Woodstock on The Tappan Zee

This summer marks the 40th anniversary of the grand-daddy of all rock festivals… Woodstock. I was in my teens the summer of 1969, but couldn’t get off from my job to join the swarms of rock fans. But I did see most of them.

My job that summer was as a “temp seasonal” toll collector on the Tappan Zee Bridge, joining Westchester and Rockland counties across the mighty Hudson River.

There were two things I learned in that job: how to roll quarters and how to listen to the radio. The tiny booths lacked air conditioning, but I could bring a fan or a radio. My portable FM entertained me eight hours a day as I listened to both the music and the FM DJ’s… a job I eventually earned at WLIR after college graduation.

The FM stations were buzzing about Woodstock for weeks, and that Friday and much of Saturday, every kid in the tri-state area was heading for Yasgur’s Farm. Most weekends were pretty crazy in that job, because in those days tolls were collected in both directions… fifty cents north-bound and fifty cents coming home. (Today the toll is $5 roundtrip).

Busy as it was on summer weekends on that bridge, nobody expected a half-million kids would show up heading to Woodstock, especially not the folks at the Thruway. But after the rock fest was well underway, the Thruway brass realized the mobs would eventually be heading home, clogging the bridge. Because the music was expected to end late on Sunday, many of us temp-collectors worked overtime into the wee hours of Monday morning.

Late into the night we had five lanes open southbound, most of us enjoying some handsome overtime. But traffic was so light, they sent us home by about 1 am. I was due back in the booth five hours later.

Of course, the music didn’t end until early Monday, meaning that the usual morning rush hour carried as many burned-out hippies as it did business commuters. I remember one station wagon that pulled in to my lane, caked in mud up to the windows and stuffed with a dozen zonked-out kids. “Hey man,” said the driver with eyes that struggled to focus. “We don’t have any money” (to pay the 50 cent toll). “How about these instead?” That day, the Tappan Zee toll was an orange and a warm Coke.

Most days life as a toll collector on the Tappan Zee was a delight, as I was usually assigned the outside lane, also known as “the country club” because of its green vistas and views of the mighty Hudson River.

That far outside lane was also the site of experiments pre-dating the EZPass system, and I was a witness to many failed attempts at automating toll collection.

One such experiment involved fastening special permit plates to the underside of trucks, then running them through my toll lane at 30+ mph while an automatic camera mounted in the road snapped pictures of their permits. The system didn’t work.

After being transferred to the New Rochelle toll barrier on the New England Thruway, I learned about the “exact change” lanes. As folks threw their change into the basket, the coins went into a machine with rotating discs and holes the size of nickels, dimes and quarters. As the coins fell though the holes, their value was totaled and the driver could pull away.

What I didn’t know was the people threw more than coins into those baskets.

One day, while inside the booth removing change buckets, I heard a car stop in the lane outside followed by an ominous thump. Not the clinking of change, but a thump.

Imagine my horror as I watched an entire orange work its way down the change chute, hitting the rotating discs like a food processor, spewing orange juice and peel everywhere over the machinery, the buckets of coins and me.

Oh, for those days in “the country club lane” back on the Tappan Zee!

ParaTransit for more than just the disabled

Quick. What’s the most expensive ride in public transit? No, not rush-hour peak service on Metro-North. It’s ParaTransit… the door-to-door service for the disabled.

Transit districts are legally obliged to offer ParaTransit even though it’s extremely expensive and often draws complaints about poor service. Here’s the story.

In the 1980’s when planners from the American Public Transportation Assoc. would gather for meetings, there would be a swarm of demonstrators. Wheelchair activists would block their way, demanding access to mass transit. And why not?

In 1990 the Americans with Disabilities Act law gave them what they wanted… sort of. Buses would have to be equipped with wheelchair lifts. Key Metro-North stations were made “ADA compliant”. Even some subway stations in New York City saw elevators installed.

But some transit systems didn’t want to retrofit to carry the disabled. And even if they did, what about the blind or those who can’t easily get to the bus stop? That’s where ParaTransit came in. The ADA law mandates that door-to-door service must be available anywhere within three-quarters of a mile of a fixed route transit line.

The cost to the transit providers? Upwards of $25 - $30 per ride, with fares covering less than 10% of those expenses. But riders must book a day in advance and often share their ride on the “short bus” with others, hence the complaints. The disabled may be blind or unable to walk, but they’re far from silent.

