Here’s the latest from the Thruway Authority on the replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge deck:

ALBANY, NY (06/30/2008; 0923)(readMedia)—The New York State Thruway Authority announced today that deck replacement work on the Tappan Zee Bridge will continue next week. This project is Read more of this entry »

Peter Cannito, the outgoing president ofMetro-North Railroad, is this year’s winner of the W. Graham Claytor Award for Distinguished Service to Passenger Transportation.

The award given, annually by Railway Age mgazine, is named Read more of this entry »

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority board voted today to give up their free rides on the buses and subways and across the agency’s bridges.Give props to The Daily News for exposing the perk a few weeks back, raising the eyebrows of state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo. The state’s official watchdog said  Read more of this entry »

An advocacy group, Business Travel Coalition, predicts that the troubles airlines are facing with high fuel costs are likely to lead to airline service cuts at Westchester County Airport as well as 149 other airports across the country. Read more of this entry »

The latest issue of Car & Travel, the magazine of AAA New York, says that insurance companies trust women drivers more than men.The article in the July issue reports that insurers make use of data showing that men are involved in more fatal Read more of this entry »

Fewer planes and helicopters are taking off from and landing at Westchester County Airport, but the number of airline passengers leaving is up, a monthly report from the Westchester County Department of Transportation shows.Through May, the airport recorded 64,404 take offs and landings, down from Read more of this entry »

JetBlue Airways will consider expanding its service at Stewart International Airport, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer said in a release today.

Following news that AirTran Airways would be ending service at the Orange County airport on Sept. 3 due to rising jet fuel prices, Schumer, D-NY, called JetBlue CEO Dave Barger. JetBlue is committed to staying at Stewart Airport and will begin looking into how to fill the gaps left behind by AirTran’s departure, Schumer said. Read more of this entry »

When Metro-North brass gather at the Hastings train station at 2:30 p.m. this afternoon to celebrate $65 million worth of work on four train stations, it could be President Peter Cannito’s last ceremonial appearance as the head of the railroad.

Cannito will retire July 15 to be replaced by Vice President Howard Permut.

The third president since Metro-North’s formation in 1983, Cannito has served nine years.

Starting Monday, June 23, Transport of Rockland (TOR) buses in Nyack will pick up and drop off on South Franklin Street instead of Cedar Street because of road construction.

The temporary bus stop will be on South Franklin Street between Burd Street and Depew Avenue, one block south of Main Street. TOR buses will not stop at the normal Cedar Street location during construction, which is expected to last about two weeks.

Artopee Way and the parking lots in Nyack’s business district are being rebuilt.

On Monday, TOR representatives will be stationed at the Cedar Street bus shelter to guide customers one block west to South Franklin Street. Signs also have been posted at the bus shelter and on board TOR buses informing riders about the change.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority held a press conference today where I could have gone to watch transit officials encourage us all to ride the trains and buses.

I could have gone to the Rockville Center train station to see MTA CEO Elliot Sander and other VIPs put a decommissioned service station pump into a container as they encourage people to “Dump the Pump.” That means leaving your car behind and making use of the regions convenient bus and train services.

Of course, to get there, Read more of this entry »

You hear terms like “smart growth” and, more recently, “transit-oriented development,” and in one sense, what it all means is building communities where it’s easier to get things done by walkng, riding a bicycle or taking a bus or train.

So it’s not unusual that the New York State Department of Transportation is getting in on the act. The DOT just announced a new smart growth page on its Web site. You can find the page here.

People may be unhappy with rising air fare and added surcharges, but it’s the attitudes of the air line employees that led to a decline in customer satisfaction, a report shows.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2008 North American Airline Satisfaction Study found Read more of this entry »

People may grumble about the hassles of taking a flight these days, but Delta Air Lines is trying to make it easier by allowing passengers flying from LaGuardia to check in before they even get to the airport.

All you need is a

If you’ve seen the article by my colleagues Anna Mageras and Terence Corcoran, you’ve seen that a second person was arrested by cops after driving the wrong way, allegedly intoxicated, on out thruways.

The first was June 1, when an Eastchester woman drove north in the southbound lanes of I-87 and made it through a Tappan Zee Bridge toll booth before being arrested on the Rockland side. Now, early this morning, comes a Rye man arrested after driving on the wrong side of I-287 to get home. His error was discovered when he struck a tractor trailer.

When journalists see something happen twice, they immediately think in terms of trends. They wonder Read more of this entry »

A colleague, Theresa Juva, just called in from the road amazed to have seen a Shell station on Boston Post Road and Purdy Avenue in Rye where gas is selling for about $4.68 for a gallon of regular.

(OK, really, the price is $4.67 and 9/10s, but let’s call it what it is. I mean, what does a tenth of a cent buy these days anyway?)

That’s just about as high as it gets around here right now. I checked Gas Buddy, which shows a couple of stations in Armonk with the same price. Relying on reports from users of the site, it shows only one station in New York state with a higher price, selling for $4.69, in Orangeburg.

AAA reports in its gas price survey that the New York state average is $4.26 and national average is $4.06 and six tenths. Both are records.

Happy Friday the 13th.