper West Side, says there needs to be a culture change -- and it won't come easily.

"It is a very challenging job to convince the delivery people and their managers -- the managers change often, the delivery people change often," she said. There needs to be "constant education that safety comes before a customer who wants their food right now."

Starting in January, businesses that don't follow the rules could pay the price.

Top stories on TN:
Bus to Stoplight, “Obey!” NYC Gets Traffic Signal Priority (link)
NYC Aims to Stop Bike “Dooring” by Targeting Taxis (link)
Feds Gives Final OK to Tappan Zee Bridge Replacement (link)
Where The (Potential) Voters Are: Subway Edition (link)
“From the Draconian to the Inane:” Uber Taxi App vs D.C. Regulators (link)

California Governor Jerry Brown, escorted to a bill signing in a driverless car (image courtesy of NBCLA's facebook page)

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that would allow self-driving cars on California's roads. “We are looking at science fiction becoming reality in a self-driving car,” he said. (Los Angeles Times)

Politics -- and money -- is holding up implementation of the FAA's new-age satellite navigation system known as NextGen. (Politico)

Security experts discovered a flaw that could allow "technologically skilled transit riders" to use cell phones to restore value on certain MUNI paper farecards. (San Francisco Chronicle)

A battle is brewing over California's coastal infrastructure -- a state agency wants sewage plants and other facilities relocated further inland, but towns say it's too expensive. (Wall Street Journal)

Commuters in Belfast are complaining that the addition of bus lanes has made congestion worse. (UTV)
But: a transport minister says people need to adjust to the "settling-in period." (BBC)

New York Senator Charles Schumer wants the U.S. Department of Transportation to investigate truck drivers crashing into low bridges while relying on GPS devices. (The Hill)

A newly completed audit says Atlanta's MARTA is spending $50 million above the national average for employee benefits -- and should privatize some functions. (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

American Airlines says it's cancelling hundreds of flights because of labor problems. (New York Times)

The opening of Brooklyn's Barclays Center has triggered a new round of calls from local residents for residential parking permits. (New York Daily News)

New Jersey is going after toll evaders, and it's paying off. (The Record)

Ahead of this weekend's Carmageddon II, Los Angelenos fear traffic jams...in the sky, where helicopters will crowd around filming footage of the highway work. (NPR)

NY MTA chief Joe Lhota tweets about the coming pork apocalypse: "stock up on bacon."

They mapped that: 5 million London bike share trips, rendered as hypnotic blue lines. (Guardian; video from New Scientist)

Want to see a 'no parking' sign from Greenland? Check out our Tumblr page.

Registering to vote in New York's Union Square subway station (photo by Andrea Bernstein)

Looking to register more voters in New York City? Take out your MetroCard.

That's what a coalition of nonprofits did on Tuesday as part of National Voter Registration Day. The groups set up tables in subway stations across the city. "Times Square has always been the site with the most new registrants," said NVRD New York State coordinator Kristina Andreotta in a statement, "and we don’t expect anything less from Tuesday."

Fun fact: according to MTA statistics, the average weekday ridership at the city's five busiest subway stations (Times Square, Grand Central Terminal, Herald Square, 34th Street/Penn Station and Union Square) totals about 653,000 people. That's more than the populations of either Wyoming or Vermont, but the NYC subway doesn't get a Congressional district.

(photo by Andrea Bernstein)

(photo by duluoz cats via flickr)

The federal government has given its final approval to New York State's plans to replace the Tappan Zee Bridge. It's the final regulatory hurdle the $5 billion project had to cross before the state could award a contract and begin construction.

In a conference call with reporters Tuesday morning, Governor Andrew Cuomo was elated by the Department of Transportation's decision, which is the result of a year-long sprint by his administration to fast-track plans to replace the 56-year old bridge linking Westchester and Rockland Counties.

"From my point of view, that was the most difficult step all along here," Cuomo said. "Building the bridge is actually the easy part. Relative to the environmental review, it's a straightforward task. "

The environmental review is a 10,000 page document laying out the environmental impact the project will have on the surrounding Hudson River area -- and demonstrates how the state will conform to federal law.

"It doesn't build the bridge -- we still have to pick a contractor, we still have to work out the financing," said the governor, "but the environmental review is basically completed."

The state is currently reviewing bids from three contractors. Once a team is picked, which is expected to be later this year, it will be constructing the bridge under New York's new design-build legislation. Last week, the governor named a design team to help review the bids and provide aesthetic guidance.

But one big question has yet to be answered: how the state will pay for the new bridge. New York is in the process of requesting a low-interest loan from the federal government, and Cuomo has said that the basic source of financing will come from tolls. But the state has yet to release a comprehensive finance plan.

Still, the governor said, the hardest step was in the rear-view mirror. "I'm going to exhale today," he said.

 

Top stories on TN:
Anti-Jihad Ads Posted in NYC Subway Stations (link)
Amtrak to Test New Top Speed of 165 m.p.h (link)
How Infrastructure Politics Turned Partisan: Looking Back on Four Years (link)

The newest MTA subway connection transfer point - the Bleecker Street - Broadway Lafayette Station (image courtesy of Joe Lhota via twitter)

The trickiest part of flying? The runways, where safety efforts are lagging. (New York Times)

The Port Authority's bond rating was downgraded, primarily because of the World Trade Center reconstruction. (Wall Street Journal)
Meanwhile, two U.S. Senators called some Port Authority agency officials "obstructionist" in a letter. (The Record)

The head of MARTA was tapped to lead Boston's transit system. (Boston Globe)

Starting today, New Yorkers can now transfer between the uptown #6 subway at Bleecker and the Broadway-Lafayette B, D, M, and F lines. (DNA Info)

