NYC Goes High Tech In Battle Against Gridlock; Setting Stage For Congestion Pricing?

While many reports are indicating that this pilot project is designed to reduce gridlock in Midtown Manhattan by enabling traffic engineers at the Department of Transportation to adjust traffic signals, alert police to hot spots, and otherwise smooth the flow of traffic in Midtown, it is reliant upon signals from dozens of cameras and EZPass sensors mounted throughout the zone.

Dubbed "Midtown in Motion," the $1.6 million system relies on more than 100 motion detectors, dozens of cameras and data gathered from drivers' E-ZPasses to compile immediate info on the most congested streets in the city.

That info is beamed wirelessly back to the windowless control room in Long Island City to the traffic engineers.

Not only will the DOT engineers get immediate notification of traffic backups -- caused by anything from a single car crash to a meeting of the UN General Assembly -- they'll also be able to do something about it.

Armed with pocket protectors and algorithms on city traffic patterns, the engineers will analyze the info and decide whether to speed up or slow down the street's signal changes.

Previously, the signal lights in the city could be wired only to change themselves at certain times of the day -- like for rush hour -- and weren't able to be switched remotely.

The all-seeing DOT engineers can also decide to deploy traffic agents from their command center if the congestion gets particularly thorny.

That's not a particularly expensive project if it can reduce traffic and congestion in Midtown. If successful, DOT is likely to expand that to other parts of the City.

My concern is over the EZPass sensors.

Reducing traffic by adjusting traffic lights is one thing, but installing a system that puts in place the critical infrastructure necessary to toll riders into Midtown Manhattan should worry those who do that drive on a daily basis. This pilot project could conceivably set the congestion pricing tax back in motion.

Hard Docking At Staten Island Ferry Sends 17 People To Hospital

Earlier this morning, the Staten Island Ferry had a hard docking at the St. George Terminal, causing a number of injuries requiring hospitalization. Gothamist is reporting that several of those injured were in serious condition and service has been suspended until further notice. 60 people were injured, with 10 requiring further assistance or hospitalization.

The ferry that crashed was the Andrew J. Barberi, the same one involved in the 2003 accident that killed 11 people. The pilot in 2003, Richard J. Smith, had passed out at the helm because he had been using pain medication.

The Barberi was recommissioned and put back into service.

Last July, a Staten Island ferry crashed into the St. George terminal, when the boat lost power before docking. There were 15 injuries.

On Saturday morning, the terminal building was teeming with emergency crews and ambulances as stretchers were being loaded with injured passengers, according to one witness, Antonina Rose, who was in the terminal.

“I felt this big boom, the whole building was trembling,” Ms. Rose, 53, from St. George, said.

“This did not go off course — it looked like it crashed into the place where it was supposed to dock,” Ms. Rose said. She had been waiting for the 9:30 a.m. ferry to Manhattan.

Hard dockings aren't uncommon, and a recent hard docking resulted in 15 minor injuries back last year.

UPDATE:
It looks like the throttle stuck and that sent the Barberi crashing into the pier.

The accident appeared to be the result of a mechanical failure, New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said.

The ferry's throttle failed to engage as it prepared to dock, she said, meaning the crew was unable to use the engines to slow down. The cause of the malfunction is still unknown, she said.

Coast Guard officials said the ferry suffered serious damage to its ramps and gouges in the decks above the waterline. Ramps on the pier were also damaged.

The Fire Department said 17 passengers were taken by ambulance to hospitals, but that none had life-threatening injuries.

One person complained of chest pains. Others were bandaged and comforted by firefighters at the scene.

UPDATE:
Video provides some idea of the scope of the accident:

New York City Tax Dollars At Work

Even though New York City is facing a massive deficit and the proposed budget includes thousands of teacher layoffs and other measures to close the budget, idiocy still abounds throughout the City's vast bureaucracy.

On Staten Island, that translated into the Department of Transportation painting reflective line markers on a pothole and rutted stretch of highway that was slated to get milled and paved... starting next week.

Fresh off the pointless labor of putting lines on a Dongan Hills street, the city Department of Transportation was painting the town again yesterday, this time laying reflective white stripes down the center of the West Shore Expressway.

Only problem is, the new paint was dropped right down the pothole-riddled center of the crumbling highway, which is itself slated for milling and repaving starting Monday night.

Many of the new hashmarks were actually painted inside the potholes, which had the comical effect of accentuating their depth and craggy edges.

The state DOT, which runs the road, entrusts the city with its maintenance.

The two agencies typically coordinate their projects, to make sure both are on the same page, said state DOT spokesman Adam Levine.

The impending milling and repaving of the northbound right lane of the West Shore has been in the works for awhile, and an article about the project has appeared in the Advance. It was expected to be completed in late April.

But the work was delayed a few weeks when the contractor, InterCounty Paving Associates, was backlogged with other projects after the hard winter, and the city may not have been aware that the paving was since expedited to start on Monday.

How much money and time was wasted on that nonsense? New York City taxpayers have a right to know what this nonsense cost them, and why no one is going to make sure that it doesn't happen again. Did no one on that paint crew notice that they were simply painting into the potholes? They didn't question why they were not first fixing the potholes before painting?

I suspect that they were merely going through the motions to collect a paycheck, and didn't want to expend the effort to find out that their services should be directed elsewhere.