John Sheridan, RIP

Those of us involved in New Jersey transportation suffered a tough blow this weekend with the tragic death of John Sheridan, former Commissioner of Transportation, and his wife Joyce in a fire at their home.

For me, John was a friend, a mentor, a standard of excellence.  He was one of the most all-round competent people I have ever known, and demonstrated that public service could be a noble, exciting, and rewarding pursuit, despite its many frustrations.

I worked with John very closely on two projects back in the day: a battle with the feds over designated truck routes in the state (doesn’t seem like a big deal today, but was then) and (better known) the birth of the New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund.  One of my contributions to the latter project was to suggest calling it the “New Jersey Transportation Trust Fund” rather than the original working title of “New Jersey Transportation System Improvement, Operations, and Maintenance Fund” – although technically, at least in the minds of some, it wasn’t really a trust fund at all.  John agreed with me.

In these and other projects I was continually impressed with his leadership.  He was always composed and thoughtful, a master of both strategy and tactics, accommodating when he could be, hard-nosed when he had to be, and always a gentleman.

We will miss him.

And Pennsylvania gets a new EV corridor!

I recently mentioned that New Jersey is getting new Tesla Superchargers for electric vehicles (link here), providing a key north-south network link.  Pennsylvania also has a new EV corridor – from Harrisburg to Pittsburgh – installed this summer (story here).

Pennsylvania’s new corridor was implemented through a public-private partnership, with state funding support for fast chargers operating at Sheetz convenience stores.  The locations (Harrisburg, Mechanicsburg, State College, Altoona, Blairsville) provide fast charging along a corridor parallel to the Pennsylvania Turnpike, which hopefully will have its own fast chargers soon.  The Sheetz chargers use the Chademo design, meaning they work with the Nissan Leaf and other Japanese-design electric vehicles. 

Networks are good!

Tesla brings NJ closer to a real EV network

Tesla has reached agreement with the New Jersey Turnpike Authority to install Superchargers at two rest areas on the turnpike, on Tesla’s nickel (story here).  This is a big step forward for those of us trying to encourage the building of fast chargers on major highways, especially in the densely populated Northeast.  Most EV travel is local, and owners can charge up at home overnight or at work during the day.  But when you need to take an EV any distance, you need to recharge.  Conveniently spaced “fast” chargers (as in half an hour, not several hours) can make these longer distance trips doable.
Of course Tesla uses one of three incompatible fast charging systems (head slap), but will make some of their infrastructure available to the other systems.  Tesla is the only group so far really committed to intercity travel.

New Jersey, as a “corridor” state, really needs to be in the game, and the Turnpike is a key link in the whole Northeast Megalopolis transportation system.  Last year saw the first (Nissan and Japanese EV friendly) fast charger to be installed in New Jersey (my posting here).  Let’s hope there are more to come!

BTW, why the long time in approving Tesla’s no-cost deal?  You would have to appreciate byzantine New Jersey politics to understand.

Congrats and Good Luck Jamie Fox!

In a surprise announcement (to put it mildly) New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has just nominated former DOT commissioner Jamie Fox to take his old job back (story here).  Fox is a Democrat with a capital “D” so I don’t think he was on anyone’s short list (or long list for that matter) for the job.  This will keep New Jersey’s political establishment buzzing for a while!

Fox was a fair, thoughtful, and decisive leader at NJDOT, and I have no doubt folks there will be happy to have him back.  Perhaps more importantly for the long run, the fact that he is (1) a Democrat and (2) a consummate political tactician suggests that maybe the governor will put forward a serious plan to get bipartisan support for replenishing the state’s Transportation Trust Fund – which will need a tax increase of some sort.  The Trust Fund is now leveraged to the hilt and by June of next year the revenue going into it will no longer be able to back new bonds or to provide pay-as-you-go funding.

Perhaps coincidentally, the governor’s announcement came two days after a major publicity launch by a coalition, Forward NJ, that has been set up to promote Trust Fund renewal (link here).

Good luck Jamie!

Educated Millennials on the Orange Line

A new real estate study lists the top zip codes for college-educated Millennials.  Where are the top two?......The Arlington, Virginia neighborhoods of Clarendon, Court House, Virginia Square, Ballston, and Rosslyn (Arlington story here).  Do these names sound familiar?  They are also the names of stations on the Metro Orange Line and showcases for successful transit oriented development.  A coincidence?  I think not!

The Redfin Research report (here) doesn’t talk about transportation, but a quick look at the list suggests, unsurprisingly, that Millennials are clustering in areas where they can use non-auto means of getting around (transit, walking, biking).  More evidence that we need to reorient our thinking on urban mobility!

Bike tech in Copenhagen: A lot more than green paint

In most towns in this country we don’t do a very good job of prioritizing bicycle transportation – despite the many benefits of a bigger mode share for bikes.  The bike share systems springing up around the country have been a great success, but the rest of what passes for bike infrastructure usually consists of some green paint and “share the road” signs at best.  (Sharing the road often meaning sharing a potholed free-for-all with 18-wheelers, racing taxi drivers, and drivers talking on cellphones!)

Thanks to Gizmodo (here) for showing us the latest from Copenhagen, where good planning and design really work for bikes.  Some of these solutions are relatively expensive, like bike-only bridges.  Others harness relatively inexpensive technology.  I especially like the “green wave” of LED lights letting bicyclists know they are moving at a pace that will give them a green signal at upcoming traffic lights.  Lots more to do here in the U.S.!

Planning for more money in Pennsylvania!

The impact of Pennsylvania’s Act 89, raising new transportation revenue from motor fuels, is beginning to be felt.  DVRPC – the Philadelphia area MPO – has just added $10.5 Billion in new investments to their long-range plan (story here)!

The new revenue is split roughly in half between highways and transit.  The transit piece will allow SEPTA (the regional operator) to get a little beyond the massive need for system preservation and actually add a couple of extensions.  One of these, the extension of the Norristown High-Speed Line to the King of Prussia mall complex, could ultimately have real impact on land use and mobility issues (see comparison to Tysons Corner here).  This just scratches the surface of what we really need to do to build a real 21^st century transportation system in the next 25 years, but at least it’s a start.

On the highway side, half of the funding will go for bridges.  Pennsylvania has the dubious distinction of leading the nation in structurally deficient bridges, and PennDOT is aggressively moving forward to attack the problem.  The highway side also includes expanded bike/ped funding.

What is noteworthy, as I have mentioned before, is that this revenue growth has been achieved in a state with a Republican governor and legislature.  This should be enough to challenge stereotypes and to encourage vigorous action in other states and even (we have to say “even”) at the federal level.

There are many factors behind Pennsylvania’s step forward, but a major one is leadership.  There were many leaders involved, including Governor Corbett, PennDOT Secretary Schoch, former governor Rendell, and others.  But first prize undoubtedly goes to State Senator John Rafferty, chair of the Senate Transportation Committee, who shepherded the bill from inception to signing.  His explanation for his commitment to the bill?:  transportation is a core function of government, and we need to fix it.  Refreshing.