Your speed limit may vary: speed limits on parts of one Georgia highway will change depending on road and traffic conditions. (WABE)

It didn't take long for people to begin re-imagining the anti-jihad ads in the New York City subways. (MondoWeiss)

Text size and type font used in dashboard displays may be overlooked culprits in distracted driving. (USA Today)

Electric car company Tesla is unveiling a new network of superchargers — refueling stations that can top off the batteries in its cars in under an hour. (NPR)

The FAA approved American Airline's request to let its pilots use iPads as an “electronic flight bag." Weight savings: 35 pounds of paper. (Dallas Morning News)

Legislation legalizing Google's autonomous car technology has passed California's senate and assembly and is now awaiting action by Governor Jerry Brown. (The Bay Citizen)

Chrysler is temporarily halting work on a test fleet of plug-in hybrid-electric vehicles after several of the advanced batteries in its pickups overheated. (Detroit Free Press)

The 'affect heuristic': why people make judgements with emotion instead of logic -- and how this applies to drivers who hate bicyclists. (Slate)

On today's Leonard Lopate Show: the history of trains in America. (WNYC)

Mitt Romney, speaking at a fundraiser, wondered why airplane windows don't open. "I don’t know why they don’t do that. It’s a real problem." (Los Angeles Times)

Top stories on TN:
How Infrastructure Politics Turned Partisan: Looking Back on Four Years (link)
Central Florida Mulls Region-Wide Bike Share (link)

Crowded L train platform at 1:30 on a Saturday night (Sunday morning)

New York Daily News column praising the city's subways: "The trains have never been more reliable, traveling hundreds of thousands of miles between mechanical breakdowns. The air conditioning works, and the announcements are clearer than they have ever been."

Reaction to said column, from MTA head Joe Lhota: "Someone please pick me up off the platform."

More good news: starting tomorrow, New York's long national nightmare of being unable to transfer between the uptown 6 train and the B, D and F line at Broadway-Lafayette is finally over. (New York Times, New York Daily News)

Reagan National Airport is strained by rising passenger numbers. (Washington Post)

New Jersey's motor vehicles department is launching a driver's ed program for elderly drivers. (Star Ledger)

Duluth's "Share the Road" campaign is turning its attention to pedestrian safety -- and crosswalk "ambassadors." (Duluth News Tribune)

Los Angelenos brace for Carmageddon, part deux. This time it's personal. (USA Today)

General Motors plans to accelerate the replacement of steel with aluminum after researchers achieved what the company described as a "breakthrough" in welding technology. (Detroit Free Press)

Check out TN's Tumblr page.

Top stories on TN:
Port Authority Board Gets an Earful from Public Over 9/11 Memorial, Community Relations (link)
New York City’s Taxi of Tomorrow Becomes Taxi of Today (link)
NYC Traffic Deaths Rising (link)
NYC Suggests You Avoid Getting Killed By Looking Up From Your Smartphone (link)
To Give or Not To Give to Subway Panhandlers, That Is the Question (link)
Road Rules: How Do We Learn Them? And When Will People Follow Them? (link)

On 9/20/12, sandhogs working on the East Side Access project broke through the last piece of wall separating the Manhattan tunnel from the Queens tunnel. (Metropolitan Transportation Authority / Jeannie Kwon)

Amtrak's president told a House committee that highways have received more emergency help from U.S. taxpayers in the past four years than the railroad has gotten in its 41-year history. (Bloomberg via SFGate)

But: House Republicans promised to continue scrutinizing Amtrak through the lame-duck session at the end of the year. (The Hill)

A new federal report says electric vehicles will cost $7.5 billion over the next seven years -- but are unlikely to have much effect on gasoline use or greenhouse gas emissions in the near future. (Detroit Free Press)

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa: "Angelenos are more excited than anyone to get out of their cars—they’re so ready!" (Grist)

New York's MTA broke down a final concrete wall to create a new Long Island Rail Road tunnel between Grand Central Terminal and Sunnyside, Queens. (DNA Info)

The New Jersey assembly is considering making the state the first in the U.S. to require drivers to restrain pets in their vehicles. (Bloomberg)

Space shuttle Endeavour will fly over various Los Angeles landmarks this morning. (Los Angeles Times)

DC's Capital Bikeshare is turning two years old today. (DCist)

Don't miss the bus: apps (and a workaround) for iOS6. Because: "the moment I tapped the Maps app on my iPhone was the moment I regretted upgrading to iOS 6." (Wired)

DC's Metro system has a new bus map. (PlanItMetro) But don't expect to see SmarTrip card vending machines in every Metro station just yet. (Washington Post)

Dogs underwater. Just because.

In the mood for a picture of MetroCard origami? Or a door with teeth on Manhattan's Lower East Side? Check out our Tumblr page.

Top stories on TN:
Port Authority: We’ve Reformed. Critics: Really? (link)
Court Rules That NY MTA Must Run Anti-Jihad Ad (link)
Streetcar Could Make Virginia’s Community Pike Neighborhood More Walkable (link)
New York Governor Cuomo Names New Design Review Team for Tappan Zee Bridge (link)
Space Shuttle Endeavour Heads West (link)
U.S. DOT Gives $74 Million to Virginia for 11-Mile High-Speed Rail Construction (link)

(photo by SusanNYC via flickr)

It's official: the federal government has approved the first phase of California's high-speed rail line, and construction will start next year in the Central Valley. But: don't expect the opposition to disappear. (Mercury News; AP)

New York's MTA lost a court battle and must now run an anti-Islam ad. WNYC reporter Jim O'Grady talks about it on The World. Read the TN story here.

