yea, but if the city really wants to reduce car traffic, it could close a lane of the holland tunnel and allow only bikers and walkers to use it. I would. Ofcourse the tunnel is already overcrowded with cars and no one would invest that money into pedestrians who dont pay, so its not happening.

Okay, hate to pee on the parade, because I would love to be able to walk to NYC. But let's be realistic: a Hudson pedestrian bridge would be an engineering miracle / nightmare.

It would have to be significantly higher than the Brooklyn Bridge, to allow for big ship traffic.

So how would pedestrians get up to it? Elevator? Staircase? Can you even guess how many stairs that would be? Wanna climb that with a bike on your shoulders?

Or maybe a ramp, sloping gently upwards from, oh I dunno, Newark?

The bridge would have to have a wide footprint, to account for wind/tides/accidental boat encounters. The owners of million-dollar river-view apartments might have something to say about this (And would the swells in SoHo really welcome having Jersey City within walking distance?)

Which brings us to walking distance. It's just over a mile across, not including any approach ramps. How many leisure walkers would tackle that on a daily basis? Americans are not known as a particularly perambulatory bunch. Sure, they should be, if sales of husky pants are any indication. But alas, we are not.

And what if there is an emergency mid-span? You're a half-mile walk/bike ride/swim to safety.

Finally, have you ever walked across the GW Bridge? NOT a peaceful stroll. 220 feet above the water, it's freaking terrifying. (The Brooklyn Bridge, by comparison, is a hundred feet lower.)

So there's the challenge, armchair bridge builders. Go to it!

I think a pedestrian bridge would dramatically increase the tourists in downtown Jersey City. Any day of the year with reasonably warm weather and the Brooklyn Bridge is packed with tourists from as far as the other side of the world, or as near as a few blocks away. A Hudson river pedestrian bridge would arguably have better views than the Brooklyn Bridge too.

As far as commuting, there are plenty of folks who walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, so I don't think its unrealistic to think Jerseyans would do the same.

But more importantly, as an increasing number of people live in on this side of the river, a pedestrian crossing becomes ever more imperative in case of emergencies that knock out the PATH system. This doesn't even necessarily mean something catastrophic like 9/11-- it could be something as innocuous as a PA transit worker strike or regional blackout or a deluge of rain. The Brooklyn Bridge served as an emergency evacuation route and commuting alternative during 9/11, the blackout of 2003, during the 2005 transit strike, and 2007 subway flooding. Meanwhile, consider what happened to Jersey Cityians, and what will happen with the increasing numbers of residents during similar events in the future.

I'm not sure how expensive a pedestrian/bike bridge would be relative to other projects (PATH upgrades, new tunnel for NJ Transit etc). I imagine it would be considerably cheaper than a bridge built for car/truck traffic. The engineering wouldn't be a problem, there are plenty of bridges spanning the Hudson in areas just as wide.

It would however coincide with a number of complimentary projects. Manhattan is trying to reduce the amount of cars entering the city, Manhattan has also put a lot of resources into building the Greenway around the Island, the Federal government and private sector have donated heavily to the East Coast Greenway and such a bridge would be a vital link, especially if plans go ahead for the replacement of the Wittpenn Bridge with a multi-lane bike path (designed with the Greenway in mind).

I wonder though if such a bridge existed how many people would actually use it for commuting? And also, in nicer weather the Manhattan greenway is packed with everyone from Tourists to city residents, how many of them would use the bridge to check out Jersey City/Hoboken/LSP?

the midtown ferry takes you right to the WS bike path (though sure, only during rush hours)

question: has anyone tried to take a bike on the tiny, enclosed ferry that plies the Paulus Hook - Midtown route?

I know they're allowed on the bigger ferries to WTC, but you have to stand outside with it.

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Namely, it would be incredibly expensive to build a bridge that long. And it would have to be high enough for ships to pass under when going up the Hudson. It just isn't practical for the area.

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We had this discussion here a while back. It won't ever happen for obvious reasons.

I would like to see the Port Authority build a bike/pedestrian bridge from JC/Hoboken that connects to the West Side Greenway in Manhattan.

My impression is plenty of people would walk, bike across the Hudson right into Manhattan if given the choice/opportunity.

here's a tiny sliver of good news:
unlike the TVs in taxicabs, the PATH monitors won't have audio.

PATH monitorsWhat television screens would look like in the new PATH cars.

Television for the Captive Commuter

By David W. Dunlap
New York Times
January 22, 2008

Will New Jersey commuters turn into PATH potatoes?

