public policy

Statement by Citizens for Regional Transit President Doug Funke:

"As the President of Citizens for Regional Transit, I want to personally thank Assemblyman Sean Ryan and Assemblywoman Karen McMahon for their leadership and support for public transportation in Buffalo-Niagara, and specifically for their effort to increase state financial support for NFTA maintenance, operations and capital improvements. Without an increase in state transit operating assistance (STOA), which have not kept up with our cumulative maintenance needs for many years, our bus and rail system will continue to degrade, as will the public transportation service that we all depend on. Lack of adequate funding for public transportation invariably leads to more deferred maintenance and degraded service, and ultimately digs a deeper and deeper fiscal hole to dig out of. Further, an inability to keep up with system maintenance and needed capital investments, not only degrades transit service, it also jeopardizes our ability to qualify for the federal funds needed for critical projects like the Buffalo-Amherst extension. Leadership and support from Assemblyman Ryan and Assemblywoman McMahon are critical and greatly appreciated.

We have a new petition out to call upon the Erie County Legislature to begin significant investments in sustainable public transit.

Presented by Hal Morse, Executive Director of the GBNRTC at the CRT Annual Meeting, January 16, 2018.

Also see: http://www.gbnrtc.org/movingforward2050

Citizens for Regional Transit endorses efforts by Rep. Brian Higgins and Sen. Charles Schumer to support a new Amtrak Station for Buffalo, NY and for a comprehensive study of optimal location(s).

The current Exchange Street Station has been voted as the “saddest rail station in the US” and is woefully inadequate to support an upward trending Buffalo and its transportation needs. The recent Exchange Street Station roof collapse intensifies the urgency of building a new station.

There are many requirements that must be considered in evaluating locations and design for a new Buffalo train station:

Nadine Lemmon, of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, presented this talk at the Citizens for Regional Transit quarterly meeting on October 16, 2015.

Download the Citizens for Regional Transit/21st Century Park presentation on the new Buffalo SkyLine, a thrilling tourist and community attraction, coupled with a world-class park on the Outer Harbor!

This presentation was delivered at the October 15 CRT meeting by Darren Kempner, manager of Manager, Grants and Government Affairs for the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority.

Below is the application for the City of Buffalo's Better Buffalo Transit Oriented Development Fund. If you have a Transit Oriented Development project in mind, apply using this application.

These comments were submitted as public comments to the Board of Directors of the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation on September 24, 2014.

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Representatives of Citizens for Regional Transit attended the Outer Harbor public meeting at the WNED Studios on September 9th as well as the previous public meetings. We hope that feedback received from community organizations and individuals will be used by the ECHDC to establish a framework for an Outer Harbor that complements our city, takes best advantage of the unique location and character of the Outer Harbor, and reflects the concerns of WNY citizens. However, we are disappointed with the planning process because it restrains and limits public engagement. We also are opposed to some key aspects of the preferred plan.

The fundamental problem with the process is that it does not allow adequate ability for the public to voice concerns and ask questions. Without meaningful public engagement the plan will not reflect public desires for the use of this public land, and it will not benefit from the expertise of organizations knowledgeable in important issues relating to development of the Outer Harbor. For example, relegating public comments at meetings to “yellow stickies” and informal small group discussions does not provide an effective means for the public to raise questions, and does not require the ECHDC and its contractor to respond publicly, on the record. This short circuits the openness of the process and leads to results not fully reflective public views. We want a chance to publicly express our views and to be informed by the views of other groups and citizens. The ECHDC should want this too. We hope that the next public meeting will allow public comments and discussion of issues, and will provide a forum for the ECHDC to respond publicly. Microphones should be available for this purpose.

From https://onlinempa.unc.edu/5-largest-us-public-transit-systems-inforgrap… (1.9MB in size)

Credit: MPA@UNC