NYU Wagner

The New York Transportation Journal has long been a respected periodical in the transportation arena, reaching thousands of leading transportation planners, researchers, and government officials. This fall, the Center launched the Journal in a totally revamped, online format that offers the same coverage of transportation issues with additional multimedia materials and dynamic content.

You can view the new Journal online at www.wagner.nyu.edu/rudincenter/journal/

Vol. XII, No 1, Winter 2009.

This issue of the New York Transportation Journal explores the theme of change, on a number of levels and perspectives. We have just concluded an historic election cycle which has brought significant political change to the nation. Recent developments in the areas of energy, the economy and the environment all underscore the current state of flux impacting the lives of those who live and work in the New York metropolitan region. Looking forward, we foresee change in all of these areas and we also anticipate change in forecasts of how we might grow and develop as a nation and as a region. Our articles are a reflection of this change and a response to it. They explore a variety of its characteristics and options for policies and approaches within the context it sets.

Franc McArdle, who served on the National Surface Transportation Policy and Revenue Study Commission, presents his ideas on the transportation imperatives he sees for the incoming administration of President Barack Obama. Martin Robbins offers his thoughts on transportation policy and planning options to be considered in the legislative process as the current Federal legislation which authorized spending for transportation improvements nationally expires and new legislation is developed.

While John Nolon and Jennie Nolon offer their perspective on the implications of expected growth in population and travel on future land use and transportation, Suzanne Seegmuller looks at emerging travel trends related both to this growth and to the economic, energy and environmental developments that are dominating our policy discussions.

In our region, planned improvements in the Interstate 287 corridor in the lower Hudson Valley promise far reaching change in that area's transportation system. In this issue's interview by Rachel Weinberger, Rockland County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef and Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano provide their thoughts on these improvements, the changes they will bring and the outlook for growth in the northern suburbs.

Vol. XII, No 1, Fall 2008.

In the lead article for this Journal, Rachel Weinberger interviews Chris Ward, Executive Director of the Port Authority and the New York Metropolitan Region. In this interview, Mr. Ward describes his vision for the agency and the challenges for the transportation system and the strategic choices that will have to be made. Then, Thomas Wakeman III and Paul Bea Jr. point out in their article on Financing Transportation, that as various states and regions begin to jockey for their share of funding in the next bill, one of those critical strategic choices will involve the development of a regional partnering strategy. They describe what others are already doing and what needs to be done in the greater New York Metropolitan area to foster such partnerships and vision. Partnerships are equally important at the local level, especially as new models are pursued to reduce congestion and enhance quality of life. Two complementary articles touch on Transit Oriented Development (TOD) as a means to do just this. In an In the Region article by Randal Fleischer, Wendy Johnston, and Greg Sylvester, the authors describe the process of developing and implementing the TOD in Beacon, New York. Recognizing that many transit ride4rs use bus rather than rail, in a Transportation and Land Use article, Simon McDonnell reviews recent developments by New York City's Department of Transportation, and discusses the potential for Bus Rapid Transit as an anchor for TOD. When dealing with transportation and land use, and particularly TOD, pedestrians are an important focal point. In a Rudin Center Research article, Allison L. C. de Cerreño and Hyeon-Shic Shin summarize initial findings from a study funded by the Federal Highway Administration on pedestrian groups considered to be at higher-risk for involvement in crashes with vehicles. While a work in progress, the article provides some interesting glimpses into the importance of identifying such populations in order to improve overall pedestrian safety. The final article summarizes a co-sponsored event by the Institution of Civil Engineers and the NYU Wagner Rudin Center that explored the success of the Channel Tunnel Rail Link in London.

New York Transportation Journal, Spring/Summer 2003, Vol. 6, No. 3.

In existence since 1956, the Highway Trust Fund (HTF) is the source of all Federal highway funding and roughly four-fifths of all Federal transit funding. With budgetary firewalls in place since 1998 as a result of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century, the Highway Trust Fund is integral to the long-term transportation planning of all 50 States. However, Congressional Budget Office forecasts show that at current baselines (i.e. spending at currently enacted levels with adjustments for inflation within the context of current tax policies), the HTF will be unable to keep up with national transportation needs.
How to meet these needs - which are projected to require an estimated average annual investment over the next 20 years of between $90.7 billion and $110.9 billion just to maintain the system and between $127.5 billion and $169.5 billion to improve it - is a source of considerable debate. Short-term options that should be seriously considered by both State and Federal governments are raising and indexing motor fuel taxes.