Who would pay for a railroad that crossed the Hudson?
A regional rail plan reached the state legislatures. Why did the new transit district never exist?
Explore the caseRegional governance timeline
THE HISTORY OF DECISIONS NEW YORK · NEW JERSEY · CONNECTICUT
Follow the decisions that shaped a divided transportation region.
Regional transportation institutions took shape through agreements and disagreements over money, jurisdiction, representation and operating control. This chronology follows those decisions across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, with links to the reporting and records behind them.
Begin with a historical conflict below, or use the complete timeline to trace events by date. The companion newspaper archive preserves the reports themselves. Event dates describe when something happened; publication dates describe when its sources appeared.
THREE PATHS INTO THE RECORD
Start with a consequential question.
Read the history, follow dated turning points, then examine the original evidence.
How did a regional planning commission lose its region?
Why could eleven affirmative votes fail to approve a regional plan—and how did the commission disappear?
Explore the caseWhat did a through train at Penn Station actually prove?
What did the football train demonstrate about coordinating railroads—and what remained untested?
Explore the caseArticles and other sources, arranged by publication date. Undated items appear separately.
448 items
1952
March 3, 1952
Planners Back Transit Study
RPA endorses the New York and New Jersey bills creating a metropolitan rapid-transit commission. Paul Windels argues that highway improvements cannot solve congestion without comparable rail investment and a region-…
August 2, 1952
Transit Commission Named By Driscoll
TRENTON, Aug. 1—The membership of the Metropolitan Rapid Transit Commission was appointed today by Gov. Alfred E. Driscoll before his departure on a Maine vacation. State Senator David Van Alstyne, Republican of Eng…
1953
August 12, 1953
State Transit Unit Accused Of Inertia
The Metropolitan Rapid Transit Commission was sharply criticized yesterday by City Planning Commissioner Goodhue Livingston Jr. for "dragging its feet." Mr. Livingston indicated that the transit agency, set up by th…
August 12, 1953
November 13, 1953
November 14, 1953
December 1, 1953
Regional Planning
The hearings held before the New York Metropolitan Rapid Transit Commission, with a twin commission from New Jersey sitting in, renewed interest in the desirability of seeing the region's mass transportation needs w…
1954
October 19, 1954
November 30, 1954
1955
February 21, 1955
Transit: There Is A History
Editor, Bergen Evening Record. Dear Sir: In your section entitled “Voice of the People” of the Saturday edition, February 12, there was a very interesting letter by a Mr. Walter Zullig Jr. of Maywood. In my opinion,…
August 2, 1955
Studying Rapid Transit
Governor Meyner's announcement that he will approve a $150,000 appropriation for the Metropolitan Rapid Transit Commission apparently clears the way at last for the completion of a well-financed study of New York-Ne…
August 19, 1955
August 25, 1955
Monmouth County Planning Board
The Monmouth County Planning Board has announced that it has adopted a resolution on the recommendation of their railroad transportation advisory committee, headed by Irving Feist of Shrewsbury, urging the newly-cre…
October 4, 1955
October 5, 1955
The New Transit Plan: Thinking Big
It is difficult with only brief opportunity for reflection to grasp the whole significance of the proposed aerial rapid transit plan for the Metropolitan Area. It is big: it is revolutionary; whether it would work i…
1956
March 3, 1956
May 15, 1956
May 24, 1956
July 9, 1956
August 24, 1956
12 Point Program For Queens Submitted To Transit Committee
The Queens Chamber of Commerce will present its 12-point Queens Transit Program, designed to meet the boough’s requirements for the next 50 years, to the Metropolitan Rapid Transit Commission on Sept. 10th, accordin…
October 10, 1956
Narrowing Down The Transit Question
Neither the proposal for a regional transportation authority nor the proposal for community-supported rapid transit is new. Indeed, it seems almost a foregone conclusion that the Metropolitan Rapid Transit Commissio…
October 10, 1956
Rapid Transit Costs Cut, Real Estate Board Told
Jersey City, Oct. 10 – Towns and cities of the New York-New Jersey Metropolitan Area will have to pay part of the bill for a new rapid-transit system, but they may find that the bill will be far less than they expec…
November 19, 1956
1957
May 23, 1957
June 4, 1957
Rapid Transit Loop Expensive But Officials Say It’s Needed
Teaneck - It looks expensive, but we really need it. This was just about the sentiment of 100 County leaders and other interested persons as they listened intently at the Town House to an outline of the proposed rap…
June 28, 1957
July 10, 1957
August 30, 1957
September 4, 1957
Q. And A. On Transit, The Orphan Of Growth
The man in the photograph looks impatient. Why shouldn’t he? People in Northeast New Jersey have been waiting for rapid transit – speedy mass trail transportation in modern coaches from community to community and di…
September 4, 1957
Rapid Transit: Groups Didn’t Overlook This
Rapid Transit: Groups Didn’t Overlook This The Public Just Forgot In Excitement Over New Highways The Record September 4, 1957 Thousands Spent Rapid transit has been called the forgotten plan of the New York City ar…
September 5, 1957
Geography Also Stands In Transit Riders’ Way
To Jersey commuters who must beg entry every day, Manhattan may often seem to be a citadel with a moat and too few drawbridges. The Dead End True, the Hudson River is spanned at the north end of New York by the Geor…
September 5, 1957
Funds Limit Port Authority Operation
Many a commuter leader, watching rail service deteriorate from year to year, has sometimes bitterly asked: “Why can’t the Port of New York Authority take over and give us a workable rapid-transit system? The Port Au…
September 5, 1957
Rapid Transit Loop Opposed By Merchants
Jersey City, NJ – The Jersey City Merchants Council today claimed that the Page plan for a rapid transit loop into New York is a threat to the entire business community of Jersey City. A Council transit study commit…
September 12, 1957
September 19, 1957
September 19, 1957
September 23, 1957
Rapid Transit Plan Assailed
HARRIMAN (AP) — Robert Moses has attacked a proposal for a new bi-state agency to set up a unified rapid transit system between New York City and New Jersey. Moses told the regional conference on metropolitan areas…
October 11, 1957
Symposium To Discuss Transit Plan
A symposium on the Metropolitan Rapid Transit Commission’s report on the proposed $400,000,000 transit loop will be held at noon Oct. 29 in the grand ballroom of the Sheraton-Astor Hotel, New York. It will be under…
October 30, 1957
Jones Labels Rapid Transit Priority Work
Hackensack – State Senator Walter H. Jones said today a positive and workable program for providing northern New Jersey with a rapid-transit system must be a priority project of the 1958 Legislative session. The Rep…
December 19, 1957
December 23, 1957
Proposed Subway To Jersey Scored
The reaction to a new proposal for a Manhattan-New Jersey subway loop was almost unanimously unfavorable yesterday. The $500,000,000 plan is scheduled to be recommended this week by the Metropolitan Rapid Transit Co…
1958
January 2, 1958
If Not This, What?