While many felt they’d become second class citizens in the transit arena, Mayor Ed Koch complained that it would be cheaper to pay for cab fare for the disabled than pay for ParaTransit. And, in fact, that’s what one Connecticut town is doing.

Affluent Darien is already served by “Gallivant”, a door-to-door mini-van for both the disabled and the elderly. Passengers pay a suggested $5 per ride and must book a day in advance.

But in the town of almost 20,000 with 3,200 residents aged 60 or more, the Gallivant service is vastly under-utilized, carrying just 407 one-way riders in the last quarter. That’s only about seven rides a day because of limited hours and just one van.

Administered by the town’s Social Services Department, “Gallivant” is popular with many for rides to the doctors, for shopping or the Senior Center. But for others in town the pre-booking and stigma of riding the “short bus” keeps them house-bound.

So, using a new $15,000 state grant, the town is experimenting with offering half-price taxi vouchers for anyone aged 60 or older. Following a similar program in neighboring Stamford, the Darien plan is simple: just show up at Darien Town Hall, prove you’re a resident over age 60 and buy your half-price taxi vouchers. A book of five $5 vouchers (worth $25) costs $12.50.

When you’re ready to go, call Eveready Taxi (hopes are that other cab companies will join the program) and they’ll pick you up and take you where you want to go. Pay with vouchers and tip with cash.

The initial response to the program has been slow, but those who’ve tried it swear by it, not at it. The cab company gets more business, residents who can’t or shouldn’t drive get mobility. What’s not to like? Well, it seems some folks may be trying to scam the system.

The taxi voucher program is designed to give seniors and the disabled independence and spontaneity. Trips to the doctor, shopping maybe even the movies seem fine… and help local merchants.

But now the program is getting requests for half-price taxi rides to the airports… a $120 one-way trip! It’s one thing to give a senior mobility around town, but it’s a whole different matter to subsidize their summer vacation.

The Social Services Department is considering the request. But I hope people in need don’t get left at the curb when the funds run out because others gamed the system.

Fix My Station... Revisited

Three years ago, the Commuter Council launched the “Fix My Station” campaign, calling on Governor Rell to fix the crumbling, dilapidated and often-times dangerous conditions at CDOT-owned rail stations from New Haven to Greenwich.

Commuters sent in dozens of photos of their stations showing exposed wires, mold and graffiti which we posted on our website. Months later, CDOT finished a careful station by station engineering analysis recommending not just repairs but improvements. Special funds were allocated by the legislature for the needed work. Then… nothing happened.

Once again, we’d identified a problem, studied it and issued reports… and assumed the job was done. Few, if any, repairs were ever made to stations. If we were to revisit the same stations today we’d find things little improved.

But then, along came the Federal government this year with its “stimulus money” to create jobs with “shovel ready” public works projects.

Regional planners moaned, caught in a classic “Catch 22”. Because they had not been allowed for decades to plan for work that wasn’t already funded, there was little work that was truly “shovel ready”… except, in Connecticut’s case, at the train stations.

Here’s what happened at one station… Noroton Heights in Darien… but is doubtless being replicated across the country with similar public works projects.

One of the problems indentified at Noroton Hts as far back as 2004 was two sets of crumbling concrete steps leading from the west end of each platform up to Hollow Tree Ridge Road. Each set of stairs contains 28 steps.

Town officials initially estimated the repair work would cost $225,000, and the repairs were ordered, pending accumulation of enough money from parking revenues from commuters to pay for them.

Then the CDOT got involved. Because the steps were close to the track and overhead catenary power lines, CDOT said that Metro-North “flag men” would be required to oversee the repair work. That would add $80,000 to the job.

Because of the delays and since building supplies were then in such demand, prices escalated and the final bid for the work topped $400,000.

Then, along came Uncle Sam. When the feds dumped billions onto the states, somehow Hartford decided that $1.6 million should be spent at the Noroton Heights rail station. This would mean that in addition to fixing the steps, platform canopies could be extended and the platforms themselves could be resurfaced… projects long dreamt of but never put to paper by planners.

But be careful what you wish for.

Because Federal funds were now involved, CDOT had to revisit the stair rebuilding to be sure the work met Washington’s standards, not just Darien’s or the state’s.
Now, $30,000 will go to CDOT just to administer the project. But because CDOT is now under-staffed thanks to recent layoffs and early retirements, they can’t administer the job. The work is delayed again and the stairs probably won’t be repaired until 2010, six years after they were first identified as needing the work.

