New York State County Highway Superintendents Association News & Views
 

Tuesday,  June 5, 2018

NYS Transit Industry News

RTS Deploys Conduent Transportation's
New Fleet Management Technology 

In an ongoing effort to make public transportation more efficient and attractive to riders, Regional Transit Service (RTS) in Rochester is upgrading its fleet's onboard hardware and software with technology from Conduent Transportation, a business unit of Conduent Incorporated. The enhancements will include a new driver-assist system to help keep buses on schedule, ultimately providing better service to passengers. 

Conduent Transportation has a long-standing relationship with RTS and installed the original computer-aided dispatch/automatic vehicle location (CAD/AVL) system in 2001. The system connects vehicles to back-office scheduling and dispatching software, allowing transit operations to run smoothly.

 

NYC Opens Public Parking Spots to Car-Share
Programs for the First Time
 

New York City is opening up its highly-coveted public parking spots to car-share programs for the very first time. Starting Monday, June 4, the city’s Department of Transportation will dedicate 285 parking spots for Zipcar and Enterprise car-shares, as part of a two-year pilot program.

The car-shares will take up curbside spaces on streets in over a dozen neighborhoods across the city and in municipal parking lots. The car-share locations will be spread out over four boroughs—the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens—and be located, for the most part, in neighborhoods that are generally underserved by car-sharing programs due to the lack of parking garages. Of the total reserved parking spots, 230 spots will be on the streets, and the rest will be in municipal parking lots. The DOT has a published a full list of locations (each site will have space for two cars) on its website.

State Government Affairs

Volkswagen Settlement Funds Should Aid Transit

State lawmakers from upstate New York say a portion of the state's legal settlement with Volkswagen over its diesel emissions cheating should go to purchase electric buses for upstate transit agencies.

Assemblywoman Patricia Fahy of Albany and other lawmakers are scheduled to discuss their proposal Wednesday at the state Capitol. The group suggested the idea of using the money for electric buses in a letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo sent last week.

The state received nearly $128 million in the legal settlement, which came after officials determined the company cheated on diesel emission tests.

Federal Developments

US Provides $277M for Hurricane-Damaged Public Transit

The U.S. Department of Transportation will provide more than $277 million to help hurricane-damaged public transportation in Texas, Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The funding announced Thursday is earmarked for response and rebuilding projects related to last year’s hurricanes — Harvey, Irma and Maria — plus for emergency preparedness.

Harvey made landfall in South Texas on Aug. 25, leading to heavy rain that swamped parts of Houston. Irma and Maria came ashore in September.

The DOT’s Federal Transit Administration says the bulk of the grants — $223.5 million — will assist Puerto Rico. Parts of the island still lack power.

 

Around the Country

You Could Soon be Using Your iPhone to Unlock Doors and Ride Transit

Apple is making preparations to expand the near-field communication (NFC) capabilities of the iPhone beyond Apple Pay transactions, a report suggests.

The update could be announced as early as next month during the iOS 12 keynote at the WWDC — Apple’s annual developer gathering that kicked off on June 4.

NFC chips are built into many of today’s mobile devices, allowing for secure wireless communication between a device and a receiver when one is held close to the other.

 

Photo of Alabama Teen Catching
Bus to Graduation Goes Viral

Graduation day comes with a sense of having "made it," but for Tarrant High School's Corey Patrick, it required going a little more than the extra mile. The Alabama teen headed off to his graduation ceremony with the same determination with which he finished his senior year -- and a stranger's photo of it went viral. 

Patrick's been getting up as early as 4 a.m. everyday for the past year to travel 14 miles to school, according to CBS affiliate WIAT. He moved to his mother's house in the West End area of Birmingham, but needed to finish what he started: Graduating with his peers at Tarrant High School.

 

NYPTA CONNECTS

DOT Commissioner Karas Confirmed to
Speak at NYPTA Conference

New York State Department of Transportation Commissioner Paul Karas, appointed by Governor Cuomo in November 2017, has been confirmed to address attendees on Friday, October 25 during a breakfast session as the NY Public Transit Association's Fall Conference in Albany. Register for the conference here.

Commissioner Karas is tasked with continuing the Governor's $100 billion investment plan to modernize aging infrastructure across the state. Before joining the Cuomo Administration, Mr. Karas served for four years as Vice President and Manager of RS&H, Inc., a transportation and buildings infrastructure consulting firm. Prior to that, he served as President and Founder of Karas Associates Co., an infrastructure development consultancy. Mr. Karas has extensive experience working at the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey, where he served as director of the $3.2 billion John F. Kennedy International Airport Redevelopment Program, and he previously served as the Commissioner of Public Works for the City of Chicago for three years. In 2004, Mr. Karas was appointed by the Illinois legislature to the Northeastern Illinois Regional Transportation Task Force, and in 1997, he was appointed by the U.S. House of Representatives to the Blue-Ribbon Advisory Committee for developing solutions to funding and operating concerns regarding Amtrak. Mr. Karas received his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Notre Dame, and a MBA from the University of Michigan.

 

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New York Public Transit
Association Headquarters

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United States

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