The Metropolitan Rapid Transit Commission is reported to be considering a plan notably different from one presented its project director, Arthur W. Page. The new plan is said to follow Mr. Page's idea for a loop sys…
January 6, 1958
January 6, 1958
January 10, 1958
January 23, 1958
January 28, 1958
January 28, 1958
January 28, 1958
January 29, 1958
The Longest Journey Begins With A Step
Amid the Monday hullabaloo of highly localized political immediacies Senator Jones (R., Bergen) introduced legislation to create a metropolitan transit district. A similar but not identical bill was introduced by ni…
February 6, 1958
February 6, 1958
February 11, 1958
Rapid Transit Move Stalled by Democrats
Trenton, Feb. 11—Angry Democrats yesterday stalled action for at least a week on a G. O. P. bill which would create a bi-State rapid-transit agency for the North Jersey-Manhattan area. Among other things, the Democr…
February 12, 1958
February 24, 1958
March 4, 1958
March 7, 1958
March 23, 1958
April 21, 1958
April 24, 1958
Bi-State Transit Bill Is Signed Despite Mayor's Plea for Study
ALBANY, April 24—Legislation authorizing New York State to participate in the proposed bi-state Metropolitan Transit District was approved today by Governor Harriman. He signed the Republican-sponsored measure despi…
April 24, 1958
Jersey Approval Likely
Special to The New York Times TRENTON, April 24—The general expectation here is that the State Senate will give its approval to the transit district at the present session of the Legislature, which will continue unt…
May 5, 1958
May 16, 1958
May 17, 1958
June 6, 1958
June 6, 1958
June 13, 1958
Anti-Metropolitan Counsel
It would be a curious subversion of stated purpose if the Metropolitan Regional Council, founded to promote a common attack by city, county, and town officials on problems in twenty-one counties in three states, wer…
June 15, 1958
Jersey Blocking Transit District
TRENTON, June 14–The proposed New York-New Jersey Transit District will not become a reality, at least until 1959, it became evident here tonight. Leaders of the State Legislature seem determined to block approval o…
June 20, 1958
Metropolitan Transport
Position Regional Council Took on Recommended Legislation Outlined The writer of the following letter is Deputy City Administrator, City of New York, and executive secretary, Metropolitan Regional Council. The New Y…
September 10, 1958
September 10, 1958
September 10, 1958
September 12, 1958
September 19, 1958
October 8, 1958
October 12, 1958
Regional Council Checking Housing
Inventory of 22 Counties Started as Part of Drive for Congress Funds By CHARLES G. BENNETT The Metropolitan Regional Council is preparing to throw its influence behind demands on Congress for extensive housing funds…
October 19, 1958
Transit Plan Block Laid To Authority
The Port of New York Authority is the major blockade in the path of the type of rapid transit system that is of vital importance to the metropolitan area and New York City itself. This point was underscored again an…
October 24, 1958
Misleading Information Against Transit Bill
IT should not be necessary to have to say this again, but in a letter to Governor Meyner and the Legislature released today the Metropolitan Rapid Transit Commission carefully emphasizes that: "The transit district…
October 24, 1958
October 24, 1958
October 27, 1958
October 30, 1958
Fares, Finances and Frustration in New York City Transit
* The views expressed are his own and do not necessarily reflect the position of the New York City Administration. To the question: "why live in the City?" Robert M. Haig, former President of the National Tax Associ…
November 7, 1958
Pesin Warns Transit District Means ‘Loop’ About Hudson’s Neck
When the New Jersey State Legislature reconvenes on Monday, the General Assembly will have before it a bill by Sen. Walter Jones (GOP-Bergen)--backed by the Metropolitan Rapid Transit Commission and passed by the Se…
November 12, 1958
New Jersey’s Careful Plans To Stop Trying
Senator Jones's (R., Bergen) comment that the public hearing is a good weapon with which to kill legislation is acceptable within his specifically intended context. He refers to the hearing scheduled in Assembly com…
November 18, 1958
Rockefeller Bids For 3-State Talk
He Will Seek Early Parlay With Meyner And Ribicoff CARACAS, Venezuela, Nov. 17–Nelson A. Rockefeller, Governor-elect of New York, said today that he would seek an early meeting with Gov, Robert B. Meyner of New Jers…
November 18, 1958
Changes Suggested In Transit Program
Trenton – Governor Robert B. Meyer talked of possible changes in a transit-district bill yesterday, while New York Governor-elect Nelson A. Rockefeller told newsmen in Venezuela he will seek talks with Meyer on comm…
November 18, 1958
Rapid Transit Bill Passage Is Urged
Paramus – North Jersey transportation problems won’t be solved with vague talk about a giant new authority or by hopes that the Port of New York Authority will take on the job, said a Metropolitan Rapid Transit Comm…
November 19, 1958
Jersey Move Urged In Bi-State Transit
PARAMUS, N. J., Nov. 18–Frank H. Simon, executive director of the Metropolitan Rapid Transit Commission, asserted today that the Port of New York Authority would not undertake the development of interstate rapid tra…
November 20, 1958
November 25, 1958
Ask Assembly To Act On Transit Problems
Trenton – New York and New Jersey cochairman of the Metropolitan Rapid Transit Commission stood side by side in the State Assembly Chamber yesterday and asked for action instead of everlasting talk on the Metropolit…
November 25, 1958
Rapid-Transit Query Posed
Trenton – Can the Port of New York Authority, the operator of tunnels, bridges, airports, and other high-priced facilities be made to plan and operate a metropolitan rapid-transit system, too? In a battle of reports…
December 3, 1958
Remedy For Confusion: Regional Groups Defined
December 3, 1958 Any one who tries to understand metro problems in the New York City area runs into an alphabet soup of initials and nicknames given to agencies or groups working toward goals that sometimes appear t…
December 3, 1958
Government For A Metropolis: Bergen Ignores The Debating