Television screens are among the features that riders will see on 340 new PATH cars coming this year. A full-scale mock-up was unveiled today in Harrison, N.J., by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Each car will have four TV screens in the overhead spot where ads are found, said Marc La Vorgna, a spokesman for the authority. They will broadcast news, weather and sports from NBC; advertisements; and service announcements. Since you can?t turn them off or even turn the channel, this gives new meaning to the old NBC slogan ?must-see TV.?
PATH monitorsEnlarge this image. What television screens look like in the Rome Metro. (Photo: David W. Dunlap/The New York Times)

Conceivably, then, one could watch TV almost without interruption during the trip through New Jersey and under the Hudson River, in the taxi or at the subway entrance and in the elevator on the way up to the office, in some buildings.

Though this may be the first appearance of television on New York area public transit, TV screens are common in other systems around the world, including Rome, where civilization seems be getting along just fine. And as St. Augustine would say, ?Rome has spoken; the case is closed.?


=====================================================
Press Release

Port Authority UNVEILS FULL-SIZE MOCK-UP OF NEW PATH CAR
Date: January 22, 2008
Press Release Number: 7-2008

New Cars are Part of Port Authority?s Planned
$3.3 Billion, 10-Year Investment to Overhaul the PATH System

The Port Authority today unveiled a full-size mock-up of the new PATH car, a major milestone in its efforts to fully overhaul, modernize and
increase capacity on the rail system. The new cars are a highlight of the agency?s 10-year, $3.3 billion PATH program, which includes, among other improvements, completely replacing the existing 340-car fleet, adding up to 119 new cars to the fleet, modernizing the PATH signal system and increasing capacity on the system by approximately 25 percent.

The new cars will contain customer amenities designed to attract more riders to the mass-transit system to reduce congestion and improve the environment. The system now handles approximately 242,000 passenger trips each weekday.

Each new PATH car will be equipped with video monitors that will provide news, weather and sports information from WNBC, as well as PATH service announcements. The new cars also will feature three doors on each side to allow for faster loading and unloading; on-board CCTV surveillance capability; improved lighting; pre-recorded station announcements; enhanced signage; and the capability for passengers to communicate directly with the crew. The cars also will have an environmental feature known as regenerative braking, which will allow the car to return some of the electrical power it uses to accelerate back to the power system when it goes into braking mode.

Port Authority Chairman Anthony R. Coscia said, ?There?s no question that PATH continues to be a critical lifeline for hundreds of thousands of daily commuters traveling between New York and New Jersey. With expected substantial increases in PATH ridership, we recently decided to make a historic investment of $3.3 billion to completely overhaul the PATH system. These investments will increase access to the region?s economic core for decades to come.?

Port Authority Executive Director Anthony Shorris said, ?The PATH system connects workers with jobs; it?s elemental - a crucial part of the region?s economic DNA. And if we want to keep both that economy and our environment vital for another generation, mass transit has to be at the top of our agenda. We?ve got to get people out of cars and onto trains and buses. That?s why we?re investing to make PATH the answer for even more riders, with clean, comfortable cars full of amenities, expanded and renovated stations, and new monthly passes to make life easier for commuters. It?s all a part of the almost $8 billion we?ve dedicated in our 10-year capital plan to improve and expand mass transit in our region.?

Port Authority First Deputy Executive Director Susan Bass Levin said, ?Our $3.3 billion investment in PATH is the largest investment in the system?s history. New cars, modern stations, and extended trains will not only provide increased capacity, but will also ensure a safe rail transit system to meet the challenges of the 21st century.?

U. S. Senator Robert Menendez said, ?I am pleased that the Port Authority is able to enhance its services while keeping fares affordable for working families. Investing in mass transit reduces traffic congestion, saves energy and benefits the environment, protecting it for future generations.?

New Jersey state Assemblyman Vincent Prieto said, ?There?s no question that one of the most difficult challenges we face in this state is reducing congestion on our local roads and highways and finding better ways for our citizens to travel to work, school or other destinations. By making multibillion dollar investments in mass transit - including these new PATH cars and a new passenger rail tunnel under the Hudson - we will go a long way to greatly improve the commute for our residents for generations to come.?

Senior Vice President and General Manager of NBC Everywhere Mark French said, ?We are extremely pleased to partner with PATH, and to provide relevant and entertaining content to passengers as they make their daily commute. In addition, through our sales partnership, we can work with our clients to deliver their messages to a highly engaged, targeted and captive audience. This is a fantastic addition to our existing portfolio of New York-based out-of home-platforms, which include screens in taxis, Times Square, supermarkets, sports arenas, universities and gyms.?