Had the Federal stimulus money gone directly to the towns, work would probably be underway by now. Heck… with a crew of Boy Scouts, a few sledge hammers and some local contractors, the steps could have been fixed in one week summers ago!
Instead, the steps are still crumbling. Federal funds are not being spent. Jobs have not been created. And another summer construction season will probably be wasted.

The “Fix My Station” campaign seemed like such a great idea three years ago, but those were simpler times and I was probably naïve to think anything so important could ever be done so quickly and easily. After all, this is Connecticut.

Getting To The Airport

They used to say that “getting there is half the fun”. Whoever “they” were, they haven’t endured the challenges and indignities of air travel post-9/11.
Even getting to the airport can sap your strength, if not your wallet. Consider the alternatives.

A car service is certainly convenient. But at $160 one way to LaGuardia’ $170 to JFK and $200+ to Newark, getting to the airport can cost more than your air fare. (Mind you, these are the advertised rates, so I wouldn’t be shy about asking for promotions and discounts when you call to book.)

But car services aren’t just expensive, they’re also wasteful. Couldn’t solo travelers share a car with others in a “limo-pool”? Is one passenger in a Lincoln Town Car an efficient use of limited space on I-95?

How about Connecticut Limousine? Now there’s a misnomer! Since when is a bus or cramped van a limo? And try explaining that name on the receipt on your expenses to your company’s accountant. “Really boss… it was just a bus!”

On a few occasions I’ve actually rented a car at the airport, driven home and then dropped the car the next day in Stamford. A day’s car rental is about half the cost of a car service. OK… so call me cheap.

Some regular fliers hire neighborhood teens to drive their own car to the airport, drop them off and drive home, repeating the process on their return. That’s cheaper than a car service, but puts double the miles on your car.

My preferred airport transfer is in my own car. Airport parking is $33 a day. Not cheap, but certainly convenient. And nobody complains about my cigar smoking enroute to the airport.

Another alternative, believe it or not, is Metro-North. Get off at 125th Street and catch a cab or livery and you’re at LaGuardia in about 15 minutes. Future plans call for some Metro-North trains to travel over the Hell’s Gate bridge, through Queens and into Penn Station. That could be a great chance to add a LaGuardia station with shuttle bus service to the terminals. But it’s a rail link our kids might see in their lifetimes, not ours.

If you’re heading to Newark, definitely consider Amtrak. Most Northeast corridor trains stop at Newark Airport where a convenient connection to the airport monorail has you at the terminals in just minutes. The train sure beats the Cross-Bronx and GWB any day. And fares are as low as $23 one way.

The proponents of ferry service on Long Island sound keep tempting us with talk about direct water-borne service to LaGuardia, but I’ll believe it when I see it. The old Pan Am Water Shuttle (a high speed ferry) couldn’t make a go of it carrying expense-account business fliers from the Marine Air Terminal to midtown, so I’m skeptical that operators could fill ferry boats to Stamford and Norwalk. And do you really want a sea cruise in the winter?

Mind you, New York’s three airports aren’t the only choices. Westchester County airport offers non-stop jet service to many cities and offers a variety of major carriers including JetBlue. Bridgeport’s Sikorsky airport used to get you to such cities as Philadelphia and Newark, but service now is very limited and expansion of both of these airports is challenged by local residents. Hartford’s Bradley Airport offers another alternative, including low fare carriers like Southwest… if you don’t mind a two-hour drive to get to the airport, north of Hartford.

One reader extols the virtues of New Haven’s Tweed Airport where US Air flies to Philly where you can connect to most anywhere.

Clearly, the trip to and from the airport can start and end a trip on a very sour, and expensive, note. But with a little imagination, this summer’s vacation can end on a thriftier note.

The Fare Hike Is Unfair

Once again, politicians who pay lip-service to improving transportation are trying to put your money where their mouths are: Governor Rell is proposing a 10% fare increase for Metro-North and a 40% fare hike for bus riders.

Her arguments for raising fares are specious:

1) New York Raised Its Fares, So We Should Also: NY State is raising its fares to pay debt service on $12 billion in bonds raised to invest in subways and trains. It had threatened 23% fare hikes and draconian service cuts (even in Connecticut), so the compromise 10% fare hike (June 17th) seems like a bargain. The MTA dug itself into a financial hole and wants riders to dig it back out. And Connecticut should mirror such bad public policy?

