ISSN 1052-7524

Proceedings of the Transportation Research Forum

Volume 7 1993

35th TRF Annual Forum , New York

October 14-16, 1993 4 Proceedings of TRF, Vol. 7, 1993

vi Keynote Address it

Improving Metropolitan Mobility: Strategies for the Bi-state Region

Keynote Speaker: Stanley Brezenoff Port Authority of New York and New Jersey a

The Transportation Research Forum was our services more flexible and more founded here in 35 years reliable in all aspects. ago, and it is fitting that this year's meeting be held here because, whAever I will provide a quick tour of the major your professional specialty, it is in work underway and sketch the vision motion somewhere in the metropolitan that is emerging of a unified regional area, and a local TRF member is likely network for moving people and goods. to be in the middle of the action. Dozens of initiatives are underway. There is a lot going on in transportation Taken together, they promise steady that translates directly into issues, progress toward a system that offers problems, and concerns that are wider transportation choices, more fundamental to this region, to this competitive gateways to world trade, country, and to this society. easier access to economic opportunity, and reduced air pollution without For example, double-stack rail service, reduced mobility. high speed ferries, new airport transit links, electronic toll and fare collections, If you are working in this region now, "smart highway" systems, new rail you are already part of this new wave of transit links, and improved intermodal investment and service improvement. rail transfers, are all happening here and they all stand to make a difference If you are with a company that serves in the lives of the people who live here. national transportation markets, you should look to the new opportunities This region, America's busiest gateway opening up here for public and private and biggest marketplace, is mobilizing partnerships to move people and goods itself to take full advantage of the within the region and through our changes sweeping transportation in gateway facilities. America. Obviously, the new national directions We are applying intermodal thinking, embodied in ISTEA and other new new technologies, and increased federal federal laws have opened the way for funding across the region. strategic public works investment that can sharpen the competitiveness of The Port Authority and our sister mature regions like ours. agencies in both states are working together to build more capacity into the These policy reforms coincide with a set regional network. We intend to make of emerging technologies and new ser- Keynote Address

vice concepts that offer us new tools for new transportation investment by improving regional transportation. We providing taxes, tolls, and other may not have been the first to adopt resources when needed. Both states most ofthese recent innovations,but you have promoted projects and planning Will never find so many of them in one that move the region toward a more Place as you will here through the 90's seamless network. and beyond. Obviously, I won't pretend that New The Port Authority is extending itself as York and New Jersey don't sometimes never before in our 72-year history, with compete with each other. If you listened a broadened capital program, and with to the news this morning, you noted that service-oriented changes in our 900 jobs are moving to Jersey City from ore operations. We want to ensure that the their current place in Manhattan, and region takes every opportunity presented the news received a lot of attention. But by these changes through the decade. that internal regional competition has tjor Frankly, we know ISTEA is a limited- sharpened the region's determination to ion time offer coming out of Washington. support economic growth, and it hasn't aal impeded progress on strategic 3. Our regions' port operations feel the transportation investment benefitting Presence of competition from other both states. v. global and domestic business centers. dy We also value the federal government's rs With thousands of business customers recent support for the critical role played re and tenants using our crossings, by transportation systems in metropoli- le, terminals, and commercial spaces, we tan life and national competitiveness. know they need better service and tight International gateways in this and other ut cost control to survive their competitors. regions are national assets. We see a much improved policy framework for That is why we are reshaping the way melding federal, state, local, and private w, we do our business to be more responsive sector investments to support national of in providing transportation, developing goals. Partnerships, and planning for the future. Our agency is a unique public In this climate, the Port Authority has enterprise. It is self-supporting, spans been able to advance its ambitious two dynamic states, and is home to airport redevelopment programs, port )s more, and different, public and private improvements, and vital interstate ,e Partnerships than any other area. transportation investments. Both state ls transportation departments have ir The region has to have its transportation strengthened their planning and act together to keep the jobs and network management efforts. business activities it has now and to capture new economic growth. We are New Jersey Transit and the New York in a race with competing regions to Metropolitan Transportation Authority upgrade and inter-connect the in-place have been improving transit systems transportation assets that many other that are the envy of every urban area cities are creating from the ground up. with a Clean Air Act problem. More than half of all transit rides in the The race isn't over by any means, but United States occur here. Today, the our pace is quickening. The region's Port Authority, and these two transit elected leadership has strongly supported agencies,serve a 17-county region that is 6 Proceedings of TRF, Vol. 7, 1993