Mayors and taxpayers in Bergen say they have their own troubles. Metro? That’s somebody else’s headache. Staggering Statistics Metro is a nickname for metropolitan government – not quite State level, but something m…
December 4, 1958
December 5, 1958
December 5, 1958
December 8, 1958
Bi-State Rail Bill Killed In Jersey
Proposal for Transit Area Will Be Offered Again TRENTON, N.J. — Legislation to establish a New York-New Jersey transit district died tonight in an Assembly committee after being completely rewritten. Thus it finally…
December 12, 1958
Council To Study Transit
Jersey City Mayor Witkowski has called the traffic and transportation committee of the Metropolitan Regional Council into session to consider new commuter plans in the wake of Assembly failure to approve a metropoli…
1959
January 6, 1959
Bi-State Transit District Proposed Commission, in Final Report, Also Urges Commuter 'Loop'
New York — (AP) — The Metropolitan Rapid Transit Commission has recommended the creation of a bi-state Metropolitan Transit District to implement any general transit plan for the New York-New Jersey area. In its fin…
January 9, 1959
Official Agency To Plan Growth Of Region Urged
Report Asks Legal Status For Metropolitan Council As Goverment Adviser A proposal that the Metropolitan Regional Council receive “full and effective” legal status was put before the Regional Plan Association yesterd…
January 9, 1959
$500,000,000 Rail Loop Linking Jersey-Manhattan Now Urged
NEW YORK CITY — The Metropolitan Rapid Transit Commission (MRTC) Monday recommended to the governors of New York and New Jersey the construction of a 500-million-dollar rail loop system to speed commuter traffic and…
January 9, 1959
Text of Report Urging Full Legal Status for the Metropolitan Regional Council
Following is the text of a report on the future of the Metropolitan Regional Council, made public yesterday by the Special Committee on Metropolitan Governmental Affairs of the Regional Plan Association: Findings an…
January 9, 1959
January 13, 1959
January 13, 1959
January 13, 1959
January 13, 1959
January 19, 1959
Crisis in New Jersey: Improving Commuter Service A Must, But No One Wants Job
By Frederic Cassin (First of a series on the rail commuter crisis) Preserving and improving commuter transit service in New Jersey is one of the more pressing problems facing the state these days. Most everyone agre…
January 19, 1959
Lance's Proposed State Agency To Deal with Commuter Issue
By Frederic Cassin (Second of a series on the rail commuter crisis) A new approach to the transit crisis—the creation of a state railroad agency—has been proposed to the new Legislature by Senator Wesley L. Lance (R…
February 9, 1959
February 17, 1959
Two Transit Bills Get N.J. Approval
Trenton, Feb. 17 — State Highway Commissioner Dwight R. G. Palmer announced yesterday that he was already laying the groundwork for what he called the first step toward solution of the transit problem. He said he ha…
February 17, 1959
Rockefeller Sets Up Transportation Unit
Rockefeller Sets Up Transportation Unit Albany, N. Y., Feb. 17 (AP) — Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller was expected to win final approval today of his plea for an agency to battle transportation problems. The Senate a…
March 27, 1959
New Bill Needed on Transit Plan
New Bill Needed on Transit Plan New York Measure On Agency Differs From Jersey's Bergen Evening Record March 27, 1959 Trenton, Mar. 27 — The State Legislature will have to draft and adopt a new transit-district bill…
April 2, 1959
We Must Keep Riding!
Assemblyman Alfred N. Beadleston's statement before the Eatontown Rotary Club that "New Jersey must keep riding," is one which all commuters know and believe, but one of which those who operate our railroads must be…
April 7, 1959
Council Urges Meyner To Prod Port Authority
Despite protestations by the Port of New York Authority that any involvement of the Authority in the New Jersey rail transit crisis “could well lead to the destruction of the Port Authority as a useful agent,” the P…
April 7, 1959
Port Authority Balks At Providing Any Funds
Solution of this state’s railroad commuter problem of rising fares and curtailed service, was tackled on three fronts yesterday while the Port of New York Authority, involved in each action, announced it would be im…
April 7, 1959
Bills Are Introduced On Bi-State Agency And Port Authority Plan Due on Monday
Trenton, Apr. 7 (AP)—The New Jersey Assembly will try next week to get in step with New York on the rapid transit problem. The two States have been dancing to the same music this year—a near avalanche of petitions t…
April 14, 1959
Assembly Approves N. Y. Transit Plan
Trenton, Apr. 14 — The State Assembly voted to go along with New York lawmakers’ changes in its bi-State approach to the rail-transit crisis following a bitter 45-minute debate yesterday. NO ALTERNATIVE Opponents at…
April 22, 1959
Meyner Asks Action, Not More Study
TRENTON (AP) – What’s needed in the transit crisis is action, not more study, says Gov. Robert B. Meyner. His highway commissioner Dwight R. G. Palmer agrees. Both men were cool at a news conference yesterday to a p…
June 4, 1959
Legislature’s Hits And Misses, A Study In Political Activity
Set up was a referendum on a $66,800,000 college construction board issue and enacted was a broad new college scholarship program. A State Division of Rail Transportation and a New York-New Jersey Transportation Age…
July 7, 1959
House Passes Bill on Commuter Aid
Measure On Transportation Unit Now Goes To Senate Washington, July 7 (UPI) – The House yesterday unanimously passed legislation permitting New York and New Jersey to work together to set up better transportation for…
July 7, 1959
House Approves NY-Jersey Transit Agency
Washington – An agency formed by New York and New Jersey to deal with bi-state commuting problems won unanimous House approval yesterday. The easy passage of the measure in the House indicated that the Senate will g…
July 13, 1959
The Commuter Problem: Politics Again Is Biggest Bar To Solution of Transit Crisis
By James S. Brown State rail service has withered on the vine during two generations of political chicanery and gassy oratory and once again political wrangling appears the biggest stumbling block in efforts to solv…
