----Original Message Follows----
From: "Richard Stowe" <bike.rail.politics@...>
To: r_stowe@...
Subject: Alert!!! Bicyclists shortchanged in commuter council annual
report... Attend meeting!!!
Date: Wed, 17 Jan 2007 02:19:22 -0500


CT Commuter Rail Council meeting today Wed. 1/17/07 7:00 p.m.
location: Business Council of Fairfield Cty 1 Landmark Square Ste. 230
Stamford, CT

This is an important meeting to attend. Why?
1) The Commissioner of Transportation will dialogue with commuter
council & public.
2) The commuter council's annual report short changes bicyclists,
bicycling, bike parking on trains and bicycle parking at train
stations... concluding that driving "a car is the only option."
That's unacceptable and outrageous! We can't let them get away making
automobile dependence a self-fulfilling prophecy any more. Not one
more day!!!
3) The TSB draft recommendations will be discussed. And those
recommendations (see below) are extremely good - very bicycle
friendly. Number one on that list is bicycle access to trains at all
times!!! We need bodies and voices to defend those recommendations at
this meeting.
4) $30 million state-owned Stamford parking garage project -
a) for that price we should be paying commuters to bicycle to the
Stamford Transportation Center
b) we need to insist that they the parking garage project be more than
just a rebuild of the existing parking garage - that's the equivalent
of a dead zone surrounding a train station
here are some ideas:
- its needs to be a green designed, smart growth transit oriented
development type of project - with residential, office and a
substantive retailer (like Nordstrom's or Whole Foods Market)
- lease the development rights and as a condition make the developer
pay for the replacement parking spaces
- then use the $30 million to fund covered and secure bicycle parking
spaces in a number of New Haven Line stations.

Here's the AGENDA

COUNCIL BUSINESS:

1). Remarks by and discussion with C-DOT Commissioner Ralph Carpenter

2). Review of December Operating Report Mr.
Lydecker / MNRR

3). Review of TSB Draft Recommendations Mr.
Cameron / Ms. Prosi

4). Mainline Issues
All
- Fairfield/Westport rail-truck collision and emergency response

5). Danbury / Waterbury / New Canaan Branch Issues
All

6). Stamford Garage – Update
Mr. Colonese / Council

7). Other such business as shall be appropriate

can't make it tonight - the next meeting is: Wed. Feb. 17, 2007 - 6
pm CDOT Offices – Union Station New Haven CT

(the section below is an attached document)
Update:

Ran into Jon Orcutt, executive director and Kate Slevin, associate
director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, on an Amtrak train
to Hartford on Wednesday January 10th.

My destination was the Legislative Office Building at the State
Capitol for a rally organized by the Connecticut Citizens
Transportation Lobby. There I saw Karen Burnaska, Coastal Corridor TIA
member of the Transportation Strategy Board.

Jon told me (Karen confirmed it) about some great recommendations
contained within the Bicycle and Pedestrians section of the draft
report of Connecticut's Transportation Strategy: Report and
Recommendations of the Transportation Strategy Board released in
January 2007.

And the best news is first recommendation listed in the Bicycle and
Pedestrians section:

• Provide dedicated bike space on passenger trains at all times of the day

TSB's second recommendation directly pertains to one of our other
priority goals.

• Identify and support bike routes to transportation centers

Translation: transportation centers = train stations + centralized bus
loading areas
Example: Stamford Transportation Center

Other bicycling goals adopted by TSB:

• Identify and remedy existing bicycle storage and parking
deficiencies, especially in urban centers and transportation centers.

Rail TEC goal: covered and enclosed bicycle storage at train stations
or transportation centers

• Adopt a policy of allowing bicycles to be carried on state funded
bus routes. As new buses are ordered equip them to permit the carriage
of bicycles.
• Support the development and implementation of the Federal Safe
Routes to School program.
• Encourage municipal and regional officials to work closely with DOT
to include expanded bicycle and pedestrian facilities as a part of all
roadway projects.

Rail TEC goal: Monitor road edge striping re-striping projects
carefully so that lanes are narrowed and shoulders (for bicycling are
widened.)

