John Kaehny
Recent Posts
Rebuilding New York City for a New Reality
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“Climate change is a reality… for us to sit here today and say this is a once-in-a-generation, and it’s not going to happen again, I think would be short-sighted… I’m hopeful that not only will we rebuild this city and metropolitan area but use this as an opportunity to build it back smarter.” — Governor […]
NYC Bridge Tolls: The Solution That Won’t Go Away
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Is 2010 the year of bridge tolls? Or will it be 2011 or 2012? If the editorial boards and political insiders are even half right, New York State appears to be back on the brink of an epic fiscal crisis. Lieutenant Governor Richard Ravitch said today that the state faces a deficit of $9 billion […]
It’s Official: Chicago Parking Privatization a Massive Rip-Off
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City parking meters are a gold mine, and in Chicago, Morgan Stanley is rolling in parking riches. Secret company documents leaked to reporters show the company will rake in a 70 percent profit margin this year from its $1.15 billion, 75-year lease of Chicago’s parking meters. This profit is on top of the millions Morgan […]
Our Parks Are Secure. What About Our Streets?
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When are the police finally going to reclaim the streets from speeding and dangerous driving? When will pedestrians and cyclists be able to feel safe and secure on New York City streets? Photo: Bryan Goebel. For decades New Yorkers feared public spaces like Times Square, Herald Square and Bryant Park. They feared the people who […]
Jay Walder and NYC Buses, Part 2: What Can the MTA Do for Bus Riders?
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"If I put train tracks down the street, you wouldn’t park your car on them. If I said this is a bus lane, somehow it becomes fair game. One person’s use of a road impacts upon another person’s use of the road. My point is, if we have to make a choice, make the choice […]
Jay Walder’s Well-Placed Priorities: Doing More With New York City Buses
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“In London, you carry nearly twice as many people in the bus system as you do on the Underground.” In New York, the opposite is true. “We must close the gap and make more of the bus system.” — Jay Walder, MTA chairman, as quoted in the New York Times Improvements like real-time arrival displays […]
Chicago Pays the Price for Parking Privatization
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It appears Chicago politicians who privatized city parking meter operations traded short-term political gain for long-term fiscal pain. Photo: Best Recession Ever Chicago may have left as much as $974 million on the table under the terms of last year’s agreement with Morgan Stanley. A June report from the city inspector general [PDF] blasted the […]
Want a Clean Bill of Health for the MTA? Call Obama.
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Photo: AP/Post-Standard Former MTA CEO Lee Sander spent the last two-and-a-half years doing his best to make the MTA a transparent, accountable public agency, and in doing so restore its reputation. He let the sunshine in, but was unable to undo the damage to the agency’s image caused by years of attacks from transit advocates, […]
Hello MTA Bailout, So Long Truck Tsunami?
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The New Jersey "trucker’s special." Graphic: Sam Schwartz. Sheldon Silver’s partial endorsement of the Ravitch Commission’s MTA rescue plan [PDF], which includes East and Harlem River bridge tolls, offers the best political hope in years for reducing the daily truck tsunami pulverizing downtown Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan. The truck inundation is due to the great […]
Paterson’s MTA Rescue Bill Now Online
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Included on the State Senate’s "MTA Ideas" web site is a PDF of the governor’s proposed MTA bailout plan. It is a huge bill which generally seems to echo the proposals made by the Ravitch Commission. Streetsblog will summarize the proposal as soon as we can digest its 78 pages. In the meantime, please share […]
Shelly’s Toll Plan: Promise Beyond the Headlines
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It’s too early to know if Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s answer to the Ravitch Commission MTA bailout plan, which includes $2 tolls on East and Harlem River bridges, will make it through the state legislature. But, despite raising less money and reducing traffic much less than congestion pricing or peak-hour tolling would, the plan is […]
Obama Stimulus Leaves Bus Riders By the Side of The Road
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Who rides the bus? Data source: American Public Transportation Association The House version of President Obama’s stimulus plan has left bus riders with nothing to look forward to but stiff fare hikes and painful service cuts. Bus systems got zero in immediate operating support from the bill that passed yesterday — stunning neglect compared to […]