New Census data says: fewer Americans are commuting alone. (USA Today)

A strike is hitting India's trains: a government decision to cut fuel subsidies and open the country's huge retail market to foreign companies has led to a transpo-disrupting strike. (AP)

The space shuttle Endeavour made it to Houston. Next stop: LA. (AP via KPCC)

Ontario's coroner is calling for a reduction in speed limits to save pedestrian lives. (Toronto Sun)

Mystery solved! Curious City/WBEZ delves into the timing of Chicago's left-turn signals.

Following a jump in the number of felonies, more transit police are riding the subways overnight in New York. (NY1)

MAPPED: NYC subway stations with Wi-Fi. (WNYC)

The backlash has begun: critics are not loving the lack of transit directions in the new version of Apple's iPhone operating system. (New York Times, Forbes, Business Insider, HuffPo)

The New York Post ran a vigorous editorial ("Two-Wheeled Terror") urging the city to crack down on law-flouting cyclists.
This prompted NYC deputy mayor Howard Wolfson to tweet: Insane NYP edit says cyclists = guns. Guns have killed 191 New Yorkers this year. Cyclists? Not a single one.

Coming soon to a party near you (at least if you live in northern Westchester): a traveling pizza oven that looks like a train. (Somers Daily Voice)

Earlier this summer New York Governor Cuomo promised that a "blue ribbon selection committee" would review designs for the new $5.2 billion Tappan Zee Bridge. And on Wednesday morning, he named the members.

Artist Jeff Koons, architect Richard Meier, and Metropolitan Museum of Art director Thomas Campbell provide star power for "The Bridge Design Aesthetic Team," which is tasked with recommending a final design for the new bridge.

The state is currently reviewing the bids from the three finalists for the project and will select one later this year.

Cuomo had promised to put a design review team in place to address aesthetic concerns about what the final bridge would look like.

But in his announcement today, he wouldn't be pinned down on what the team was looking for. "I think we'll know it when we see it," the governor said. "We want an attractive design that enhances the region." He added that the Tappan Zee, which connects Rockland and Westchester Counties, spans "a magnificent part of the Hudson River" and "design is an important element here."

But the governor's press release makes it clear that the team's job is advisory. "When the review team has made its recommendation," it reads, "a final formal decision will be made by the Thruway Authority, subject to the approval of its Board."

 The full press release is below.

____________________________________

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced a selection review team for the new bridge to replace the Tappan Zee. The review team will include internationally renowned artists and architects, under the auspices of the New York State Council of the Arts, who will review proposed bridge designs as well as assist local community leaders and transportation experts in the evaluation process.

The artists and experts who will review the designs include:· Jeffrey Koons, a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
· Richard Meier, a Pritzker Prize winning architect and Gold Medal awardee for architecture from the Academy of Arts and Letters
· Thomas P. Campbell, Director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
· Keith Brownlie, an internationally acclaimed bridge designer"Another day, another big step toward building a new bridge to replace the Tappan Zee which will be stronger, safer, better as well as one which will live up to the beauty and splendor of the Hudson River," Governor Cuomo said. "For this project, we are creating a different kind of review team – it’s a team that combines technical experts, architectural experts, local experts as well as artists to ensure the new bridge is the best choice and fit for the region."

The selection process will evaluate the technical quality of the proposals in conjunction with pricing information, to identify the proposal that offers the best value to New York State. The "best value" approach, made possible by the design-build legislation enacted by Governor Cuomo last year, looks at factors such as design and long-term quality of the project to ensure that the proposal chosen meets the needs of the region, the transportation system and toll payers.

Specifically, the selection review team will be evaluating the best value of each bid based on criteria stated in the RFP, which generally include:· Best price for toll payers
· Bridge structure and design
· Investment in future transit options, including BRT and rail
· Traffic management plan
· Plan for working collaboratively with community and local stakeholders
· Ability to meet strict environmental requirements
· Construction plan
· Bridge lifespan
· Geotechnical for bridge foundations
· History and experience of design-build team
The review team members will undergo rigorous procurement training before beginning the bid evaluation process as required by federal procurement law. Once the evaluation process is complete, the review team has a number of options before it sends a final recommendation to the Governor. The team can:· Recommend one of the three bids submitted in July
· Authorize negotiations with one or more bidders based on its submission
· Authorize a request for a best and final offer from multiple bidders.
When the review team has made its recommendation, a final formal decision will be made by the Thruway Authority, subject to the approval of its Board.

MEMBERS OF BRIDGE DESIGN AESTHETIC TEAM

Jeffrey Koons: Artist
Internationally recognized artist Jeff Koons is widely known for his iconic sculptures Rabbit and Balloon Dog as well as his monumental floral works Puppy and Split-Rocker. His work has been exhibited extensively around the world. Working with everyday objects, his work revolves around themes of self-acceptance and transcendence. Koons has received numerous awards and honors in recognition of his cultural achievements. Most recently, the Royal Academy of Arts presented Koons with the John Singleton Copley Award, Governor Ed Rendell presented Koons with The Governor’s Awards for the Arts - Distinguished Arts Award, and President Jacques Chirac promoted Koons to Officier de la Legion d’Honneur. He has become a fervent advocate for protecting children and has served six years on the board of directors for the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC). With both the International and National Centers for Missing and Exploited Children, Mr. Koons developed the Koons Family International Law and Policy Institute in 2007, with the purpose of combating child abduction and exploitation. Koons lives and works in New York City.

Mr. Koons said, "As an artist I'm honored to participate as a voice to try to help assure an aesthetic Tappan Zee Bridge project. It's a wonderful opportunity for our generation to contribute to a project that will not only enhance everyday life but help define a sense of place for New York."