2) The Special Transportation Fund Is Running Out Of Money: True, but this is because lawmakers stupidly lowered gasoline taxes a decade ago. Those fuel taxes help subsidize rail fares and I predicted then that their loss would lead to higher fares. The way to replenish the Fund is to raise gas taxes. For just a one cent per gallon tax increase the state would gain enough revenue to halt the planned bus fare hike.

Sorry, Governor. Your rationale for taxing commuters just doesn’t make sense. Consider the consequences of these proposed fare hikes:

1) Increased Road Traffic: Higher fares just encourage people to get back in their cars and drive on already congested highways. Isn’t this what we were trying to prevent?

2) Exploiting The Poor: The folks who take the bus don’t have cars. They have no other option than to travel by bus to school, to jobs and shopping. For them, a 40% fare increase means less money for food and medicine.

3) Discouraging Business: What employer will want to open a new business in a state where potential employees can’t afford to get to their jobs? A fare hike on trains and buses is anti-business and anti-growth.

4) Reduced Ridership / Even Higher Fares: Making the trains and buses more expensive will discourage ridership just as the new M8 cars start to arrive. Fixed operating costs won’t change, but reduced income from reduced ridership will just lead to calls for more fare hikes, a never-ending downward spiral.

5) Fare Increases Are Already Planned 2010 – 2016: Rail commuters already know they’ll be paying a 1.25% fare hike January 1st in 2010… and additional 1% fare hikes each New Years Day until 2016. This money is to help pay for the new M8 cars which are already behind schedule due to design problems and testing issues.

Hopefully, Governor Rell is just bluffing. Maybe she’s using the fare hike threat to jolt the legislature into action. But what politician would be so foolhardy as to support these fare increases, then look voters in the eye and ask for re-election?
While the downstate delegation may “get it” when it comes to supporting mass transit, the pols upstate clearly don’t have a clue.

Remember, it was just two years ago that Senate President Don Williams from “the quiet corner” of rural Connecticut was proposing free fares for senior citizens on all trains and buses. What a concept: a free ride on Metro-North for seniors while working stiffs pay $300 a month. Fortunately, that idea went nowhere.

So keep an eye on the legislature in the coming weeks. The process of creating a balanced budget won’t be easy or pretty to watch.

But if you want a say in stopping a hike on bus or train fares, contact your state lawmakers now. Only if bus and rail riders speak up can the Governor’s plan be defeated.

Unfinish Work at CDOT

Here’s a quick update on some issues I’ve written about recently, but first some breaking news!

FARE INCREASE: In desperation to find a way to balance our state’s budget, Governor Rell is playing her “trump card”, calling for a 10% fare hike on Metro-North. Her reasoning? “New York raised their fares, so should we”.

But remember… the NY fare hike came because of MTA’s budget crisis. Having spent billions for decades on rail improvements, they couldn’t get up-staters to pay the bills, so they threatened service cuts and 30% fare hikes. Bottom line: a 10% fare boost in NY looks cheap.

That is not our situation in Connecticut, where there wasn’t spending as train service deteriorated, ridership rose and fares remained steady. Yes, the long promised new M8 cars are coming, but will be paid for (in part) by long-planned annual fare hikes that begin January 1, 2010 and continue to rise 1% per year for the seven years.

Governor Rell’s call for a 10% fare hike now is a break of her promise of “no new taxes”. A fare hike now is a tax on commuters and another disincentive to live or work in Connecticut.

If the legislature approves the fare increase there will be public hearings, but they’ll be a meaningless, moot exercise. If you oppose a fare hike, call your state lawmakers now!

PARKING TASK FORCE: In January Governor Rell trumpeted a fresh new look at the issue of rail station parking, calling on CDOT to create a Parking Task Force (on which I was invited to serve). Five months later, CDOT’s Task Force has yet to meet, not even once. Blame it on foot-dragging by the regional planning agencies or lack of focus by CDOT, but nothing has been done to add parking at the stations even as the new M8 cars are scheduled to arrive, increasing capacity on our trains.