August 5, 1959
September 10, 1959
Transit Agency Plan In Eisenhower’s Hands
Washington (AP) – A resolution authorizing creation of the New York-New Jersey Transportation Agency is now in the hands of President Eisenhower. The Senate passed the measure yesterday and sent it to the White Hous…
September 10, 1959
Senate OKs Bi-State Unit On Transport
Washington – The Senate gave its unanimous approval yesterday to an agency formed by New York and New Jersey to deal with commuting problems in both states. One long-range effect of the action will be to provide new…
1960
January 26, 1960
February 16, 1960
February 20, 1960
Tri-State Transport Agency Regional Plan Group Backs
NEW YORK — The Regional Plan Association has endorsed the efforts of the Metropolitan Regional Council through its chairman, Mayor Robert F. Wagner, to establish a Tri-State Transportation Agency representing the st…
April 4, 1960
April 4, 1960
July 15, 1960
Port Authority Wants To Steer Clear Of Deficit-Ridden Railroads
The iron wheels of a dying railroad locomotive cry out, “Rapid Transit, Rapid Transit, Rapid Transit,” as the old iron horse races down hill in America’s public transportation history. NO. 1 PROBLEM Charging past th…
August 16, 1960
New R.R. Commuter Plan Offered For Area Relief
New York, Aug. 16 (AP) — A new railroad commuter plan has been offered to relieve the mounting traffic congestion besetting the New York Metropolitan Area. UNIFIED SERVICE The plan calls for a Tri-State agency to se…
September 23, 1960
LIRR Head Bids For Tri-State Transport Unit
By Francis Wood New York—Thomas M. Goodfellow, president of the Long Island Rail Road, said yesterday that creation of a tri-state transportation authority with the power and resources to plan and coordinate all com…
October 5, 1960
Once More Unto The Breach!
Despite the agreement of the three metropolitan-region Governors and Mayor Wagner to create a new interstate committee to well, after all these years to--study and report on the crisis in transportation, they don't…
1961
March 21, 1961
March 22, 1961
March 23, 1961
April 8, 1961
June 17, 1961
June 29, 1961
July 5, 1961
Group Supports PA Purchase Of H&M, Urges Regional Unit
RPA supports the emergency Port Authority takeover of the H&M tubes but calls for a broader tri-state commuter-rail agency. It urges study of continuous rides and integration with New Jersey railroads and New York s…
August 30, 1961
August 30, 1961
September 1, 1961
It Appears To Be A Declaration Of War
Record editorial responds to the three governors’ new transportation initiative, emphasizing their declared preference for action over further study and the need to address the metropolitan area’s divided transporta…
September 11, 1961
October 18, 1961
October 19, 1961
December 14, 1961
1962
February 28, 1962
February 28, 1962
June 7, 1962
June 8, 1962
June 21, 1962
November 3, 1962
Foe Of Metro Assails Program, Suggests It Remain Voluntary
A lengthy Committee for the Preservation of Home Rule letter opposes formalizing the Metropolitan Regional Council. It argues for voluntary cooperation and warns that a new regional body could become an unaccountabl…
November 15, 1962
1963
January 30, 1963
February 19, 1963
February 20, 1963
February 20, 1963
February 20, 1963
February 28, 1963
March 2, 1963
March 7, 1963
April 7, 1963
Regional Council Surviving Attack
Leaders Expect 22-County Group to Continue By MERRILL FOLSOM The controversial Metropolitan Regional Council seems to be surviving as a second-level advisory group despite a recent groundswell of opposition. Leaders…
April 13, 1963
April 20, 1963
May 5, 1963
May 7, 1963
Dempsey Asks $1 Million Aid for Railroad
Governor Proposes New State Funds for Bankrupt Carrier LINKED TO PACT Money Would Hinge on Assembly Approval of Tri-State Commission HARTFORD, May 7 — (AP) Gov. John N. Dempsey announced today that he would submit l…
May 10, 1963
May 10, 1963
May 10, 1963
May 10, 1963
May 10, 1963
May 21, 1963
May 27, 1963
June 6, 1963
June 9, 1963
Fears Expressed on Regional Aid
By MURRAY ILLSON Fears were expressed at a Congressional hearing here yesterday over the possible encroachment of "big government" through the Metropolitan Regional Council and similar organizations. One witness, Ar…
June 12, 1963
June 12, 1963
June 27, 1963
July 2, 1963
Two Railroad Aid Bills Are Signed by Dempsey
Gov. Dempsey signed into law Monday two measures designed to keep commuter service operating on the bankrupt New Haven Railroad. By a stroke of his pen, Gov. Dempsey brought into being two new agencies ... the Tri-S…
September 11, 1963
October 16, 1963
Tri-State Area Is Willing to Pay for Planning
By RALPH SODA NEW YORK — A survey of people in the 6,900-square-mile tri-state metropolitan area shows they favor regional planning to preserve their cities, protect their pleasant suburbs and improve transportation…
December 23, 1963
1964
January 12, 1964
January 12, 1964
February 18, 1964
The Tri-State Compact Viewed
Editorial explains why the governors’ informal Tri-State arrangement needed an interstate compact. Federal agencies wanted a durable legal structure, and future highway aid depended on regional transportation planni…
March 5, 1964
March 17, 1964
April 1, 1964
Tri-State Transpo Unit Fights For Standing: Has No Teeth
By BOB DUBILL TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Behind a cloud of controversy and confusion, a three-state agency created by a gentlemen’s agreement among three governors is trying to unsnarl the New York metropolitan area’s per…
April 6, 1964
April 17, 1964
April 22, 1964
April 23, 1964
April 29, 1964
May 23, 1964
June 1, 1964
July 12, 1964
Friction Keeps Transit Wheels Screeching
That promotional thing which puts this suburban area “at the edge of the crowd” – meaning the New York metropolitan region – “but not in it” is misleading in its insular smugness. The fact is that tens of thousands…
July 22, 1964
July 27, 1964
August 9, 1964
October 4, 1964
The Regional Approach
Westbury—The $3,135,000 a year fare increase requested by the Long Island Rail Road again, demonstrates that Nassau’s mass transportation system is inadequate, archaic, uncoordinated and overpriced. Despite ten year…
1965
January 17, 1965
New England Scene