Richard Meier: Architect
Richard Meier received his architectural training at Cornell University and established his own office in New York City in 1963. Since that time his international practice has encompassed major cultural and civic commissions as well as private residences and corporate and academic facilities. He has received the highest honors in the field including the Pritzker Prize for Architecture, the Gold Medals of the American Institute of Architects and the Royal Institute of British Architects as well as the Praemium Imperiale from the Japan Art Association. He is best known for the Getty Center in Los Angeles; the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art; and the Jubilee Church in Rome. His current work includes the Mitikah Office Tower in Mexico City, Mexico; a condominium complex in Jesolo, Italy; the Rothschild tower in Tel Aviv, Israel; two residential towers in Tokyo, Japan; two hospitality and commercial projects in Mexico; a hotel in South Korea; a condominium tower in Taiwan; the Leblon Offices in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and private residences in Europe, Asia and North America.

Thomas P. Campbell, Director and CEO of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Since becoming the ninth Director of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2009, Thomas P. Campbell has pursued an agenda that focuses on scholarship and accessibility. These priorities maintain the Museum’s excellence in its exhibitions, publications, acquisitions, and permanent collections, while encouraging new thinking about the visitor experience. Prior to his appointment, Campbell was a curator in the Metropolitan's Department of European Sculpture and Decorative Arts for 14 years, where he organized two major exhibitions on Renaissance and Baroque tapestry.

Mr. Campbell said, "I was very pleased to be asked by Governor Cuomo to become a member of the artistic design committee for the new bridge. I am well aware—as a former resident of the Hudson Valley and as director of a great museum holding a distinguished collection of Hudson River School paintings, which portray the majestic beauty of the region—of the great significance that the project holds from a practical as well as aesthetic standpoint. It’s a privilege to work on a project so important to New York, one that will serve such an important practical purpose while preserving and honoring the scale and scenery of the area."

Alison Spear AIA, LEED AP : Architect
Alison Spear is a local and LEED certified architect licensed to work in New York as well as other states and is presently a Senior Designer with Ennead Architects, (formerly James Polshek & Partners), in New York City. Spear was formerly the principal of her architectural and design firm, Alison Spear AIA in Wappingers Falls, New York City and Miami, Florida. She has taught at several universities including University of Miami School of Architecture, Parson’s School of Design and a visiting critic Syracuse University School of Architecture and University of Toronto. She has received several awards including the Design Star Award from the Design Center of the Americas and was named the 2005 Interior Architect of the Year by the American Institute of Architects. Spear is a resident of the Hudson Valley.

Keith Brownlie: Bridge Architect
Keith Brownlie is a leading international Bridge Architect specializing in the design of major infrastructure and engineering projects worldwide. He has been responsible for shaping numerous landmark bridge structures including the Gateshead Millennium and Twin Sails Bridges in the United Kingdom, the Metsovitikos Crossing in Greece and the Sutong Yangtze River Bridge in China. He has also directed the architectural design of many significant infrastructure projects including High Speed One rail link in the UK and the 18km Fehmarnbelt Tunnel between Germany and Denmark, as well as super high rise buildings such as the 1450ft Guangzhou International Finance Centre in China. Projects with which he has been involved have received the highest international architecture and engineering awards, including the RIBA Stirling Prize in the United Kingdom, the Arthur G. Hayden Medal in the United States and the Balthasar Neumann Prize in Germany. Brownlie graduated from Brighton School of Architecture and the Mackintosh School of Architecture at the Glasgow School of Art, Glasgow University. He is a chartered member of the Royal Institute of British Architects, The Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland and a member of the International Association of Bridge and Structural Engineers.

Thomas Wermuth: Director, Hudson River Valley Institute & Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty, Marist College
Thomas Wermuth is a published expert on the social and economic history of the Hudson Valley. He is editor of the book series, “The Hudson River Valley: An American Region,” which focuses on the history, culture, literature and tourism of the Valley. He was an associate editor of the Encyclopedia of New York State and author of Rip Van Winkle's Neighbors: The Transformation of Rural Society in the Hudson River Valley and edited America's First River: The Hudson, published by the State University of New York Press. He serves on the Executive Board of the New York Academy of History and is chair of the editorial board of the Hudson River Valley Review. He resides in Harrison, Westchester County.

MEMBERS OF THE SELECTION COMMITTEE

State Representatives
Brandon Sall, Chairman of Selection Committee
Brandon Sall is a member of the Thruway Board of Directors and a partner at Sall & Geist and Gellert & Rodner, located in White Plains. Sall has vast experience with real estate law and knowledge of the process involved with land transactions. He is admitted to the Bar in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Florida and is a member of the New York State Bar Association. Sall received his B.B.A from the University of Miami and attended the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City. He resides in Harrison.

Nuria Fernandez
Nuria Fernandez is Chief Operating Officer of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). She previously served as Senior Vice President of CH2M Hill, a firm that provides engineering, construction, and operations services for businesses and governments throughout the world. Prior to that, Fernandez served as Commissioner for the Chicago Airport System, where she directed all airport operations, planning, engineering, and management services for O'Hare and Midway International Airports, the second busiest airport system in the world. She has also served in executive positions at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, and the Chicago Transit Authority.

Joan McDonald
Joan McDonald is Commissioner of the New York State Department of Transportation. Commissioner McDonald previously served as commissioner of the Department of Economic and Community Development for the State of Connecticut, as Senior Vice President of Transportation for the New York City Economic Development Corporation, and as the Vice President in charge of New York and New Jersey at Jacobs Engineering. She began her transportation career as Deputy Commissioner for Planning and Traffic Operations for the New York City DOT and as the Director of Capital and Long Range Planning for the MTA Metro-North Railroad.