A special thanks to those who signed the bikes-on-trains petitions and
attended and spoke up at TSB meetings or wrote the TSB letters.

Thanks to bicycle commuter advocate Franklin Bloomer, whose presence &
voice as a Coastal Corridor TIA member, gave cyclists standing in
setting statewide transportation policy.

I have attached excerpts from a TSB public hearing in New Haven last
August as an example of your invaluable advocacy.

Your voice was heard!

Contrast this with the short shrift bicycling gets in the CT
Metro-North Rail Commuter Council's annual report for 2006. According
to bicycle commuting advocate David Bedell, there are a total of two
references to bicycle commuting, bicycle access or bicycle parking in
the 2006 CTMNRCC annual report. And neither is bicycle friendly.

p.3:
STATION PARKING:
To be able to take the train, commuters must first get to the station.
Most stations have no bus service and bike racks are scarce, so a car
is the only viable option.

Parking is in short supply and is expensive.

Many towns have a four to five year waiting list for annual permits
which range in price from $250 to $600 per year. In most towns,
limited daily parking is available on a first-come, first-served
basis, but can cost $3 to $6 per space per day. Those who can't find
legal parking at the station often occupy nearby merchants' spaces or
park illegally.


p.45:
MISCELLANEOUS
Mr. Stowe suggested that storage space for bicycles ought to be
provided in the new M-8s.

Mr. Colonese said that he did not see demand for bicycles on trains.


Another goal advocated by RailTEC is the removal of caps on the number
of trains, which are allowed to travel east of Old Saybrook. Our
recommendation is to replace 100-year old drawbridges with high-level
bridges.

Here's what the TSB recommended:

• Work with the Department of Environmental Protection, the United
States Coast Guard and other responsible entities to address bridge
issues limiting, or potentially limiting, rail service, especially on
Shore Line East.

Finally a third goal RailTEC is promoting – seamless rail service (a
proposed act has been introduced by Rep. Hetherington in Hartford) -
made into the list of recommendations.

• Improve integration of New Haven Line, the branch lines, Shore Line
East and the New Haven to Springfield Line so that seamless service is
provided regardless of the entity responsible for operating a
particular line.

Thanks,
Richard Stowe
Rail Transport Excellence Coalition

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CT Commuter Rail Council meeting today Wed. 1/17/07 7:00 p.m.
location: Business Council of Fairfield Cty 1 Landmark Square Ste. 230
Stamford, CT

This is an important meeting to attend. Why?
1) The Commissioner of Transportation will dialogue with commuter
council & public.
2) The commuter council's annual report short changes bicyclists,
bicycling, bike parking on trains and bicycle parking at train
stations... concluding that driving "a car is the only option."
That's unacceptable and outrageous! We can't let them get away making
automobile dependence a self-fulfilling prophecy any more. Not one
more day!!!
3) The TSB draft recommendations will be discussed. And those
recommendations (see below) are extremely good - very bicycle
friendly. Number one on that list is bicycle access to trains at all
times!!! We need bodies and voices to defend those recommendations at
this meeting.
4) $30 million state-owned Stamford parking garage project -
a) for that price we should be paying commuters to bicycle to the
Stamford Transportation Center
b) we need to insist that they the parking garage project be more than
just a rebuild of the existing parking garage - that's the equivalent
of a dead zone surrounding a train station
here are some ideas:
- its needs to be a green designed, smart growth transit oriented
development type of project - with residential, office and a
substantive retailer (like Nordstrom's or Whole Foods Market)
- lease the development rights and as a condition make the developer
pay for the replacement parking spaces
- then use the $30 million to fund covered and secure bicycle parking
spaces in a number of New Haven Line stations.

Here's the AGENDA

COUNCIL BUSINESS:

1). Remarks by and discussion with C-DOT Commissioner Ralph Carpenter

2). Review of December Operating Report Mr.
Lydecker / MNRR

3). Review of TSB Draft Recommendations Mr.
Cameron / Ms. Prosi

4). Mainline Issues
All
- Fairfield/Westport rail-truck collision and emergency response

5). Danbury / Waterbury / New Canaan Branch Issues
All

6). Stamford Garage – Update
Mr. Colonese / Council

7). Other such business as shall be appropriate

can't make it tonight - the next meeting is: Wed. Feb. 17, 2007 - 6
pm CDOT Offices – Union Station New Haven CT

(the section below is an attached document)
Update:

Ran into Jon Orcutt, executive director and Kate Slevin, associate
director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, on an Amtrak train
to Hartford on Wednesday January 10th.