home to 18 million people and 8 million TransitCenter, a marketing alliance of f. jobs. More than 700 million tons of the MTA, NJT and PATH. The freight are moved within the region each TransitCenter is signing up more year. businesses for TransitCheks. TransitCheks are vouchers that Each weekday, all these commuters and employers can give workers to help pay cargo containers go into motion together. transit fares on every public and private They share an overlapping network of transit system in the region. highways and rail lines overburdened on many critical routes and managed by Our airport mobility is being upgraded. hosts of operators. These projects include major terminal and frontage improvements at What is changing now is that the LaGuardia, new roadway systems at region's major transportation players are JFK, and a people mover linking 1 forming a series of working partnerships terminals and parking at Newark to improve the regional network. We International Airport. are moving on three broad fronts and I'll sketch the array of efforts that are now These projects, plus air cargo improve- underway. ments, and other work, reflect $1.3 billion spent by the Port Authority since First, we want smoother connections and 1988, with nearly $2.0 billion more improved services. Every toll crossing programmed through 1997. Airlines and and highway in the region should be other businesses are investing nearly as part of a common electronic toll much equity at the airports at the same collections system within the next few time. years, allowing truckers and others to maintain a single payment account and The second of our three broad fronts save time on the road too. includes many major new services that are in the works. The MTA is beginning implementation of electronic fare card systems on the Transit access to all three regional subway, the heart of the region's rail airports is on the front burner. transit network. Subway fare cards open the way for major expansion of the Plans for linking each airport to the region's existing joint ticketing and regional rail system are going into transit marketing efforts. PATH (The environmental impact study reviews this Port Authority Trans-Hudson commuter fall. We estimate that Kennedy and railroad) Quick Card is already offered LaGuardia links could eliminate as with New Jersey Transit Commuter Rail many as 500,000 miles of roadway travel monthly tickets. daily.

More reliable traffic flow for the region's High speed ferries and other waterborne regional busy highways is happening through links are augmenting the TRANSCOM, a 15-agency tri-state transportation system. Governor Cuomo group. TRANSCOM links operations last month announced plans for several with centers for major vehicular and transit new routes linking Manhattan facilities. It is a point of coordination as three boroughs and Westchester County. to New we put in place IVHS systems and Light rail transit is coming motorist advisory services. Employer Jersey's redeveloping Hudson support of transit is growing through the waterfront, and may be across 42nd Keynote Address

of Street here in Manhattan. NJT is the Goethels Bridge linking the region he moving forward with expanded via Union County and Staten Island. Dre corarauter rail connections linking ES. services within New Jersey and bringing Second, we are planning with other iat more trains into Penn Station in New agencies to take a very serious look at lay York. creating a major new rail connection for te transit and freight across the core of the The third of our three broad fronts, and, region. Perhaps most important, we are ed. strengthening intermodal freight links. Accomplishment of all or even most of 121 On-dock rail service and double-stack these projects is obviously not guaran- at access is available at our Port Newark- teed. Funding is a constant issue, but at Elizabeth container port. Rail-related these projects generate economic value ng truck trips are down by 50%. A bar-code that should make them affordable to a rk system is saving truckers time at the region concerned with competitiveness terminal. At our Auto Marine Terminal, and improved air quality. good access and good service by trained Te- local workers boosted volume by 70% A lot depends on how well we can last year, in the midst of a recession, to explain the benefits of these projects. ce make this the nation's largest auto- re handling port. Transportation does not rank high ad among public concerns in campaign polls as A barge service links 's Red and surveys. ae Hook Terminal with the mainland, bypassing long-term reconstruction work But jobs do, quality of life does, the on the Gowanus Expressway. environment does, a good local tax base ts does. at Construction continues on the Oak Point Link to the intermodal We have to explain how better Yards. We are acting with both states transportation brings these things into al and New York City to preserve the rail reach. freight right-of-way to Staten Island through Cranford Junction. We have to remind people that the reason this region has been so strong to We are also enhancing truck access on economically over the centuries is is the existing bi-state highway network. because of the wisdom, courage and Ld That is another critical need. We are conviction of our fore-fathers, and is looking with both state transportation because of their willingness to put ?,1 departments and other agencies at money on the line that had pay-off only future truck access needs around the over the long term. Newark Airport and Seaport complex and the (New Jersey) Turnpike We today enjoy the benefits and fruits of ii connection to the George Washington that foresight and that investment. Bridge. Li We have the same obligation to the Two more initiatives at an early stage of region if we expect our children and our r. development are especially important to grandchildren to enjoy the kind of V bi-state markets served by the Port prosperity that this region has enjoyed Authority. First, we are reviewing a over the years. I will end with a story. potential modernization and expansion of Governor Al Smith, a very astute 8 Proceedings of TRF, Vol. 7, 1993