Karen Rae
Karen Rae is Deputy Secretary for Transportation in the Executive Chamber. Prior to joining the Cuomo Administration, she served as Deputy Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration in the Obama Administration, where she managed the federal high speed rail initiative and developed national freight and passenger rail policy. She also served as Director of the Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation, including negotiating and executing the multi-billion dollar public-private partnership contract for the Dulles rail project. She was previously General Manager of transit systems in Austin, Texas, Glens Falls and Buffalo. Rae was also Deputy Commissioner of Policy and Planning at the New York State DOT, where she was responsible for finance, planning and policy, and Deputy Secretary of the Pennsylvania DOT, where she led the creation of a streamlined, performance-based funding program for transit.

Community Representatives
Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef
County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef has designated County Commissioner of Planning Thomas B. Vanderbeek, P.E., to represent Rockland County on the Selection panel. Vanderbeek has a wealth of experience with respect to facilities and water supply planning, having successfully worked with major governmental agencies including the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, as well as Rockland County’s towns and villages. He is a licensed professional engineer specializing in civil and environmental engineering as well as water resources planning. For eight years, he was a member of the Rockland County Planning Board. Vanderbeek also served as Stony Point Town Engineer and was project manager and engineer in the development of sewer systems in western Ramapo, overseeing environmental impact study, survey and design. Vanderbeek has a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Princeton University and is a member of the state Fire Prevention and Building Codes Council, the Rockland County Parks Commission and the National Society of Professional Engineers.

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino
County Executive Rob Astorino has designated County Department of Planning Commissioner Edward Buroughs to represent Westchester County on the Selection panel. Buroughs’s career has since 1980 focused on municipal planning in Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties, following earlier experience in county and town governments in Pennsylvania. Prior to joining the county staff in 1994, he served as Director of Planning for the towns of Somers and Lewisboro in Westchester and as consulting town planner for the town of Carmel in Putnam County. He earned a Masters of City and Regional Planning from Rutgers University and a
B.A. from the University of Delaware.

Village of South Nyack Mayor Tish Dubow
Mayor Tish Dubow has designated Richard L. Kohlhausen to represent the Village of South Nyack on the Selection panel. Kohlhausen was appointed to the SUNY Rockland Community College Board of Trustees by Governor Pataki and was reappointed by Governor David Paterson. He also serves as President of the Board of Nyack Hospital, and formerly served as President of the Nyack School Board and as a Member of the Board of the Edwin Gould Academy in Ramapo. A West Virginia native, Kohlhausen moved to Rockland more than 30 years ago and currently resides in South Nyack. He has worked as a chemical engineer in the pharmaceutical industry, and now works in the insurance industry for Capitol Risk Management Services, Ltd. in Nanuet. He earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from New York University and an M.B.A. from Iona College, New York.

Village of Tarrytown Mayor Drew Fixell
Mayor Drew Fixell has designated David Aukland to represent the Village of Tarrytown on the Selection panel. Aukland is a member of the Village's five-person Planning Board, to which he was appointed in 2006. His work for the Village has included reviews of the implications of various Tappan Zee Bridge replacement proposals with the Mayor and other officials, as well as other activities relating to the future development of the Village. Prior to his formal association with the Village of Tarrytown, Aukland worked for IBM. After early work in the United Kingdom, he spent fifteen years at the company's European headquarters in Paris, France.

Technical Experts
Al Biehler
Al Bielher is a Distinguished Service Professor of Transportation Systems and Policy at the H. John Heinz III College at Carnegie Mellon University, Executive Director of the University Transportation Center, and an adjunct professor in the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department in the Engineering College at Carnegie Mellon. He previously served for eight years as Secretary of the Pennsylvania DOT, leading an organization that operated the nation’s fifth largest state highway system and administered one of the country’s largest grant programs for mass transit, rail freight, and aviation. As Secretary, he launched a program known as Smart Transportation to streamline and stabilize Pennsylvania’s transit program. In 2009, Biehler was elected President of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, where he helped to create the State Smart Transportation Initiative to assist state transportation agencies wishing to accelerate sustainable practices. Prior to his post at DOT, he was a Vice President with the international transportation consulting firm DMJM-Harris, where he was project manager for preliminary engineering of the North Shore LRT Connector project in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Director of Planning and Preliminary Engineering for extension of the Tren Urbano rail system in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Earlier, Biehler was Director of Planning, Engineering and Construction at Port Authority of Allegheny County, in charge of the agency’s $500 million capital improvement program. He received a B.S. in Civil Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh, and a masters-equivalent Certificate in Highway Transportation from Yale University. He is a registered professional engineer in Pennsylvania.

Gene McGovern
Gene McGovern is widely known and respected as a manager of large construction projects. In 1979, he co-founded Lehrer McGovern Inc., which ultimately became a part of the construction industry leader now known as Bovis Lend Lease. Lehrer McGovern was the construction manager for the mid-1980s restoration of the Statue of Liberty, and worked on other high-profile projects including renovations of Grand Central Station and Ellis Island and the construction of Euro Disney and London’s Canary Wharf business district.

Robert Yaro
Robert Yaro is President of Regional Plan Association (RPA), the nation's oldest independent metropolitan policy, research, and advocacy group. He led development of and co-authored RPA's Third Regional Plan, A Region at Risk, and has authored and co-authored numerous papers and articles on planning and infrastructure for the five boroughs of New York City and the metropolitan region. He founded and co-chairs America 2050, RPA's initiative to create a national development and infrastructure plan. He is co-chair of the Empire State Transportation Alliance, on the board of the Forum for Urban Design, and an honorary member of the Royal Town Planning Institute. Yaro holds a Masters in City and Regional Planning from Harvard University and a B.A. in Urban Studies from Wesleyan University. In addition to leading RPA, Yaro is a professor of practice at the University of Pennsylvania and has consulted on city and regional planning issues across the United States and in Europe, China, Japan, Turkey, and North Africa.

