If you plan to take mass transit on New Years’ Eve or Day, check the Rockland Department of Transportation and Metro North Websites for revised holiday schedules.

• TAPPAN ZEExpress (TZx) buses will operate a normal weekday schedule on New Years’ Eve and will wait for passengers at Tarrytown Metro-North station that arrive later than usual on special holiday schedule Metro-North trains. There will be no TZx service on Jan 1. Continue reading →

by JC Brotherhood

On Dec 31, the Yonkers to Manhattan ferry service will close. At a annual subsidized price of $27,000 per commuter, the Yonkers ferry line never drew enough passengers to break even. Although many Nyack village residents may regard this as an unimportant news item from across the river, 13 years ago Nyack was close to joining Yonkers, Ossining and Haverstraw as communities that created infrastructure to support this doomed transportation boondoggle.

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by Dave Zornow

Nyack, Nov 29 — The polarizing national health care debate would seem to have little to do with the regional discussion about a future Tappan Zee Bridge replacement. But there are two similarities: both initiatives are being justified by their long term cost savings and most reasonable people agree that what we have now doesn’t work very well.

Over the past month, transportation officials have been meeting with local leaders and the public to present plans for a $16 billion Tappan Zee Bridge replacement just to the north of the current TZB. If funds can be found, construction of the five year project will start in 2013.

For planners, there are alot of choices still to be made. Project managers have their work cut out trying to find the funds to finance this new project. And commuters have a new vocabulary to learn. Continue reading →

TOR is going green with 16 new hybrid-electric buses. The buses will replace older buses on the 11 Transit of Rockland routes by the end of this year.

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by Cliff Weathers

Far upstate, the Crown Point bridge, which crosses Lake Champlain between Crown Point, New York and Chimney Point, Vermont has been shut down because of massive structural problems and it will likely not open until significant repairs are done to shore it up. And nobody knows when that’s going to be—it could take years. Governor Paterson has declared a state of emergency in Essex County as has been called for Addison County, Vermont. This has stranded thousands of commuters, who can’t get to their jobs or their businesses. It’s a regional economic disaster created by many years of inattentiveness to our infrastructure.

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If you commute on TOR or TZx buses, Columbus Day is just another Monday. The Tappan Zee Express and Transport of Rockland will operate on normal schedules.

But Rockland Coach, USA Shortline, Spring Valley Jitney and TRIPS riders should be aware of the following changes on Columbus Day: Continue reading →

Monies from the federal economic stimulus package are beginning to trickle into the Lower Hudson Valley. Continue reading →

Verizon has added two new cell sites to the Rockland and Westchester which promise faster connections in Grandview and New Rochelle.

• In Grandview, Grand along Route 87/287 and on River Rd. from Main St. to Station Lane.
• New Rochelle on Route 1 from Echo to Beach Ave. and along Palmer Ave. from Rain St. to Shadow Lane.

Both cell sites are 3G capable which offer faster internet and video connections. The sites are part of a Verizon $50 billion network upgrade over the past nine years.

Source: Verizon Wireless

New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand has included a new Tappan Zee Bridge on a list of 61 priority NYS infrastructure projects. Gillibrand has specified $6 billion dollars for the design and construction of a transit-ready replacement TZB.

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If you’ve got Cablevision, you’ve got free WiFi in downtown Nyack. The cable operator now offers free wireless Internet for smart phones and notebook computers covering most of Nyack including Memorial Park.

Cablevision is offering Optimum WiFi wireless Internet access in Rockland and Orange Counties to its Internet customers. Rockland hotspots are clustered around shoping, dining and commuting locations in South and Upper Nyack, Nanuet, New City, Pearl River, Spring Valley and Suffern. The service is also available at the Metro North train station in Tarrytown.

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