By Charles J. Stokes The plight of the New Haven calls for a drastic solution. But what solution? And, quite frankly, who pays for it? Just how bad the plight is can be judged from the fact that probably no major fa…
February 16, 1965
February 16, 1965
February 26, 1965
March 10, 1965
March 15, 1965
N.J. Called Key Area In Tri-State Rail Plans
NEW YORK (AP)—The Regional Plan Association made a new plea yesterday for interstate action to avert a railroad commuter crisis. The voluntary planning group submitted a 12-point memorandum to government and railroa…
March 17, 1965
March 24, 1965
April 13, 1965
A Nervous First Step On A Long Journey
In signing a bill to confer official status on the Tri-State Transportation Committee Governor Hughes had this to say: I consider the enactment of this inter-State compact, modest though it is in some respects, to b…
April 26, 1965
April 27, 1965
June 12, 1965
All Rockin', No Rollin' In Commuter Explosion
Commuter—one who spends his life In riding to and from his wife; A man who shaves and takes a train And then rides back to shave again. Absurd perhaps, but this little ditty by Elwyn Brooks White reveals a dismal as…
June 23, 1965
Tri-State Act Gets Praise At Signing
He hailed enactment of the statute as a “signal achievement.” Noting that similar laws have twice before been enacted here, only to fail of passage elsewhere, Gov. Rockefeller said enactment of similar legislation t…
July 13, 1965
July 14, 1965
States Dragged Feet On Meeting Rail Crisis
It took World War II to arouse enough worldwide cooperation to set up the United Nations. Only with the past few years, despite more than a decade of mounting congestion and forewarnings of a general collapse of com…
December 2, 1965
December 27, 1965
Bill Is Set on Transit Agencies For 3 States; Merger Sought
New York—State Sen. Thomas J. Mackell (D-Queens) said yesterday he will prefile a bill in the Legislature that would consolidate the functions of eight state and interstate transportation agencies. Mackell, chairman…
December 27, 1965
1966
January 20, 1966
U.S. Tie to Transportation Unit Urged
Washington—Nassau County Executive Nickerson urged Vice President Humphrey yesterday to give his support to a tri-state transportation authority that would handle the metropolitan area’s transportation systems. Nick…
February 28, 1966
May 9, 1966
May 18, 1966
May 19, 1966
Urge Tri-State Plan on Transit
The three governors unveil Tri-State’s twenty-year, $10 billion transportation blueprint. William Ronan links coordinated planning to possible unified operations and financing, while Connecticut and New Jersey repre…
May 19, 1966
May 20, 1966
A Bold Transit Remedy
It is an imaginative, daring plan distilled from a four-year continuing study of the transit problems of New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, an urbanized swath of increasing congestion. The program will test the w…
May 21, 1966
June 28, 1966
August 22, 1966
New 'Master Plan'? Rail Transit Studies: They Come and Go
TRENTON—Hudson County and other North Jersey commuters needn't hold their collective breath while awaiting the results of new mass rail transit studies urged upon the Port of New York Authority by Gov. Hughes. For a…
December 12, 1966
December 12, 1966
1967
January 4, 1967
Jetport Study Set; Calverton Use Opposed
New York—The chairman of the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Authority said yesterday that his group will begin a study of jetport sites in the metropolitan area, but at the same time, operators of Suffolk's Ca…
January 4, 1967
Let LIRR Agency Run Subways, Triborough Agency, Rocky Asks
Albany—Gov. Rockefeller proposed today that the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Authority, which runs the Long Island Rail Road, be expanded into a superagency that also would run the New York City subways, som…
February 28, 1967
July 27, 1967
Regional Council's Revival
After several years of desuetude, the Metropolitan Regional Council is showing encouraging signs of revival. It fell victim several years ago to parochial fears and jealousy in the suburbs of New York City, which le…
September 11, 1967
September 13, 1967
September 13, 1967
September 15, 1967
September 15, 1967
September 15, 1967
October 30, 1967
December 17, 1967
1968
August 1, 1968
December 12, 1968
1969
April 4, 1969
1970
July 17, 1970
August 19, 1970
1971
June 14, 1971
July 9, 1971
August 14, 1971
September 10, 1971
October 8, 1971
November 18, 1971
December 17, 1971
December 28, 1971
1972
April 16, 1972
Transit Series: Port Authority Function
Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world like a Colossus. – Shakespeare In New York State the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is engaged in a $1 billion effort to revive and modernize all available commuter…
April 23, 1972
Transit Series: State Lags On Priorities
Transit Series: State Lags On Priorities The Sunday News April 23, 1972 "It is impossible in this day and age to build enough highways to carry all of New Jersey's Metropolitan traffic load." said a master plan publ…
April 30, 1972
Integrated Commuter Rail System Plotted
For more than 30 years experts recognized the need to modernize and reorganize last century's commuter and rapid transit railroads in the New York City metropolitan region but a realistic, foresighted plan was never…
April 30, 1972
Aux Armes Citoyens
The sad situation of mass rail transit in our state needs the immediate, importunate, insistent and incessant help of all New Jersey citizens. We must pound and pound away until our goal is achieved. Our goal? Safe,…
August 10, 1972
November 16, 1972
What Commuters Can Expect Under PA Plan
The mass transit plan outlined yesterday by Gov. Cahill is designed to provide North Jersey with a unified rail network using current Port of New York and New Jersey facilities as the base for improved service in th…
December 29, 1972
1973
January 29, 1973
March 30, 1973
April 3, 1973
July 16, 1973
November 11, 1973
1974
March 22, 1974
April 16, 1974
June 9, 1974
‘Revolutionary’ Plan to Debut Tuesday: Institute Puts P.A. at Tri-State Transit Helm
The Port Authority would become the chief mass transit operating agency in the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut metropolitan region under a proposal drafted by the Institute for Public Transportation. A “revolutionar…
