Transportation News: State Wide

Earlier this month, President Trump unleashed yet another attack on the effort to head-off climate change by rolling back auto emissions regulations known as California Clean Cars. New York and 22 other states joined California in suing to stop the rollback.

A few communities in New York State are working on electric school bus pilot programs. As part of our Clean Buses for Healthy Niños campaign, we’re tracking these ongoing and upcoming pilot programs across New York State.

The 2019 legislative session came to a close with historic gains for the environment. The State Senate and Assembly passed the most aggressive climate legislation in the country as well as other legislative measures, putting New York at the forefront of the fight for environmental protection.

State Senator Liz Krueger and Assemblywoman Nily Rozic recently introduced a bill to remove caps on the number of allowed bus rapid transit programs and automated enforcement cameras for bus lanes. The bill would enhance our bus service, alleviate congestion, and encourage more New Yorkers to leave their cars at home.

State Senator Jessica Ramos and Assemblywoman Nily Rozic introduced legislation to legalize the use of electric bicycles and scooters across New York State. This legislation would create official classifications for e-bikes and e-scooters, while still allowing local authority over streets and sidewalks by letting municipalities decide whether or not they want to integrate these low-emission transit options into their transportation networks.

In December 2018, most of the Transportation and Climate Initiative states committed to developing a clean transportation policy by the end of 2019. But New York was not part of that commitment. NYLCV joined other advocacy groups in Our Transportation Future to press for New York to act and advocate for the best approach to address emissions from the transportation sector.

Last weekend, the New York State Legislature and Governor Andrew Cuomo finalized a progressive state budget for Fiscal Year 2020, establishing several important environmental policies including congestion pricing in Manhattan, a ban on carry-out plastic bags, and legislation to reduce food waste in New York.