TECHNICAL ADVISORS

Mark Roche, Senior Technical Advisor
Mark Roche is a Principal of Arup and leads its Highways Business in the Americas. A civil and structural engineer, Mr. Roche has worked in the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia and the Americas on a wide range of complex multi-disciplinary bridge, rail and highway projects where innovation and constructability have been key issues. His bridge experience includes post-tensioned segmental, arch and cable-stayed plus other more common bridge forms. He has extensive experience with bridges and other structures in high seismic activity zones and areas of high environmental forces. He brings innovation and value to projects with his knowledge of bridge aesthetics, risk and extensive experience on design-build projects.

Robert Brownstein, Procurement Expert
Robert Brownstein is Vice President of AECOM and an internationally-recognized expert with 40 years of experience in infrastructure related industries, with particular expertise in procurement and project development. He has served as a procurement advisor for numerous public agencies throughout the United States and other countries. He is a frequent speaker at conferences throughout the world.

Steven Polan, Counsel to the Selection Committee
Steven Polan is a partner at Manatt, Phelps and Phillips. He represents government agencies and contractors worldwide in the development and construction of significant transportation infrastructure projects. He was general counsel for an international construction and engineering company, and previously served as Commissioner of Sanitation for the City of New York and as General Counsel of the MTA.

Construction
Jay Bayersdorfer
Jay Bayersdorfer is the Chief Estimator for AECOM NYC Metro and has over 29 years of experience in all types of heavy and civil construction. His experience includes planning, costing and implementation of heavy/highway projects, underground utility construction, complex excavations for underground structures, earth support systems, slurry walls, groundwater control, environmental remediation, heating, energy, and ventilation and air conditioning systems.

Donald Phillips
Donald Phillips is a Principal of Arup, a member of the Arup Americas Board and Chair of Arup's Transport Market in the Americas, with a particular focus on major projects in the fields of transport, civil structures, bridges, tunnels and heavy civil engineering. He currently holds senior management and engineering positions on a number of projects that include Lake Mead Intake #3, A30 P3 Highway project in Montreal, and California High Speed Rail Los Angeles to Fresno Segments. He was chairman of the Association of California High Speed Trains. He also acts as a reviewer and provides support and expert advice on major infrastructure projects and has been an expert on several legal cases.

Environmental
Robert Conway
Robert Conway is an environmental engineer with over 30 years of experience in the environmental assessment of complex infrastructure and development projects. He has led the environmental review and permitting processes for a number of major transportation projects in the region including the Long Island Rail Road Eastside Access Project, New York State DOT Route 9A Reconstruction Project, the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey World Trade Center Permanent Path Terminal and Bayonne Bridge, the Cross Harbor Freight Tunnel, New Jersey Transit and Amtrak Portal Bridge Project, and New York City DOT Belt Parkway Bridges Program.

Financial
Thomas Kellerman, CFA
Thomas Kellerman, CFA is a senior vice president with Ernst & Young Infrastructure Advisors. He pioneered a methodology to evaluate and optimize project finance deals and developed an analytical tool based on this methodology. He has years of experience in asset valuation, capital markets, simulation modeling, risk analysis and mitigation and financial structuring. He has worked on a wide range of public sector projects including the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey Goethals Bridge Replacement Project and Illinois DOT Elgin-O’Hare West Bypass, as well as a range of major projects for the Florida Department of Transportation. He has a B.S. from Virginia Polytechnic University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Jeffrey A. Parker
Jeffrey Parker is a senior managing director of Ernst & Young Infrastructure Advisors. One of the nation’s leading advisors on public-private partnerships and financial planning for transportation projects, he played a key role in helping to bring to fruition projects including the Port of Miami Tunnel and I-595 public-private partnerships and the Miami Intermodal Center, the largest intermodal complex in the U.S. He is currently an advisor on the Georgia Multi-Modal Transportation Project, a mixed-use redevelopment and intermodal complex in downtown Atlanta. He is a graduate of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Robert Megna
Robert L. Megna is New York State's Budget Director, where he is responsible for the overall development and management of the State’s fiscal policy, including overseeing the preparation of budget recommendations for all State agencies and programs, economic and revenue forecasting, tax policy, fiscal planning, capital financing and management of the State’s debt portfolio, as well as pensions and employee benefits. Mr. Megna previously served as the Commissioner of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, responsible for overseeing the collection and accounting of more $90 billion in State and local taxes, the administration of State and local taxes, including New York City and City of Yonkers income taxes and the processing of tax returns, registrations and associated documents.

Before joining the Department of Taxation and Finance, Mr. Megna served as head of the Economic and Revenue Unit of the New York State Division of Budget, as Assistant Commissioner for Tax Policy for the Commonwealth of Virginia, as Director of Tax Studies for the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, and as Deputy Director of Fiscal Studies for the Ways and Means Committee of the New York State Assembly.

Geotechnical Advisors
Tony Canale
Tony Canale has been involved in managing a wide range of design projects covering transportation, private development, and public structures. He has been responsible for traditional geotechnical studies, such as laboratory testing of undisturbed soil samples, consolidation settlement estimates, slope stability analyses, seepage analyses, and rock bolting design. Canale’s design projects have included foundation recommendations for high-rise structures in Manhattan such as One Bryant Park, the New York Times headquarters and Times Square Tower. He has been involved in projects that required piled foundations and caissons such as the new Mets baseball stadium, Citi Field, and the East River Plaza Retail Center in upper Manhattan. He has also worked on the Tappan Zee Bridge Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) project over the past nine years. During that time, he has supervised several subsurface investigations and the recently completed pile installation demonstration program, and was the primary author of several foundation related reports that were included in the EIS report.

