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.
106 items
1954
March 28, 1954
1955
January 14, 1955
January 16, 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,…
February 24, 1955
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…
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 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 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…
1958
March 4, 1958
March 7, 1958
May 5, 1958
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…
September 12, 1958
September 19, 1958
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
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
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 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 1, 1958
December 4, 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 11, 1958
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
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 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 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…
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 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…
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 28, 1960
February 7, 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…
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
April 1, 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…
September 11, 1961
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…
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…
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…
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