June 16, 1974
A Blueprint for Unified Mass Transit
The Institute for Public Transportation has conceived a bold and imaginative plan to create the largest and most efficient mass transit system in the United States. The proposed network of rails, buses and subways w…
June 20, 1974
Port Authority is Best Agency for Mass Transit
A new and exciting era of mass transit for the New York metropolitan area has been made possible by legislative action broadening the public transportation role of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. Legi…
1975
February 5, 1975
March 13, 1975
March 13, 1975
April 11, 1975
June 2, 1975
June 24, 1975
September 19, 1975
September 27, 1975
October 6, 1975
October 17, 1975
1976
January 5, 1976
March 3, 1976
April 29, 1976
May 19, 1976
May 22, 1976
July 16, 1976
July 16, 1976
August 25, 1976
September 17, 1976
September 18, 1976
September 21, 1976
November 16, 1976
December 5, 1976
1977
January 26, 1977
March 2, 1977
March 17, 1977
March 19, 1977
April 14, 1977
April 18, 1977
May 5, 1977
July 10, 1977
July 19, 1977
July 19, 1977
August 8, 1977
August 10, 1977
August 18, 1977
September 30, 1977
November 6, 1977
November 11, 1977
December 9, 1977
December 20, 1977
1978
January 13, 1978
January 13, 1978
January 16, 1978
January 30, 1978
February 10, 1978
March 9, 1978
March 22, 1978
March 23, 1978
April 4, 1978
April 4, 1978
June 2, 1978
June 2, 1978
June 6, 1978
July 20, 1978
August 6, 1978
August 7, 1978
August 10, 1978
Tri-State Planner Backs New Mass Transit Bill
Tri-State chairman William C. Hennessy supports James Howard’s 1978 surface-transportation bill, highlighting increased transit funding, rehabilitation of existing roads and bridges, and Northeast energy and air-qua…
August 13, 1978
August 21, 1978
August 22, 1978
September 20, 1978
November 2, 1978
November 10, 1978
November 26, 1978
1979
February 25, 1979
March 27, 1979
How Will We Straighten Out The Tri-State Transport Mess?
By MICHAEL J. McMANUS This column is being published in cooperation with the League of Women Voters' "Tri-State Town Meeting" project. The public policy choices summarized below will be debated in a broadcast at 10…
March 30, 1979
April 27, 1979
April 29, 1979
Municipal TV Hookup Falters as 2 Agencies Maneuver
By Edward Hudson WHITE PLAINS FIVE years ago a closed‐circuit television network that was designed to improve the exchange of information among officials of local government agencies scattered across the New York‐Ne…
May 4, 1979
May 22, 1979
June 1, 1979
June 6, 1979
June 21, 1979
Who Should Be Making Decisions on Metropolitan Issues?
By MICHAEL J. McMANUS This is the last of a series of columns to be published as part of a “Tri-State Town Meeting” sponsored by the League of Women Voters. The issues in this column will be debated at 10 p.m. tonig…
July 21, 1979
Regional Local Government Has Been Silenced
By Evan Liblet To the Editor: The Metropolitan Regional Council, the region's one and only association of local governments, became a thing of the past early this week when it was forced to discontinue operation due…
August 16, 1979
August 20, 1979
August 25, 1979
New ‘Metro’ Lines Prompt Mixed Reaction in Jersey
By PAUL OVERBERG A staff report issued last week by a group studying the future of the powerful Tri-State Regional Planning Commission recommended that the agency drop half of its 100-municipality jurisdiction, incl…
September 12, 1979
October 5, 1979
November 20, 1979
1980
January 24, 1980
March 5, 1980
April 14, 1980
May 23, 1980
July 10, 1980
August 7, 1980
August 28, 1980
1981
January 11, 1981
January 22, 1981
January 22, 1981
February 22, 1981
Tri-State Council is Formed
NEW YORK - Fifteen leading business officials from the states of Connecticut, New Jersey and New York, including the three states' economic development commissioners, have formed a Tri-State Council to seek common a…
March 22, 1981
Tri-State: 'New Directions'
THE Tri-State Regional Planning Commission, a planning organization for New Jersey, New York and Connecticut, drew renewed attention recently after a blue-ribbon task force, appointed by the Governors of the three s…
May 10, 1981
May 17, 1981
Move To Quit Tri-State Group Could Be Costly
HARTFORD CONNECTICUT'S move to withdraw from the Tristate Regional Planning Commission could end up costing the state more money than it would save. But aside from the symbolic effects of Connecticut severing its pl…
May 28, 1981
June 4, 1981
December 15, 1981
December 16, 1981
December 16, 1981
December 17, 1981
Task Force Suggests Scrapping Tri-State Regional Plan Commission
The governors’ task force recommends abolishing Tri-State, auditing and settling its accounts, and designing a new regional planning and policy-analysis framework. The article details its criticisms of accountabilit…
December 29, 1981
1982
January 8, 1982
January 12, 1982
January 23, 1982
February 3, 1982
February 4, 1982
February 9, 1982
February 10, 1982
September 5, 1982
Tri-State’s Demise Leaves Gap In Planning
The telephone number on the 82d floor of One World Trade Center is the same, but these days the receptionist answers it with a new name -''Council.'' The Tri-State Regional Planning Commission, which for more than 2…
1983
March 31, 1983
1984
September 16, 1984
1985
December 20, 1985
Coming by Trolley: A Waterfront Transit Revolution
EARLY IN the century, Henry Ford ignited a revolution by lowering auto prices to within reach of middle-class families. That revolution led to another when those families and their cars moved to the suburbs. That, i…
1987
May 4, 1987
Regional Planning Needn’t Usurp Local Authority
William B. Shore argues that regional planning can guide the economy, housing, traffic and waste through research and persuasion without taking local powers. He links Tri-State’s demise to its failure to turn resear…
1989
April 21, 1989
1990
January 2, 1990
1992
July 26, 1992
A New Chief, With an Rx in the Wings
Alan S. Oser profiles H. Claude Shostal and RPA’s third regional plan, including regional express rail across agency boundaries, Penn Station as an integrated hub, and the political barriers to implementation.