Tony Kiefer
Tony Kiefer is a project manager and project principal for geotechnical and civil engineering projects with AECOM. He is responsible for management and principal review of complex projects, and his experience includes scheduling, design of explorative programs, supervision of support personnel, and writing and reviewing of reports with engineering recommendations.

Hugh Lacy
Hugh Lacy is a partner with Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers (MRCE). He is an expert in underpinning, protecting existing structures during adjacent construction, and ground freezing technology. He was instrumental in developing the frozen soil testing capability for MRCE's in-house soil laboratory as a state-of-the art facility, and the only private lab in the United States that offers these services. He directs numerous high profile projects involving tunnels, subways and shafts, bridge foundations, building foundations and deep basements, wastewater facilities, dams, and the majority of the firm's work in Washington, DC. He specializes in geotechnical investigations, analysis of probable foundation performance, pile foundation performance, pile foundations, design and construction of building and waste water facility foundations, railroad structures and tunnels, associated dewatering and excavation support including ground freezing.

Legal
Peter W. Denton
Peter Denton is an attorney with Nossaman’s Infrastructure Practice Group, advising clients on design-build and other innovative contracts for development of major transportation projects. These projects include the California High-Speed Rail Authority’s intercity passenger rail system, the Virginia DOT Midtown Tunnel project, the North Carolina DOT I-77 HOT Lanes project, the Georgia DOT West by Northwest Managed Lanes Project and the Sonoma-Marin Area Rapid Transit District’s commuter rail project.

Management
Tom Cascino
Tom Cascino is Vice President in charge of AECOM’s upstate New York transportation business practice, covering all design and construction inspection services. He has worked on multiple design-build projects, including the Gauley Bridge in West Virginia, and has a wide breadth of experience with staff throughout the region and with various New York State agencies, including the New York State Thruway Authority and New York State DOT.

Charles Dwyer
Charles Dwyer is a Program Director with AECOM with over 20 years of experience in the procurement and management of design-build projects. His skills include planning, design and construction of highways and bridges, and he formerly worked as the design-build project manager at the South Carolina DOT for the new Ravenel Bridge mega-project in Charleston. His responsibilities included budget, schedule, quality, public relations, partner/dispute resolution, and environmental agency coordination.

David Palmer
David Palmer is a principal consultant to Arup. He has extensive U.S. and international experience in the planning, design and construction of major infrastructure projects in rail transit, highways, bridges, tunnels, airports, ports and harbors. He has recently been principal-in-charge for the design of Second Avenue Subway and Fulton Street Transit Center in New York City and the Tappan Zee Corridor. He provided construction management for New Jersey Transit new Hudson River tunnels, the California High Speed Rail Los Angeles to Fresno segments, and numerous other projects throughout the Americas.

Operations & Security
Jerry Gluck
Jerry Gluck is a senior manager at AECOM with more than 30 years of experience in transportation planning and traffic engineering. His vast experience comes from both the private and governmental sectors and includes highway operations/planning, access management and system analysis. He has directed major studies including the Long Island Expressway Capacity Improvement Project, and has a unique knowledge of access management from his involvement supporting numerous state DOTs.

Procurement
K. Gunalan
Mr. Gunalan is a vice president of global alternative delivery with AECOM with 30 years of engineering and construction experience throughout North America. He has served on both the owner’s and contractor’s sides in many alternative delivery projects, and most recently as the lead for development of technical requirements for the $1 billion Presidio Parkway public-private partnership project in California.

Peter Matusewitch
Peter Matusewitch is an associate engineer with Arup, with expertise in structural design, rehabilitation, planning studies, cost estimates and inspection of fixed and movable bridges. His strength is in the technical leadership of diverse aspects of planning and design of bridges. He served as the technical coordinator for an Airport Taxiway Bridge in Cancun, Mexico and for two major river crossings on a 42km-long design-build-operate project to extend Autoroute 30 around Montreal, Quebec. The coordination included seismic design, foundations, prestressed concrete beam fabrication issues and environmental issues.

Mark Swatta
Mark Swatta is a market segment director for AECOM’s Alterative Delivery Group and a structural engineer with over 39 years of project delivery experience. His diverse background includes structural analysis, design, and construction and project management capabilities, particularly in the transportation industry. He was recently a project director on Florida’s $1 billion Port of Miami Tunnel public-private partnership project.

Public Outreach
Dr. Arnold Bloch
Dr. Arnold Bloch is the principal in charge of the New York Office of Howard/Stein-Hudson Associates (HSH), and has more than 36 years of experience in the private, public, and academic sectors. At HSH, he has overseen hundreds of public involvement projects, including many projects for state DOTs, and most recently he has been in charge of HSH’s efforts on the Tappan Zee Bridge/I-287 Environmental Review and the Tappan Zee Hudson River Crossing Project.

Jennie Granger
Jennie Granger serves as a project manager and planning market segment leader for AECOM. Her focus includes project coordination of major fast-paced National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) projects with extensive public involvement programs. She also specializes in preparation and review of various forms and documentation for NEPA and natural, cultural, and socio-economic resources; coordination of instruction efforts; and preparation and compilation of administrative records for litigation.

Roadway Design Advisors
Philip Cremin
Philip Cremin is currently Assistant Chief Civil Engineer at the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. He has over 30 years of experience in civil engineering design at the Port Authority. He has held his current position for the past seven years, overseeing approximately forty staff members. Cremin has worked on the Goethals Bridge and Bayonne Bridge replacement programs and is currently overseeing the civil design for the LaGuardia Redevelopment Program and the Newark Liberty International Airport Terminal A Program. He was on the Port Authority committee responsible for the development of sustainable design guidelines for infrastructure-type projects. In addition, he directs the agency’s pavement management program.

