http://capntransit.blogspot.com/2008/05/bridge-xrt-williamsburg-bridge.html

The Paris RER can whisk you from one side of the capital to the other. But it's largely stitched together from old commuter lines, with three new tunnels, more or less. We've already got a lot of similar connections, with the Penn Station tunnels and the Hell Gate Bridge. We could get a lot of the same mileage if we changed the electrification systems on the various commuter railroads to be compatible.

I'm a baby boomer. I grew up with the idea that we could go faster, and everywhere in the world other than the U.S., it seems, in Europe, in Asia (don't know about South America) people have upped their expectations for how fast a system can take you somewhere. Here, the Port of Authority builds, at tremendous effort and expense, a train from Jamaica to JFK. It goes.... 50 miles per hour! (And managed to kill a driver in tests anyway.)

Now the idea of higher speed rail to more distant parts of NYC seems to be considered an almost hopeless quest. Center city BRT lanes that go 3 to 4 miles, OK. But service out to far Brooklyn, or Eastern Queens, or the north Bronx? at what, 35 or 40 mph?

Small is beautiful. Think slow. Fooey.

Still think there's a real dearth of innovative research, industrial design, and development on what can really be done to improve transportation.

Current transportation methods, technology, etc. look "really dumb" especially, compared to communications, media, computers, etc.

Grass roots stuff is nice, feelgood, etc., but the dramatic changes will be those innovations in green transportation that go viral and provide dramatic benefit.

Carbon fiber could be some help, and it has been used in some reinforcement settings (the Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle was reinforced with them after an earthquake). These can be used in manufacturing processes, in fact Boeing is now trying to make a commercial jetliner with them.

http://capntransit.blogspot.com/2008/05/piecemeal.html

Spud, feel free to upload an MP3

But I still think you need a theme song with an announcer saying "Captaaaain Traaaaaaaaaaansiiiiiiiiiit!"

For instance: "How could carbon nanotubes greatly improve river crossings?"

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_Nanotubes#Potential_and_current_applications
Carbon nanotubes have also been successfully used in the construction of handlebars for mountain bikes. The handlebar, created by Easton, is the EC70 DH, which has won awards for it's incredible strength and light weight.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_nanotube#Structural
Because of the great mechanical properties of the carbon nanotubule, a variety of structures has been proposed ranging from everyday items like clothes and sports gear to combat jackets and space elevators.[60] However, the space elevator will require further efforts in refining carbon nanotube technology, as the practical tensile strength of carbon nanotubes can still be greatly improved.[17]

For perspective, outstanding breakthroughs have already been made. Pioneering work lead by Ray H. Baughman at the NanoTech Institute has shown that single and multi-walled nanotubes can produce materials with toughness un-matched in the man-made and natural worlds.[61] [62]

Recent research by James D. Iverson and Brad C. Edwards has revealed the possibility of cross-linking CNT molecules prior to incorporation in a polymer matrix to form a super high strength composite supermaterial. This CNT composites could have a tensile strength on the order of 20 million psi (138 GPa, for 106 MN·m·kg?1), potentially revolutionizing many aspects of engineering design where low weight and high strength is required.[citation needed]

Although, simply "streaming" people (in and out of minimum-size vehicles) across bridges and around the city would be quickest and simplest overarching set of solutions.

He can't run for the Democratic Primary nomination if he's running to be the Mayor of Eastern Queens & Brooklyn, Staten Island and Riverdale and touting ferries as the major transit issue. That strategy has some value against a strong Republican opponent (but they probably go Republican anyway), but not here in Democratic stronghold of Straphangerland, it's not very convincing.

Larry, you're absolutely right that the bottleneck is usually one one side of the bridge/tunnel or the other, since there are no turns. That's more or less the same thing that Alon has said in the comments on my blog. The main thing is getting those buses onto and off of the bridges.

Perhaps if they were on the same side!

But more to the point, it isn't the bridges that are the bottlenecks, it is the approaches (even if a bridge or tunnel does back up, it is usually backing up from the other side), and that's where any reservation for buses would have to be.

Take the most important bus priority crossing in the U.S. -- the Lincoln Tunnel. Buses scoot through their reserved lane. Getting to that lane, however, often takes a long, long time.