politician, was a populist and a Question - Is the barge service you champion of public works investment. referenced in your speech the same as He campaigned tirelessly in and out of the Cross Harbor Railroad float-bridge office for far-sighted steps like the service? creation of the Port Authority. Brezenoff - Actually, what I described When he made the case to legislators in was not Cross Harbor (Railroad). Cross Albany,he didn't cite statistics. Instead, Harbor continues to operate. he told a story — a very sad story — of the tortured path over many days of Mr. What I alluded to was a barge service Potato. that was created about a year or a year and a half ago as mitigation for what is Mr. Potato came from a farm in Ohio. going to be an 8 or 10 year reconstruc- A Over many days, Mr. Potato made his tion effort of the Gowanus Expressway. a' way to market in New York. That story ti helped Al Smith prevail in the The Gowanus Expressway runs along legislature. the coastline of the port of New York in Ci Brooklyn. 13 That is the kind of approach and advocacy we need to bring to our current Even under the best of circumstances, efforts. the Gowanus Expressway is a highly congested roadway. Food on the table, a new inner-city job, a commuter arriving home in time for The only way cargo coming into the port dinner, a breath of fresh air — that is at Red Hook and the South Brooklyn what good transportation does for people Marine Terminal can get to the and communities, and we need to keep, mainland is to get on the Gowanus. 1-1 and increase, all those benefits here in this region. Cargo is trucked through Manhattan,or cargo goes the other direction, to Question - You mentioned building LaGuardia, and then on to final transit connections to the airports. Is it destination. really going to happen after all these years, and how will it be funded? This long range construction project responds to operators of the terminal, We have a plan for using revenues from and to shipping lines. They said they the passenger facility charge to create couldn't risk the additional substantial rail access directly to LaGuardia and delays. Kennedy Airports from Manhattan. This is an ambitious project and we are So, we created a barge service that takes optimistic about being able to do it. But, cargo landed at Red Hook and transports it faces a number of hurdles. it across to New Jersey where it can be railed or more easily trucked. This would be on our own tracks. It would be an AGT(Automated Guideway The barge service has been very popular. Transit) that would run through rights- We are going to introduce some of-way on the Vanwyck Expressway and productivity improvements which will the Grand Central. reduce the cost. Keynote Address 9

you uestion - How do you respond to make this work. That would probably as criticism that the Oak Point Link is include prodding to use it. dge already obsolete because it will not enable double-stack service into New Question - What about the possibility of York City? using Penn Station tunnels for freight? bed oss Brezenoff - The question of the future of Brezenoff- We are very interested in the the Oak Point Link has a range of possibility of freight coming into Penn answers,from the very optimistic,to sort Station at night on Amtrak rail tracks. of rice a wait-and-see what develops, to the We believe that would be a good use of aar extremely pessimistic. resources. Amtrak does not agree. We is are going to continue to discuss this with uc- Among those who are most optimistic them. ay. about it, there is a belief that ultimately the clearances up through Selkirk will Amtrak has said that they need those be ng increased so that more volume could tracks at night for repair trains, and in Come into Oak Point Link. they might be concerned that freight operations at night will impact their But, that requires a much greater passenger activities the following day. es, investment than current resources ily permit. But, certainly from a capacity perspective, it seems to make a great The only way I can really answer the deal of sense to take advantage of the )rt question is to say that New York State, rail tracks at night to get freight in, and New yn York City, and the Port Authority start getting better utilization out of the he have now put considerable resources into Sunnyside yards carrying the freight the Oak Point Link. So there will be right through. much incentive from those entities to or to .al

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