Collaboration Key for NJ Transit’s Raritan Valley Line

rvlgrab.jpgRenewLV wants to see the Raritan Valley Line expanded to PA.

This week we turn our attention to news of a multi-state effort to expand NJ Transit’s Raritan Valley Line. Livable Streets member group RenewLV — a campaign for smart growth in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley — attended an exciting meeting of the broader Raritan Valley Rail Coalition. RenewLV reports;

RenewLV supports the study of regional rail for the Lehigh Valley, particularly focusing on the possible extension of the Raritan Valley line from High Bridge to Phillipsburg, N.J., and the impact of such a project for this region. Since a regional rail service in the Valley will presumably involve partnerships with adjacent states — namely, New Jersey, and even New York — identifying allies across state boundaries is incredibly important for the regional rail effort. Today’s meeting was proof of a thriving sentiment for multi-organizational, multi-state collaboration. HART Commuter Information Services, a transportation management association that promotes ridesharing, and the Institute for Rational Urban Mobility were just some of the organizations that called for a need to work together on determining better transportation solutions for the NY-NJ-PA region.

Elsewhere: Maura McCormick continues her battle for non-automobile accessible grocery stores in Dayton, OH; Echo Park and Silverlake Livable Streets wants help distributing a poster for its next meeting; and things are looking up in Connecticut with the passage of an act improving bike-ped funding statewide and news of an intersection repair mural in New Haven.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Time for Legislators to Commit to Better NJ-NYC Transit Access

|
"Access to the Region’s Core" is the rather wonky name given to the long-awaited second commuter rail tunnel between New Jersey and Midtown Manhattan. ARC, which would boost transit capacity and reduce car traffic into New York, is now entering a critical phase. In April, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign reported that local funds must be […]

Electrification of the Region’s Rail

|
One of those subtle aspects of life that serves to normalize auto transport as the only thing going is the way most maps are designed to barely include railroad tracks and stations, presumably so as to avoid interfering with roads and Interstates and their giant identification shields. But when we plug some fun data into Google mashup mapping, it is clear that […]

Colleges and High Schools Act to Keep Cars Off Campus

|
With fall approaching, colleges across the US are encouraging students to come to campus without their cars. In Atlanta, Emory University is selling $250,000 worth of bikes, at a discount, to students and faculty. CNN reports that bike-share programs have started or will soon launch at Duke, the University of Washington, and at least two […]

Jersey High School Students Protest Anti-Bike Policy

|
Bridgewater-Raritan High doesn’t want to encourage cycling (or, apparently, walking) to school These kids today. Members of the student environmental club at New Jersey’s Bridgewater-Raritan High School raised $2,000 over the last four years, and what do they want to do with it? Give the school a bike rack, of all things. But Principal James […]

The Weekly Carnage

|
The Weekly Carnage is a Friday round-up of motor vehicle mayhem across the metro region. For more on the origins and purpose of this column, please read About the Weekly Carnage. Fatal Crashes (9 Killed This Week, 210 This Year*, 22 Drivers Charged**) Manhattan: 11-Year-Old Dies When Drunk Mom Flips Car on Henry Hudson (News […]

The Weekly Carnage

|
Tom Nycz/The Journal News Fatal Crashes (19 Killed This Week; 402 Killed This Year) Chappaqua, N.Y.: Pedestrian, 61, Killed on Way to Starbucks (Journal News) Lindenhurst, L.I.: Mother Runs Over 5-Year-Old Son (AP/Daily News) Related: Officer Notes "It’s Just a Tragic Accident" (Newsday) Staten Island: Car Rear Ended, Bursts Into Flames, Killing Driver (S.I. Advance) Secaucus, N.J.: […]