Kawasaki Rail Car Inc. is building the 340 PATH rail cars to replace the existing fleet. The Port Authority will receive the first test train of new PATH cars this year and passengers can expect to see new trains on the tracks by the end of the year. The entire fleet will be replaced by 2011. Dates for installation of additional cars have yet to be determined.

The new PATH cars are part of the Port Authority?s planned $3.3 billion, 10-year investment in PATH, the first major overhaul of the system since the bistate agency acquired it from the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad in 1962.

Other components of the $3.3 billion dollar capital improvement plan include:


* nearly $390 million to replace PATH?s antiquated signal system, a critical component in increasing capacity by reducing the wait time between trains;


* $659 million to upgrade and modernize all 13 PATH stations, including the installation of 10-car platforms at the Harrison and Grove Street stations that will allow 10-car trains to operate on the congested Newark-to-World Trade Center line. Currently, seven-car trains run on the Newark-to-World Trade Center line; and


* $549 million to maintain and upgrade existing PATH infrastructure in a state of good repair.

This is exactly why moron bureaucrats shouldn't be in charge of things like trains.

They raise our @%#$ing PATH fares, and give NBC a 7 YEAR DEAL for $1.5 MILLION DOLLARS? What's the ridership on the path? A million a day? A regular billboard is like $30,000 a month to rent. Over seven years, that's $2,520,000.

God almighty, who are the morons who signed this deal!

I'm furious!

Those bleeping advertisements should LOWER THE PATH FEE by a few pennies.

When will the brain dead masses stop taking it up the ass and stand up to these totalitarian bullies?

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Shelley cherishes her PATH ride? I'm not eager to watch ads on the PATH train, but man, this is so tragic.

I bet those televisions are a prime target for vandalism.

Future PATH: Info, ads, more doors

Wednesday, January 23, 2008
By AMY SARA CLARK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

HARRISON - PATH commuters can expect to see new cars that will have video screens, design improvements that make sitting and standing more comfortable, and video screens in stations that will eventually tell passengers what time each train will leave.

They can also expect to see new video screens on the platforms and upper levels of stations that will eventually let commuters know exactly when the next train is coming and on which track.

The PATH train cars of the near future were unveiled yesterday at a news conference at the company's maintenance facility in Harrison.

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey plans to beginadding the new cars by the end of the year, beginning with the Newark-World Trade Center line.

The goal is to add an average of 15 new cars a month, said Susan Bass Levin, the Port Authority's first deputy executive director.

The video programming, which will include news, weather, sports programming and ads, will be silent with captions along the bottom or other kinds of text. NBC has promised the Port Authority $1.5 million over seven years to provide the content.

Some commuters said they won't mind the televisions, even though they will include ads. "I think that's great. It kind of breaks the monotony of the trip, even though it's short," said C.J. Kim, a Jersey City attorney who lives in Manhattan.

Others were skeptical. "I pay for the trip, and then I have to pay for advertisements?" said Klaus Wiegner, a Jersey City accountant who lives in Manhattan.

Shelley Roberts, who works in public relations in Newark and lives in Brooklyn, agreed. "I'm bombarded all day long by stimuli, and I cherish this time," she said. "I find it very invasive and intrusive."

But riders polled were uniformly enthusiastic about the potential for platform video screens to let them know when the next train will leave.

"That's what I love about London," said Roberts. "At least (there) I have a choice as to what's going on, so if I need to make a choice, I can make it based on how soon it looks like a train might be coming."

But that ability is still awhile off because it is tied to an overhaul of PATH's antiquated signal system, said spokesman Marc La Vorgna.

A timetable has not been set, but it is a top priority, he said.

Other improvements include seats with better lumbar support, more vertical polls, allowing shorter riders to hang on more comfortably and ceilings a few inches higher for taller riders.

All of the new cars will have three doors per side.

In addition, cars will include technology that returns energy to the train when it brakes, better lighting, air conditioning and heating, pre-recorded station announcements, a better intercom system and the capacity for passengers to communicate with the crew.

AMY SARA CLARK can be reached at aclark@jjournal.com

Does anyone know if PATH will finally be making the Grove Street station Handicap Acsessible? That would be an improvement!

New PATH cars... unveiled!
by Associated Press
Tuesday January 22, 2008, 4:38 PM


The new PATH cars aren't going to enter service until later this year, but the Port Authority offered a sneak peek this morning at a press conference held at the PATH maintenance facility in Harrison.

