If you hadn’t read All Over Albany’s post on High Speed Rail, Thinking about high-speed rail in New York, give it a read. It’s a great article.
Perhaps the most fascinating portion of the article didn’t reference the bridge at all…
“I look at my own daughter, who has a driver’s license but doesn’t drive, just doesn’t like to drive. Doesn’t own a car, has no interest in a car. The next generation is much more open to transit and trying different modes and being multi-modal,” Lipfert said near the end of our conversation. “I was just on the Caltrains service between San Francisco and San Jose — they can’t buy enough rail cars, they’re standing room only. They encourage people to bring bikes, and many people will bike from their apartment to the train, and then bike from the train to their job. It’s a great multi-modal experience. And that’s really what we’re trying to support here — not only this corridor, but also connections to other modes. So I’m very optimistic about the future.” – Bill Lipfert is the rail operations planning lead on High Speed Rail Empire Corridor Program for LTK Engineering Services, which is working with NYSDOT to sort through high speed rail options.
Once upon a time you could walk or bike across the river to access the train station…
Not everyone drives to commute. Not everyone can afford to own a car. Not everyone wants to commute in a car. Bicycle tourism has also exploded. So, not only do trains need to cater to a new market, but stations, too – and might I add the PATHS to the station. Who has ever used the Dunn Memorial bridge to get across the river? It’s awful! Not just unsafe, but AWFUL! If Amtrak is true to their word about being multi-modal focused, then they must consider accessibility to their facilities. The Livingston Avenue Bridge is close, accessible, and ties into an existing network. We’re going to buy train cars that accommodate bikes, we’re going to improve access to transit, and we’re going to double down on making rail attractive to a greater population – we need to be cognizant of how facilities like the rail stations are accessible to travelers (commuters and recreationists alike). There’s a difference between hearing and listening. DOT has certainly HEARD the collective voices of the region ask for the walkway. We hope they are LISTENING.
How can you help? EASY!
Send a letter to the Project Team
You are welcome to send letters addressed to:
David Chan, Project Manager
High Speed Rail Empire Corridor Project
New York State Department of Transportation
50 Wolf Road, POD 6-1
Albany, NY 12232
Send comments by E-Mail
Comments can also be emailed to the Project Team. The project email address is empirecorridor@dot.ny.gov.
Sign up for the NYSDOT Mailing List
To receive project updates, you are encouraged to sign up for the project mailing list. Your contact information will only be used for the Project (and will not be sold or given to anyone outside the Project Team).
What to say? EASY!
Here are our Talking Points: http://www.livingstonavebridge.com/talkingpoints.pdf.
If you represent an organization, sign on to our letter: http://www.livingstonavebridge.com/sign-on.pdf