December 3, 1992
1994
October 26, 1994
Fort Lee Says GWB Traffic Costs It $5 Million a Year
Mayor Jack Alter says traffic from the George Washington Bridge costs Fort Lee, NJ taxpayers $5 million a year in increased road maintenance, police and insurance, and he's asking the Port Authority to compensate th…
October 26, 1994
NJ DOT and Campaign Works Toward Collaborative Planning Process
In an October 26 meeting with NJ DOT Commissioner Frank Wilson and top NJ DOT staff, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Rutgers Environmental Law Clinic and NJPIRG took steps toward developing a collaborative tr…
October 26, 1994
Officials Win One-Year Road Widening Moratorium
They had to destroy the town to save it (from traffic congestion). WNBC 11:00 O'Clock News for Oct. 23 featured town officials from North Plainfield, NJ who had recently won a one year moratorium on action by the NJ…
October 26, 1994
Giuliani Cuts Transit In Wake of Operating Surplus
On the heels of an announced Transit Authority budget surplus, Mayor Giuliani again announced deep cuts in NYC's contribution to Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The cut announced Tuesday would be $113 million…
November 2, 1994
Airport Rail Right-of-way Tour Led by RPA
Tri-State Campaign members toured proposed sites of the Port Authority's airport rail project in Jamaica Center and in Woodside, Queens, Monday, Oct. 31. Returning to Regional Plan Assn's office for an afternoon mee…
November 2, 1994
NYC DOT Establishes Gowanus Construction Acceleration Task Force
For its Gowanus Expressway reconstruction project, the New York State DOT recently established a new "Construction Acceleration Task Force" consisting of state highway planners, Brooklyn elected officials and some b…
November 2, 1994
Meeting Spurs Road Pricing Discussion
"Cautious but interested" was the reaction of leading NYC environmental justice activists to Tri-State Transportation Campaign board member Charles Komanoff's discussion of road pricing at the annual meeting of the…
November 2, 1994
TSTC Writes to NYS DOT on Failure of Cross-Westchester Collaboration
The Tri-State Transportation Campaign is preparing a letter to NY State Transportation Commissioner John Egan to express its disappointment and disturbance over a recent letter Egan wrote to the Environmental Defens…
November 2, 1994
Letter Calls to Fight the National "Anti-Highway Movement"
The Tri-State Transportation Campaign has received a document which originated in the Nebraska State Highway Commission which labels itself "A call to action to all State Transportation Commissioners or Board member…
November 9, 1994
Fort Lee, Citing Bridge-Generated Costs, Blocks Traffic
Fort Lee, NJ made good on its promise to block local access roads to the George Washington Bridge Tuesday, Nov 1, when an accident in NYC backed traffic up across the bridge and motorists began cutting through local…
November 9, 1994
NYC DOT CMAQ projects Delayed
Transportation Alternatives (T.A.) reports that the New York City Department of Transportation has received approvals for $800,000 in federal funding for a community-based projects fund to enable NYC neighborhoods t…
November 9, 1994
CT Route 6 Collaborative Update
The Route 6 collaborative planning effort in Connecticut has narrowed the options that will go into the project's draft environmental impact statement to three upgrades to the existing roadway alignment, at least on…
November 9, 1994
EIS Comments Topic of PA Airport Rail Letter to TSTC
Port Authority Airport Access Director Edward O'Sullivan wrote to the Tri-State Transportation Campaign in response to the October 19 issue of this bulletin, clarifying that it was the Federal Aviation Administratio…
November 9, 1994
TSTC Members Meet With EPA Over TIP/SIP Conformity
On Tuesday, Nov. 8, Tri-State Transportation Campaign, Scenic Hudson, Rutgers Environmental Law Clinic and Brian Ketcham Engineering representatives met with US EPA's Region II Air Branch staff, including Conrad Sim…
November 16, 1994
Environmental Council of Stamford Organizing on Transportation Issues
Anew transportation advocacy coalition is emerging in southwestern Connecticut. Presently known as the Connecticut Transportation Futures Coalition, citizens groups led by the Environmental Council of Stamford (ECOS…
November 16, 1994
Bratton Says No Savings With Police Merger
A November 15 MTA Board meeting to discuss Mayor Giuliani's proposal to merge the NYC Transit Police into the NYPD saw vociferous opposition expressed by representatives of transit police and transit workers unions…
November 16, 1994
Federal Transit Aid Threatened by Election Results
Federal aid to transit programs that benefit New York City and the metropolitan region has been placed in jeopardy by last week's Republican sweep of Congress, according to area Democratic representatives preparing…
November 16, 1994
Pataki's Likely Transit Cuts
The election of George Pataki to the State House in Albany will likely put additional financial pressure on NYC transit systems. Mayor Giuliani's announced 1994-95 cuts in New York City's contribution to Transit Aut…
November 30, 1994
Transit Budget Politics and Developments
More NY transit and budget politics from the last fortnight: Mayor Giuliani's MTA Board representatives voted against the resolution to implement the Fare Deal package, arguing that fare increases should only be use…
November 30, 1994
SI Disputes MTA Toll Plans
The MTA's proposed financing of monthly subway and bus passes and an end to two- and three-fare zones not only relies on transit fare increases to $1.35 in July, 1995 and to $1.50 in 1997, but also on increasing MTA…
November 30, 1994
Pataki Says Airport Rail Plan Should Be Improved
NY Governor-elect George Pataki proposed extending the Port Authority's planned NYC airport rail access project to Grand Central Terminal and opening the system to a general ridership. The Port Authority plan presen…
November 30, 1994
NY Commuter Rail Parking Guidelines and Issues
NY State Dept. of Transportation and Long Island Railroad guidelines dictate a need for more commuter rail station parking if usage of existing spaces is greater than 80%. Daily usage of the 34,748 parking spaces at…
November 30, 1994
Sen. Levy Opposes Transit Police-NYPD merger
NY State Senate Transportation Committee Chair Norman Levy released a report on NYC straphangers' perceptions of subway crime November 23, and said he's opposed to the merger of the NYC Transit Police with the NYPD.…
