State Legislature

This clip from yesterday's Assembly Transportation Committee meeting doesn't quite live up to the hype.

The bus cam bill isn't the only piece of progressive transportation and planning legislation having a good day in Albany. Sam Hoyt's smart growth legislation passed through three important committees today and could pass the full legislature as soon as Thursday, according to Peter Fleischer of Empire State Future, the smart growth advocacy organization. 

You read that right.

At yesterday's meeting of the State Senate codes committee, Hayley and Diego's Law passed in a 13-3 vote. The bill, which should give prosecutors greater leeway to bring charges against motorists who injure or kill pedestrians and cyclists, now moves to the finance committee. It passed the full Assembly earlier this week.

Yesterday the New York City Council voted 46-4 to keep dedicated bus lanes free of traffic using camera enforcement. The measure, known as a home rule message, is a necessary step before state legislation can authorize a bus cam program. Attention now turns to Albany, where the bill faces critical votes in both the Assembly and State Senate in the days ahead.

A few minutes ago, Hayley and Diego's Law cleared a vote in the full State Assembly. The next hurdle is the codes committee in the fractious State Senate, where it's scheduled to come up for a vote tomorrow.

With Albany's legislative session drawing to a close, the state legislature is considering several initiatives to promote sustainable transportation and livable communities in New York state. One of those initiatives is the State Smart Growth Public Infrastructure Policy Act -- or the smart growth bill, for short. If enacted, the smart growth bill would shift state spending -- on roads and sewers, for example -- toward areas that have already been developed. Rather than subsidize more sprawl, New York would invest in its existing communities.

The Albany legislative session is scheduled to end two weeks from today, and time is running out for state legislators to make streets safer, buses faster, and cities more sustainable. Earlier today we discussed the prospects of bus lane camera enforcement. Here's a survey of the other top legislative priorities for supporters of livable streets.

One would be hard pressed to find a more broadly drawn constituency in the city than that of state Senate District 31, which spans from the Upper West Side to Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood before hopping the Harlem River into Riverdale. But in spite of vast differences in culture and income, most district residents have at least two things in common: they don't own a car, and they rely heavily on trains and buses to conduct their day-to-day lives.