New York State County Highway Superintendents Association News & Views
 

Tuesday,  May 29, 2018

NYS Transit Industry News

CDTA's Watson Named to Capital Region's 40 Under 40  

Jaime Watson, Director of Corporate Communications for CDTA, has been named one of the Capital Region's 40 Under 40 by the Albany Business Review.

Jaime has been with CDTA since 2014 and was recently promoted in January to Director of Corporate Communications.

Congratulations on this accomplishment, Jaime! 

 

NFTA Metro Launches Seasonal Trolley Service in
Niagara Falls
 

On May 17, the NFTA, in conjunction with the City of Niagara Falls and the Niagara Falls Hotel Association in NYS, hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to symbolically launch Metro's "tourist-friendly" trolley service that began, coincidentally, on Green Your Commute Day, Friday, May 18. 

"I am once again very excited for the kickoff of one of the most successful and popular tourism related projects in the City of Niagara Falls. I am honored to have been a part of the creation of this service over a decade ago as well as involved in its continued growth. The success of this service could not be accomplished without the help of the fantastic tourism professionals in our local hotels and industry, the great leaders we have in the City of Niagara Falls, and the phenomenal service provided by everyone at the NFTA," said Frank Strangio, President of the Niagara Falls Hotel Association. 

"Metro's trolley service provides an opportunity for tourists here in Niagara Falls to travel easily from their hotel to venues and attractions throughout the city. When using their trolley day passes, riders also have access to the entire Metro system which provides added value within the community and throughout the region. We appreciate all of the partners that have come together to make this service happen, and we are excited to launch our service for this year," said Tom George, the NFTA's Public Transit Director. 

Metro's trolley buses will operate from 9 a.m. to midnight and will serve hotels and motels along Niagara Falls Boulevard, Pine Avenue, Niagara Falls International Airport and downtown Niagara Falls USA. Patrons receive their free trolley day passes upon request at participating hotels and motels. The trolley pass, supported by the local Niagara Falls bed tax, allows pass holders free access to the trolleys and the entire Metro Bus and Rail system in Niagara and Erie Counties. The 2018 trolley schedule and service map is available at nfta.com.

 

State Government Affairs

Transit Boss Byford ‘Very Confident’ Fast Forward Subway Plan Will Get Funding

NYC Transit president Andy Byford said Thursday that he was “very confident” his plan to overhaul the subways and bus network will get funded, despite the “very challenging political climate” in New York.

The plan, called Fast Forward, outlines a five-year and 10-year road map to modernize the subway’s aging signal, overhaul the bus network, dramatically increase wheelchair accessibility in subways and improve the corporate culture at the state-controlled authority. The plan is expected to cost tens of billions of dollars, though MTA officials said it has not yet calculated a specific price tag.

Federal Developments

Is It Time for a NTSB-Style Cybersecurity Board?​​​​​​​

Over the past several years, cybsersecurity has become a growing concern for both the federal government and private corporations. Thus far, it has been largely a game of catch up, as security firms scramble to try to patch the holes discovered by hackers probing weaknesses in the system. As more and more of American life begins to move onto cloud servers and to store data on external databases, the need for data security has become more and more pronounced. In a paper last week, Paul Rosenzweig, a senior fellow at the R Street Institute, proposed a new model of cybersecurity oversight based on the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

 

Around the Country

The Case for Neglecting Transit

The American Public Transportation Association (APTA) has just published a paper on the economic cost of failing to modernize transit, referring to the roughly $100 billion maintenance backlog built up by U.S. transit agencies, mostly for rail transit. In fact, a strong case can be made that — with the possible exception of New York — American cities shouldn’t restore deteriorating rail transit systems and instead should shut them down as they wear out and replace them with buses where demand for transit still exists.

 

Norwalk to Pilot 'Uber for Buses' Concept

It has become a rite of night of sorts along southwestern Connecticut's restaurant rows, as Uber and Lyft drivers make the rounds collecting patrons after last call to get them home safely.

If a Norwalk experiment comes to fruition, the ride pulling up to the curb next fall may have sufficient seating for a party of 15.

The city of Norwalk is in negotiations with Ford Motor to test a "microtransit" system that would allow individuals to signal public transit driver via an app they are ready for a pickup, and be taken to their final destinations.

 

 

 

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New York Public Transit
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