Structural Design Advisors
Jamey Barbas
Jamey Barbas is a design manager for major design build and public-private partnership projects for Hardesty & Hanover. Her 28 years of experience in bridge design, construction and inspection have a special emphasis on complex and long-span suspension bridges. She has worked on many award-winning alternative delivery projects, including acting as the bridge design manager for the major bridges across Autoroute 30 in Montreal, one of the largest public-private partnership bridges in North America.

George Christian
George Christian is currently a transportation quality control engineer with AECOM. He is a structural technical advisor on bridge projects and for design build proposal development, which includes developing design concepts for complex bridges. Before joining AECOM, he had over 38 years of engineering management experience in varied bridge planning, design, construction and evaluation activities in the New York State DOT Office of Structures.

Angus Low
Angus Low is a consultant with Arup with over 30 years of experience with long-span bridges over shipping channels, in a variety of roles as designer, checker, assessor, tender assessor or technical advisor. His extensive experience covers many countries and includes many design build and alternative delivery bridge projects, such as the Hangzhou Bay Bridge in China and the Second Severn Crossing in England and Wales.

Ken Wheeler
Ken Wheeler is a transportation industry director with AECOM with over 35 years of experience in bridge engineering, particularly for major bridge projects. His experience includes particular emphasis on design build projects and encompasses concrete and composite steel cable-stayed, pre-stressed concrete box girder, composite steel box girder and composite steel truss bridges.

Top stories on TN:
PHOTO TOUR: Presidential Campaign Vehicles Over The Years (link)
Federal Money Could Stave Off Dulles Toll Road Toll Hike — If the Loan Comes Through (link)
Transportation and Tech Intersect as UN General Assembly Gridlock Hits NYC (link)
PHOTOS: Space Shuttle Endeavour Prepares for Final Flight to Los Angeles (link)

Streetcar tracks are being installed in Tucson (photo courtesy of Downtown Tucsonan's FB page)

Pedestrian deaths are up 84% in the Las Vegas valley area. (KLAS)

The Endeavour is en route to Los Angeles (NPR). Pre-launch pictures here; more later today.

On Thursday, the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee will hold its third hearing into Amtrak, entitled "Examining 41 Years of Taxpayer Subsidies." (link)

Tucson's streetcar system is under construction, and the city's bicyclists are involved with its planning and implementation. (KVOA)

Tens of thousands of California schoolchildren ride aging school buses that emit harmful pollutants, an analysis of state data shows. (California Watch)

Chicago's BRT service will premiere in November, and it has a name: the Jeffery Jump. (Chicago Sun Times)

Residents of a Baltimore neighborhood of Patterson Park are fighting a city plan to add a paved road and 100 parking spaces inside the park. (Baltimore Sun)

So-called "subway grinders" may be labeled a sex offenders in New York. (CBS New York)

Oil prices plunged earlier this week -- the question is why. (Marketplace)

These are the days of forgiveness for people who park on New York City's streets. (New York Times)

Speaking of Rosh Hashanah: DC Metro's plans for a fare card giveaway conflicted with the Jewish New Year and will be rescheduled. (DCist)

 

 

On TN's Tumblr: two New Yorkers prepare to join in holy matrimony -- and commemorate the event with a poster inspired by the MTA's subway service change signage.

Top stories on TN:
Gentrification and Transportation in Washington: Part II of a Special Report (link)
Could San Francisco Become the Next Manhattan? (link)
Korean Gangnam Rap Vid — NYC Subway Remix Style (link)

A new elevator under wraps at NYC's Broadway-Lafayette subway station (photo by Kate Hinds)

For the first time in more than a decade, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency released a report on the on-time arrival rate of its buses and trains without inflating the numbers. (Bay Citizen)

Potential bike share vendors showed off their wares in San Diego, where they are competing for that city's bike share contract.  (NBC San Diego)

CAPS LOCK, sports, and subways: the epic tweets of NY MTA chief Joe Lhota. (New York Times)   Sample tweet: INEED SPELL CHECK SUBAY=SUBWAY RT

The Canadian Auto Workers union reached a deal with Ford, averting a strike. (Wall Street Journal)

They don't buy 'em like that anymore: the share of new cars purchased by those aged 18-34 dropped 30% in the last five years. (CNNMoney)

Flight delays soared in July: during the height of the summer travel season, the number of long delays involving planes stuck on airport tarmacs was more than the previous eight months combined. One cause: severe thunderstorms near Chicago O'Hare. (AP via Crain's NY)

The New York State DOT is planning more safety upgrades for Long Island's Hempstead Turnpike, named the NYC region's most deadly road for pedestrians by a local advocacy group. (TSTC)

Ingredients for Los Angeles's burgeoning transit greatness: a ballot initiative, a pro-transit mayor, and a desire for growth. (Slate)

A former engineer with the New Jersey state DOT admitted to taking bribes from contractors. (The Record)

Massachusetts is preparing to take over 45 miles of the rail lines between Worcester and Boston next month to allow a major increase in commuter rail service. (Telegram)

Peer-to-peer bikeshare, via online marketplace Spinlister, is being tested in San Francisco and New York. (Good)

How will the five-story tall space shuttle Endeavour navigate the streets of Los Angeles? Very, very slowly. As in 'one-mile-per-hour' slowly. (NPR)

 

On our Tumblr page: yes, that is the Pony Dance you're seeing on the #1 train. Video here.