December 7, 1994
Connecticut Transportation Control Measures Study Almost Complete
The Connecticut Fund for the Environment's Transportation Control Measures Study is nearly complete. This study, undertaken in partnership with the United Illuminating Company, the Connecticut Dept. of Environmental…
December 7, 1994
NYMTC Committee Considers Candidates for Downstate MIS
On December 1, 1994, the NY Metropolitan Transportation Council's (NYMTC) Program, Finance and Administration Committee met and adopted a list of candidates for downstate major investment studies. The adoption of th…
December 7, 1994
Port Authority Wants to Raise Tolls in 1996
The Port Authority of NY and NJ said December 1 that it would maintain tolls on its bridges and tunnels at $4 and the PATH train fare at $1 through 1995, but said increases would be necessary during 1996. NJ Republi…
December 7, 1994
More Info on Rockland NY Thruway "4th Lane" HOV Project
Scenic Hudson has uncovered more information on the proposed I-287 4th lane construction project in Rockland County spotted a few weeks ago in the NY Thruway Authority's portion of the Mid-Hudson South Transportatio…
December 14, 1994
Whitman Not Ready With Transportation Trust Fund Proposal
Governor Christine Whitman has still not presented her proposal for renewal of New Jersey's Transportation Trust Fund to legislative leaders or the public. Last week, the Alliance for Transportation Reform, a 21-mem…
December 14, 1994
Molinari Lashes PA over $1 PATH Fare in Face of Verrazano Toll Hike
Staten Island Borough President Guy Molinari lashed the Port Authority of NY and NJ and its PATH train service following announcements of a likely 1996 Port Authority bridge and tunnel toll increase last week. Molin…
December 22, 1994
Pataki May Make MTA Chair Position Part-Time
The Daily News reported December 19 that the Pataki transition team may make the job of MTA Chair part-time. The move would give the 17-member MTA board more authority over the downstate NY transit system, and widen…
December 22, 1994
What Implications for ISTEA in Clinton US DOT Restructuring Plan?
At a December 19 press conference, the Clinton Administration announced plans to restructure the U.S. Department of Transportation and cut federal transportation spending. An alert issued to transportation advocates…
December 22, 1994
NJ Long Range Transportation Plan Unveiled
NJ DOT unveiled New Jersey's long range transportation plan December 16 in Trenton. Tri-State members Jim Tripp, Ed Lloyd, Jeff Zupan, Marjorie Angelo, and Marie Curtis attended. The Tri-State Campaign would strongl…
December 22, 1994
U.K. Dept. of Transport Study Says Roads Create Traffic Capacity
A major review of British evidence on the generation of additional motor vehicle traffic by new road construction was released Dec 19. It concluded that in many cases, roads do generate traffic and recommends method…
December 22, 1994
MTA Board Delays Budget Over Fare Deal
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board decided yesterday to delay the adoption of its operating budget. The board heard Republican members challenge the wisdom of voting in favor of a $5 billion budget that…
December 22, 1994
NJPIRG, ATU Distribute Flyers Against Possible Fare Hike in Trust Fund Plan
NJPIRG and the Amalgamated Transit Union distributed over 50,000 anti-fare hike fliers December 20 on NJ Transit buses. The leaflet says Governor Whitman is considering raising transit fares as part of the Administr…
December 22, 1994
Pataki: Reconsider I-287 HOV, 9A Project
The Tri-State Transportation Campaign wrote on December 14 to NY Governor-elect Pataki, urging him to reconsider the NY State Department of Transportation's plan to add high-occupancy vehicle lanes to the Cross-West…
December 22, 1994
Brezhenoff Resigns from Port Authority
Port Authority Executive Director Stanley Brezenoff announced his resignation, effective February 3. With two new Governors, each with a new approach, they certainly ought to have the opportunity to establish their…
1995
February 9, 1995
1996
February 15, 1996
Remaking The Region: Port Authority, MTA Would Become New Regional Transit Authority
By DOUGLAS FEIDEN The Port Authority and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority should be dismantled to make the city’s giant transportation system leaner and meaner. That’s a cornerstone of a 25-year master plan…
February 16, 1996
1998
November 23, 1998
2007
September 23, 2007
Uniting Suburbs, One Rail Project at a Time
After many stops and starts, the area’s major commuter railroads are finally trying to make it easier for people to get from Connecticut to New Jersey. That is if you are a Giants or a Jets fan. By the fall of 2009,…
2009
September 19, 2009
They team up to get trains rolling to Giants Stadium
Pete Donohue reports on the Train to the Game service to Giants Stadium, involving Metro-North, Amtrak and NJ Transit.
2010
October 24, 2010
2015
June 1, 2015
There is no Moses on the road to Secaucus
By ALFRED P. DOBLIN TWO WEEKS ago, I attended one of NJ Transit’s public forums on its proposed rate hike. The average increase is expected to be 9 percent. The forum I attended was inside the so-called Secaucus Tra…
2016
May 6, 2016
City Names Its First Regional Planning Director
New York City is getting its first regional planning director — Carolyn Grossman Meagher, an urban planner so besotted with infrastructure that she got engaged inside the cavern that will become the 86th Street stop…
September 6, 2016
Is Tri-State Transportation Too Big to Plan?
By Stephen Miller A new federal rule could unify the New York region’s jumble of official transportation plans into a single vision for the entire metropolitan area. But some planning advocates worry the Obama admin…
October 15, 2016
New Hope for New Rail Tunnels
Funding could be in place in two years for project under Hudson, official says. Federal financing could be in place in two years to build two new rail tunnels under the Hudson River that would augment the crumbling…
2017
December 4, 2017
2018
April 29, 2018
2022
August 26, 2022
September 7, 2022
October 9, 2022
2026
February 6, 2026
Senate Bill S4594A
Amended print, dated February 6, 2026, of New York Senate Bill S4594, which Sen. Monica R. Martinez introduced on February 10, 2025. The bill would withdraw the Nassau-Suffolk Transportation Coordinating Committee f…
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