THE BRAIN DRAIN: In a call to save money, the state recently offered senior staffers at agencies like CDOT a sweet retirement deal. And many took it. So this week a former Deputy Commissioner and the Rail Bureau Chief have left the agency, taking nice pensions and a combined 50 years experience with them. (At least one is going to a consulting job where he’ll work on CDOT projects at better pay). A state hiring freeze means these men can’t be replaced. That means more work at CDOT for fewer, less experienced staffers.


RIDERSHIP IS DOWN: You can finally get a seat at rush hour on Metro-North, as the railroad has seen ridership plummet 4% month over month thanks to the economic carnage and resulting jobs losses in NYC. Fewer riders means more pressure for fare increases.


WATERBURY WOES: However nasty your commute may seem, some have it worse… the riders of the Waterbury branch. At a recent CT Rail Commuter Council meeting in Naugatuck a mob of 50 angry passengers gave CDOT and Metro-North representatives an earful.

They have no stations, just bus shelters. Despite a 34% increase in ridership last year, they have only half as many trains as the Danbury branch. Cars are often filthy… in one case spewed with vomit that wasn’t cleaned up from the night before.
Automobiles parked in Waterbury are frequent targets of vandalism with local cops and the MTA Police blaming each other for lack of enforcement.

Adding insult to injury, all rail service is being halted for a month this summer to rebuild the tracks and ties (and an aging bridge) on the entire branch. That will mean busing… always a treat.

Gridlock in Hartford

I’ve written many times before of failed efforts to fix our transportation mess… how the only money being spent is not on solutions but on endless studies and consultant reports whose recommendations go unheeded.

Now we’re about to see another example as the Transportation Strategy Board is expected to do nothing with suggestions for electronic-tolling of our congested roads to mitigate congestion and raise badly need funds.

After commissioning a $1 million, 500-page study of the issue, the TSB is expected to say that the idea of “value pricing” our interstates needs, you guessed it, yet more study!

I could tell the fix was in when, even before the consultants delivered their million dollar baby, Governor Rell said she was against tolling.

And don’t expect any leadership on this issue from lawmakers, unable to write a budget let alone show the courage to face a controversial issue like tolls.

As one transportation expert says, the eight year old Transportation Strategy Board has turned into a “debating club”, endlessly talking but doing nothing. Their meetings get little attention and most members attend only sporadically. How would you like try making an 8 am weekday meeting in Hartford, so scheduled that even CT-N can’t cover it.

With a decimated corps of Capitol newspaper reporters, who’s to cover such important discussions? And local media coverage to date has been either shallow or factually inaccurate.

The idea of bringing back tolls has been discussed for almost a decade. Yet every newspaper report about their elimination in 1983 always mentions the firey truck crash at the Stratford toll barrier that killed seven, as if toll barriers are just waiting to get hit.

Current tolling technology eliminates toll booths and their delays, but the mis-reporting continues. So much for what passes for journalism these days. Stories about “killer chimps” make the front page for days on end, while the real news goes unreported.

When the TSB received its $1 million consultant report, outlining nine different tolling options, the board scheduled public hearings across the state… except in Fairfield County. Little was done to explain what the consultants suggested, despite pleas for informational meetings.

So when 50 concerned citizens turned out last week in Norwalk for a last-minute public hearing, their opinions were mostly based on inaccurate media coverage. Few had read or even knew about the 500-page report, summarized at the hearing in a one-page handout.

It’s almost as if the TSB wanted the plan to die.

I’m all for a good debate, but if you don’t educate the public, should their opinions be taken seriously?

One after another, people called tolls a hidden “tax”. They were so cynical that they didn’t believe tolls would do anything to improve traffic (they would). Some called for higher tolls on out-of-staters (illegal). Two who spoke noted the connection between traffic and affordable housing. And one suggested investing in more cars for Metro-North, paid for by employers, their exteriors wrapped in ads for the companies.

Resulting media coverage ignored those, like me, who spoke in favor of tolling. The headlines screamed “Commuters Speak Out Against Tolls” when they should have read “TSB Gets Uninformed Opinions on Unexplained Million Dollar Study”, but I guess that wouldn’t sell newspapers like stories of killer chimps.

Our state is in gridlock, not just on our roads but in our government. Nobody has the vision or the courage to do anything to change our situation, preferring to hide behind endless studies and consultant reports which then get ignored.

Debating the problem for a decade has done nothing. And there’s no sign that the TSB, the Governor or legislature will ever do anything about transportation except what they’re done so far… talk.