River Greenway Ribbon Cut in South Orange

I’m pleased to say this river greenway and bike path construction project for South Orange was delivered on time and on-budget. One year and one day from groundbreaking to ribbon cut.

Lautenberg Introduces National Rail Freight Policy Bill

Anything we can do to get more goods moving more efficiently by rail, rather than diesel-fueled, polluting trucks, which cause so much wear and tear on our interstate highways and local roads, sounds terrific! Sen. Lautenberg is the chair of the Senate Commerce subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety and Security, and he introduced a bill in Congress to do just that and more (reduce carbon dioxide emission by 40% by 2030) on Thursday, July 22. More insights in the full blog post.

BP’s Oil Spill Damages: What Exxon Valdez Wrought

No one knows what the final amount of damages, fines and penalties might be for the BP oil spill—too many unknowns—but some commentators are tossing around $40 billion, all told. That’s a lot of money, even for BP. Some are asking, “Does it have the assets to survive?” Lawsuits are already being filed, and Attorney General Eric Holder has announced a criminal investigation.

Trees Cut Along Rahway River in South Orange

The Army Corps of Engineers, which has jurisdiction over the nation’s rivers, and flooding, ordered South Orange Village to cut down the trees that had grown up along the Rahway River’s embankment on Clark Street. Without questioning the order, the Village’s DPW employees took a buzz saw to the trees last Tuesday, and it looks just awful.

Progress at the PA NYNJ

The Port Authority’s Bill Baroni today unveiled a long-hoped for unified fare card (actually a “PayPass” Mastercard (debit or credit)) good on PATH trains, NJTransit trains and MTA subways. No more juggling different fare cards for bi-state commuters!

Public Transportation Preservation Act Introduced

I’m hopeful the Public Transportation Preservation Act of 2010 bill will pass and become law. It’s sadly ironic, though, to reflect on why our federal senators’ (Lautenberg, Menendez, Gillibrand, Schumer, Dodd, others) had to introduce the $2 billion bill to aid transit, to prevent more service cuts and fare hikes.