Tri-State Transportation Campaign (TSTC)

Tri-State Transportation Campaign engages in 4 core programs that align with the mission of the organization. -Meeting Our Climate Goals -Fixing Our Commutes -Making Transportation Fair -Stopping Traffic Deaths July 1 2022, to June 30 2023 Program Service AccomplishmentsMeeting Our Climate Goals:In 2022 and 2023 we continued our push for transit electrification in New York and New Jersey. In New York we called on the state to commit to statewide electrification of transit and school buses. Legislatively, the New York State Senate passed a bill to require every public transit authority to purchase only new zero-emission buses by Jan 1, 2029. The World Resources Institute, listed our Electric School Bus campaign win as one of their "top outcomes" for calendar year 2022. -Zero emission vehicles: In December of 2022, New York State officially adopted the Advance Clean Cars II rule, requiring all new cars, pickup trucks, and SUVs sold in New York State to be zero-emission by 2035 thanks to the work of advocates for cleaner communities, better health, and a better climate.-Decarbonizing e-commerce: We also launched the Clean Deliveries Campaign with the ElectrifyNY Coalition efforts seeking to decarbonize the e-commerce sector and pass the Clean Deliveries Act. This policy would establish an indirect source rule in New York State to monitor and mitigate carbon and pollution impacts from last-mile deliveries.-Electrifying public transit: We continue to advocate the electrification of NJTransit bus and rail operations via ElectrifyNJ and to hold NJTransit to its timeline of electrification. We also continue to push for reducing vehicle miles traveled by promoting transportation via trail networks and walkable communities in the Circuit Trails network, adding miles of connections and complete streets throughout South Jersey and the metropolitan area of the Delaware Valley. Fixing Our Commutes:In fiscal year 2023 we continued our history of strong advocacy to protect and strengthen mass transit in our region. We ramped up our efforts to base build and empower community voices in support of transit. Our campaigns demanded strong accountability measures, maintaining affordability, increasing accessibility and ensuring sustainability. -A Better Bee-Line Campaign: In FY 2023 we celebrated a huge victory in Westchester County with the announcement of a request for proposals (RFP) for a new Westchester County bus operator. We released Bidding for a Better Bee-Line, a report that analyzes the current agreements between Westchester County and Liberty Lines, highlights how Westchester County stacks up against other transit systems, and puts forward recommendations for a Better Bee-Line system. Our advocacy put pressure on Westchester County to create a new RFP that is fair and competitiveremoving the poison pills that prevented other parties from bidding as well as including more accountability measures. -Progress on Congestion Pricing: One of the biggest milestones in our campaign for congestion pricing was achieved in FY23, with the finding of no significant impact in the Environmental Assessment. This gave the greenlight to the MTA to assemble the Traffic Mobility Review Board (TMRB) to convene and decide on the final tolling price of the program.-New Jersey Bus Riders Council: We ramped up organizing in New Jersey through the NJ Bus Rider Council; organizing regular meetings to empower riders to advocate for a better bus service.Making Transportation Fair:In New York City, Tri-State has worked to reimagine how we distribute our street and curbside resources beyond single occupancy vehicle storage. With our partners in the Alfrescos campaign, we worked with the City to transform the temporary outdoor dining program into a permanent program with transparent rules, access, and thoughtful design - Dining Out NYC. This new program demonstrates that the public realm can be shifted towards a more walkable and safer city that uses streets actively for the public instead of the long-standing norm of parking and car storage, and do so while benefiting local businesses and communities.Tri-State continues to hold monthly riders meetings to empower riders to express their needs and concerns for an equitable and fair transportation system based on their needs. -New Statewide Campaign for DOT reformTSTC received new grant funding from Transit Center to begin work on a Statewide advocacy campaign in New York. We worked throughout the year with Transit Center and Riders Alliance to begin engaging potential collaborators across the state. We held planning sessions, invited potential members, and drafted a comprehensive fact sheet of the major equity issues needed to be addressed by the New York State Department of Transportation.-Transportation and Environmental Justice Fellowship Program LaunchIn FY2023, TSTC launched a new summer fellowship program focused on the intersection of transportation and environmental justice. With the support we received from the Scherman Foundation and a partnership with The City University of New York, we were able to design a 10-week training program. We hosted 3 of CUNYs S Jay Levy fellows in our offices, designed workshops, invited guest speakers and partnered each fellow with staff members to collaborate on campaigns for transportation equity. The fellows received hands-on experience in advocacy campaign development, community organizing, public speaking, research and more. They were coached on giving public testimony at agency hearings and attended rallies and press conferences. Our new fellowship program is a burgeoning pathway program, which we will continue to expand on in years to come, in order to engage young people to learn more about the transportation sector and a career path in non-profit advocacy. -In FY2023, Tri-State established a new relationship with a local coalition of transportation advocacy groups in Hudson County, called Hudson County Complete Streets. Since then, we have facilitated their successful application for a community-based grant from Rutgers, and coordinated with them on multiple local issue-related campaigns-Thanks to ongoing demand from our collaborative partners, there was an additional $20 million budget increase to support the NYC Fair Fares program, which provides a much-needed discount rate for low-income mass transit riders.Stopping Traffic Deaths:Following the transition of our Active Transportation Program Manager, we continued the fight for increasing miles of trails and connectivity within the Circuit trails network, particularly within the Mercer County Action Team, which we chair. We continued to advocate for reconnecting communities separated by the interstate highway system, particularly I-295, via a new proposed trail connection.Tri-State continued to lead meetings of the Vision Zero New Jersey Alliance, which negotiated with legislators and NJDOT to reach an effective compromise bill, S2885/A4296, which would establish a multi-agency Target Zero Commission tasked with creating a statewide Target Zero Action Plan to reach zero roadway fatalities and serious injuries in New Jersey by the year 2040. That bill passed the Assembly unanimously in June.In New York, TSTC pushed for NYCDOT to develop a comprehensive street safety plan, including bike lanes, curb extensions, raised crosswalks, and daylighted intersections to increase safety and walkable of NYC streets in residential neighborhoods such as Astoria, Queens.