My destination was the Legislative Office Building at the State
Capitol for a rally organized by the Connecticut Citizens
Transportation Lobby. There I saw Karen Burnaska, Coastal Corridor TIA
member of the Transportation Strategy Board.

Jon told me (Karen confirmed it) about some great recommendations
contained within the Bicycle and Pedestrians section of the draft
report of Connecticut's Transportation Strategy: Report and
Recommendations of the Transportation Strategy Board released in
January 2007.

And the best news is first recommendation listed in the Bicycle and
Pedestrians section:

• Provide dedicated bike space on passenger trains at all times of the day

TSB's second recommendation directly pertains to one of our other
priority goals.

• Identify and support bike routes to transportation centers

Translation: transportation centers = train stations + centralized bus
loading areas
Example: Stamford Transportation Center

Other bicycling goals adopted by TSB:

• Identify and remedy existing bicycle storage and parking
deficiencies, especially in urban centers and transportation centers.

Rail TEC goal: covered and enclosed bicycle storage at train stations
or transportation centers

• Adopt a policy of allowing bicycles to be carried on state funded
bus routes. As new buses are ordered equip them to permit the carriage
of bicycles.
• Support the development and implementation of the Federal Safe
Routes to School program.
• Encourage municipal and regional officials to work closely with DOT
to include expanded bicycle and pedestrian facilities as a part of all
roadway projects.

Rail TEC goal: Monitor road edge striping re-striping projects
carefully so that lanes are narrowed and shoulders (for bicycling are
widened.)

A special thanks to those who signed the bikes-on-trains petitions and
attended and spoke up at TSB meetings or wrote the TSB letters.

Thanks to bicycle commuter advocate Franklin Bloomer, whose presence &
voice as a Coastal Corridor TIA member, gave cyclists standing in
setting statewide transportation policy.

I have attached excerpts from a TSB public hearing in New Haven last
August as an example of your invaluable advocacy.

Your voice was heard!

Contrast this with the short shrift bicycling gets in the CT
Metro-North Rail Commuter Council's annual report for 2006. According
to bicycle commuting advocate David Bedell, there are a total of two
references to bicycle commuting, bicycle access or bicycle parking in
the 2006 CTMNRCC annual report. And neither is bicycle friendly.

p.3:
STATION PARKING:
To be able to take the train, commuters must first get to the station.
Most stations have no bus service and bike racks are scarce, so a car
is the only viable option.

Parking is in short supply and is expensive.

Many towns have a four to five year waiting list for annual permits
which range in price from $250 to $600 per year. In most towns,
limited daily parking is available on a first-come, first-served
basis, but can cost $3 to $6 per space per day. Those who can't find
legal parking at the station often occupy nearby merchants' spaces or
park illegally.


p.45:
MISCELLANEOUS
Mr. Stowe suggested that storage space for bicycles ought to be
provided in the new M-8s.

Mr. Colonese said that he did not see demand for bicycles on trains.


Another goal advocated by RailTEC is the removal of caps on the number
of trains, which are allowed to travel east of Old Saybrook. Our
recommendation is to replace 100-year old drawbridges with high-level
bridges.

Here's what the TSB recommended:

• Work with the Department of Environmental Protection, the United
States Coast Guard and other responsible entities to address bridge
issues limiting, or potentially limiting, rail service, especially on
Shore Line East.

Finally a third goal RailTEC is promoting – seamless rail service (a
proposed act has been introduced by Rep. Hetherington in Hartford) -
made into the list of recommendations.

• Improve integration of New Haven Line, the branch lines, Shore Line
East and the New Haven to Springfield Line so that seamless service is
provided regardless of the entity responsible for operating a
particular line.

Thanks,
Richard Stowe
Rail Transport Excellence Coalition