The Government should start by reforming the discredited way it calculates future commuter fares and get on with introducing part-time and flexible season tickets".
A grim reminder of that arrived on Thursday evening, when a patch of sprayed-on concrete plummeted from the ceiling of a future commuter rail tunnel beneath Park Avenue and struck and killed Michael P. O'Brien, 26, who had been working at the site for three weeks.
The future for commuters may be slightly less grim than we think.
The new terminal project "is crucial to addressing New Jersey's current and future growth in commuter trips across the Hudson River," the state transportation commissioner, James Weinstein, said in a statement.
The mechanisms of ballast degradation and deformation, the need for effective track confinement, understanding of interface behaviour, determining dynamic bearing capacity and use of energy absorbing shock mats and synthetic grids require further insight to improve the existing design guidelines for future high speed commuter and heavier freight trains.
"In the future, more and more commuters will cycle – smiling – past the traffic jams".
Whether the future bodes well for commuters, remains to be seen, Ms. Butcher said.
"The alternative to HS2 is not another grand project, it is myriad small, high-return projects that would deliver benefits in the near future: bypasses, flyovers, underpasses, commuter line upgrades, carriage improvements, platform improvements and more... projects that would serve the many rather than the few".
Christie's decision very likely headed off more debt for New Jersey, but it will look wretchedly shortsighted to rail commuters of the future.
I like biking, and while part of the reason I like it is because it requires my full attention and essentially ensures that I can't be glued to some kind of data feed, I see plenty of opportunity for passive data gathering that can better equip a future of connected two-wheel commuters.