The new cars will be brighter, have more poles to hold on to, offer three doors instead of two and display more high tech gadgets than the four-decades old cars they're replacing.


Commuters will notice four sets of two video monitors on each car to show announcements, news, weather and sports programs from WNBC. NBC Universal is spending about $15 million to install the monitors, at no cost to the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs the train system connecting New York and New Jersey.

The cars also will feature screens that alert commuters about the next station, and surveillance cameras monitored by PATH police.

"These cars are loaded with a thousand cool technologies," said Anthony Shorris, executive director of the Port Authority.

Conductors can guide the trains through touch screens, an upgrade from the current cars which don't even have speedometers, said project manager Douglas Driesbach.

The first new trains, made by Kawasaki Rail Car, Inc., will be phased in at the end of the year, part of agency's 10-year, $3.3 billion investment in the train system.

The existing 340-car fleet will be replaced, and up to 119 new cars will be added. All the old cars, most of which are about 45 years old, will be replaced by 2011. Each new car costs about $1.3 million.

The cars aren't the only improvements. PATH's signal system will be modernized at a cost of $390 million and will reduce the wait time between trains.

The agency will also spend $659 million to upgrade its 13 stations. New platforms at the Harrison and Grove Street stations will accommodate longer trains on the Newark-to-World Trade Center line.

If the PATH service is better, then the agency hopes to convince more drivers to abandon their cars and take mass transit to lessen the environmental effect of car emissions, Shorris said.

About 242,000 trips are taken daily on the system, which links Harrison, Hoboken, Jersey City and Newark to stops in lower and midtown Manhattan on three lines.

The improvements mark the first major overhaul PATH since the Port Authority acquired it from the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad in 1962.

Anthony Coscia, chairman of the Port Authority, said at the time the private company was bankrupt, "an albatross no one really wanted," he said. Now, the bistate agency is trying to revolutionize the way commuters use mass transit, he said.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/techn ... ansportation/4217989.html

Why wait until 2014? For less than 1/4 the price of a luxury condo in JC you can have your very own jetpack...

Yeah, 2014? I'll take my jetpack to the city by then.

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What about bringing those big ferries that they have in NYC here, and let people bring the bikes on board?I don't understand why we only have just the small ones.

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I say how about a foot bridge just for walkers & bikers. The GW has one.

Let's get rid of the trains and just put a long people mover walkway like at the airports. Or Miner cars like in Indiana Jones

My 2 cents

20% increase in capacity 7 years from now (2014)? Aren't the trains already severly overcrowded and by 2014 won't a 20% increase in capacity mean that we will be riding trains that will be just as packed - if not more crowded - as they are right now?

Now that's "progress"

Too bad they're not adding the articulated trains like in Paris.

New trains, then more zip

Thursday, October 18, 2007
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

PATH to get new signals in 7 years

PATH train riders can look forward to a zippier commute seven years from now when a new $500 million signal system goes into effect, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey officials announced yesterday in Jersey City.

Coupled with a previously approved $809 million to replace the PATH's entire 340-car fleet, this outlay represents the largest investment in the 100-year-old rail line since the Port Authority took it over in 1962, said Port Authority Chairman Anthony R. Coscia.

If approved today by the agency's board, the new signal system will increase the system's capacity by 20 percent, said Coscia, who was joined at the press conference at the Exchange Place PATH station by Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, Port Authority Executive Director Anthony E. Shorris and other Port Authority officials.

PATH trains currently carry 50,000 riders per hour during rush hour, officials said.

"The new signal system . will allow us to run trains safely and efficiently at closer intervals, thereby allowing a lot more capacity to the system," Shorris said.

The new system would be a significant upgrade from the current 40-year-old system and will allow trains to run closer together.

Currently, PATH trains running from Newark Penn Station to the World Trade Center during rush hour arrive every 3.8 minutes, officials said. The new signal system should shave one minute off that time, officials said.

Riders can also look forward to seeing new trains on the rails as early as June. The entire fleet will be replaced within three years, they said.

The new trains all have three doors, unlike many of the existing trains, which have two, officials said. The new trains will also require less maintenance and have fewer breakdowns, Shorris said.

"I hear complaints all the time about how crowded the PATH trains are, especially during peak hours," Healy said. "This 20 percent expansion of ridership capacity can be directed at those peak hours and address some of those complaints."

Sharon Peyton, an employee at the Newport Centre Mall who commutes from Newark Penn Station, said she's "satisfied now" with PATH service.

"But if they can do anything to help it run faster, that would be nice," she added.