On the local scale, things are looking brighter. As NYC transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said at a morning plenary, “the innovation is happening in cities.” New York’s expansion of the number 7 line using value capture financing and L.A. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s ambitious 30/10 transit plan were repeatedly cited as examples of how cities might move forward using new funding models.

Mayor Bloomberg headlined the morning schedule and briskly ran down his transportation and planning agenda, citing past achievements and future goals. A few notable quotes from his talk:

• “Bike lanes and pedestrian plazas have made our streets safer and livelier for everyone. Buildings in Times Square and Herald Square have more rent coming from the first floor than the entire rest of the building, because there’s so much foot traffic.”
• NYC quality of life “will get even better this summer when we launch a bike-share program that will be the largest in the Western Hemisphere.”
• Bloomberg noted that the city has accomplished most of the goals laid out in its long-term sustainability plan, PlaNYC 2030, in 2007. “The only things that haven’t happened yet are those that needed Albany” to move forward, he said, a not-so-oblique reference to congestion pricing. “There’s a lot left to do to put our regional transit system on a sound financial footing.”

Despite all evidence to the contrary, the mayor maintained that Governor Andrew Cuomo “understands the needs” that Albany must address. Bloomberg also singled out Cuomo’s major transportation appointments — Joe Lhota at the MTA and Pat Foye at the Port Authority — as great choices.

Lhota, who sat on the morning panel that included Sadik-Khan and two former Port Authority chiefs, revealed a few interesting tidbits about the future he sees for the MTA.

• Adjusting public comments he’d made earlier, to the effect that the MTA can’t afford new mega-projects in the next five-year capital plan, he said: “As far as big projects, I could see an extension of the 7 train down to 23rd Street and the West Side Highway, maybe not in the next capital plan,” but in the one after that. More urgent, he said, is to “start thinking about expanding the subway for the 21st Century. We need to improve throughput [i.e. run more trains on existing track].”
• As the panel was discussing the unfortunate consequences of having the NYC region’s transportation network carved up between a complex array of different governments and public agencies, Lhota said the new Metro-North service to Secaucus for Jets and Giants games could be something to build on. Coordination between agencies could allow more trains to run through Manhattan instead of stopping there, which would add capacity to the regional rail system. Lhota has “had discussions with NJ Transit and Amtrak about future uses of Penn Station,” and said the details of agreements on everything from funding to labor would be devilishly complex.
• Lhota has had preliminary discussions with Deputy Mayor Robert Steel about using “forms of value capture” — special taxes on development, for example — to fund transit expansions.

There’s an interesting set of panels at the Regional Assembly scheduled for the afternoon. We’ll have more updates later today.

A fire under the 138th Street Bridge has stopped all Metro-North service in or out of Manhattan. Photo: Gothamist.

Metro-North service in and out of Manhattan is suspended due to a large fire under the 138th Street Bridge, on the Manhattan side. According to NY1, the sound of an explosion was heard before the fire started, but no train cars were involved in the fire. A photo on Gothamist shows that the huge plumes of smoke are easily visible from Midtown, four miles away. It is not yet clear when Metro-North service will be reinstated.

Update: The bridge has been reopened and trains are running into Grand Central, reports Second Avenue Sagas. Rush hour plans remain to be determined.

The Metro-North Railroad's M-7 train cars now offer special accommodations for passengers traveling with bicycles, the MTA announced yesterday. The railroad is just testing this out for now, so if you're a Metro-North rider, management wants to know what you think of the new bike hooks. From the press release:

The railroad is seeking feedback from the cycling community on the hooks – their ease of use, placement, etc. Metro-North has established an e-mail address to which people can send comments about the bike mount: surveys@mnr.org. The intent is to increase safety, convenience and sustainable mobility for all customers.

One potential issue that might come up: The bike hooks are located in the space reserved for disabled riders...

The hooks are located in the area designated for wheelchairs, which will continue to have first priority in this space. Prominent signs will specify that cyclists must remove bicycles if the area is needed for a customer in a wheelchair. Feedback on the proposal also is being sought from wheel chair users.

Photo: Frank English/MTA Metro-North Railroad.

On this website ... travelers can obtain information about policies for bringing bikes on board the New York City Subway, Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad and Staten Island Railway and can learn about the availability of bike lockers near regional railroad stations and bike lanes on bridges operated by MTA Bridges & Tunnels.

The site also announces two "recently clarified" policies:

• Folding bikes, appropriately folded, are considered luggage and not subject to rules governing standard frame bicycles. Therefore, folding bicycles can be brought on board local buses as if they were a backpack or suitcase. They can also be brought aboard LIRR and Metro-North trains at any time without a permit and are best stored in the overhead luggage racks. Conventional bikes are not allowed on board buses operated by New York City Transit, the MTA Bus Company or Long Island Bus.
• Bicycles can be brought aboard the Staten Island Railway except on rush-hour trains traveling in the peak direction.

It's nice to see MTA acknowledging bike-and-ride like this, and it would be even better if the agency would partner with DOT on siting additional bike parking near train stations. While the city is working on measures that would make it easier for cyclists to find secure parking at the workplace, as previewed by DOT's Josh Benson last week, for cyclists who need to park before riding, or who won't benefit from new zoning that might require indoor parking, here is what MTA+Bike has to say:

Bicycle racks provided by the New York City Department of Transportation are available near many Subway entrances. Bicycles chained to Subway entrance railings will be removed and delivered to the Lost Property Unit (212-712-4500), so please lock up your bike appropriately.

[T]his is the giant carrot to accompany Bloomberg's congestion-pricing stick. Charge $16 instead of $8, the authors suggest - and add parking and taxi surcharges. Really make the drivers pay. Then take that money and make all the buses and subway free.

Bold enough for you?

Henican talked with lead author and Streetsblog contributor Charles Komanoff, who said the same approach could be applied to the LIRR, Metro-North and Jersey Transit.

Meanwhile, there's a lively discussion going on over at Second Ave. Sagas, where blogger Benjamin Kabak says he likes the Kheel plan, a lot, but sees it as too good to be true.

People in New York City are, stupidly, married to their cars. They demand below-market, on-street parking. They demand access to roads at the expense of wide sidewalks and bike lanes. They demand access to roads at the expense of common-sense bus rapid transit lanes. They demand the right to drive as though it were protected by the Constitution, and this is simply a misguided and harmful attitude.

But sadly, the ideal society where a Kheel plan could pass because it would negatively impact the people who could afford and positively impact the people who need it doesn't exist. Ted Kheel should be applauded for his vision, and his plan deserves as much attention as anything under consideration now. It's groundbreaking; it's visionary; it would work; and it just won't happen.

Setting aside the Kheel plan's chances of being taken seriously by the mayor and the Congestion Mitigation Commission, before it's over they may be among the few who aren't at least talking about it.

In related news, a new program in Chicago that will allow seniors 65 and up to take transit for free has been deluged with applicants. The AP, via WTHI in Terre Haute, IN, reports that "Governor Rod Blagojevich says response has been so strong that the state is adding a second toll-free number to accommodate callers who are registering for the program."