Waste, fraud & abuse reported to federal DOT.

https://www.oig.dot.gov/hotline

from: Ken
to: hotline@oig.dot.gov
date: Dec 27, 2018, 11:47 PM
subject: White Plains, NY: Buses

Friday, December 14, 2018
Transdev North America, the company driving EMPTY Hudson Link buses through downtown White Plains.

Friday, December 14, 2018
Zero passengers on Hudson Link buses wasting federal TIGER grant money.

https://white-plains-ny.blogspot.com/search/label/Buses

Huge buses with few passengers increase pollution, congestion.

Hudson Link buses still have ZERO passengers in White Plains, NY. Other buses have a very low percentage of seats occupied, including:

Westchester County Bee-Line
Coach (allowed by city to park illegally adjacent to mini mall)
Adirondack Trailways
Greyhound
CT Transit (Connecticut)
Leprichaun
TappanZeezpress (Rockland County, NY)
Private

Bus categories violating downtown, in case any city officials care. Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Quality of life is an alien concept here. Decision makers think or pretend to think that the ever increasing number of huge buses rumbling through downtown White Plains are improving things. But the only way that could possibly be is if people were riding on these buses and even then it's doubtful. Passengers would simply be connecting to the Metro North train into Manhattan. Maybe that's good for the region overall but it's zero benefit to White Plains other than to make its Common Council members feel important.

Do all those new buses at least reduce the number of cars in White Plains? Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Casual observations:
- the number of cars seems at least as many as a couple of years ago before the buses increased dramatically in numbers, size and variety (county, regional, private)
- the buses seem to have a very low percentage of their seats occupied by passengers...

Since the regional planning was not convinced by Westchester County to implement light rail along Interstate 287, White Plains, which did not sufficiently influence the county on this, is now increasingly burdened with absurd bus traffic with little or no benefit to the city, especially those residents who live downtown.

_____________________________

Hail a bus. Hey, they have plenty of empty seats. Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Ralph Kramden for County Executive. Friday, July 15, 2016

Bus commissioner? Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Who the heck is in charge? Neither Westchester County nor the City of White Plains seems to have a responsible adult who knows why downtown White Plains is inundated with buses (public and private), many of which have taken to residential streets near the train station - bus depot area.

Many, maybe most, of these buses have either no passengers or hardly any passengers, which makes an inquiring mind wonder what the heck is actually going on. Is there any oversight? For the county Bee-Line bus system, who, if anyone, knows how and why our tax money is being spent?
__________________________________

Link to other posts about the bus mess in White Plains:

https://white-plains-ny.blogspot.com/search/label/Buses

County co-op disclosure law overlooks condos.

Like members of the White Plains Common Council, how many, if any, members of the Westchester County Legislature live in apartments?

Co-op disclosure law signed in Westchester
Akiko Matsuda, Rockland/Westchester Journal News Published 3:34 p.m. ET Dec. 14, 2018

WHITE PLAINS - After years of struggle, Westchester County has a law that aims to make a co-op review process more timely and accountable...

The county Board of Legislators, by a 13-4 vote last month, approved what both proponents and opponents see as the "compromise" bill because the final product was not what either side really wanted...

The new law sets deadlines for co-op boards to accept or reject a potential buyer. When rejecting, boards are required to notify the county Human Rights Commission about its rejection, but are not required to give the reason...

The law became effective upon its signing, and it will expire in three years.

Lawmakers have said data collected by the commission will be analyzed, and the need to extend or modify the law will be discussed upon the expiration of the law.
____________________________

email sent:

from: Ken
to: George Latimer <ce@westchestergov.com>,
Alfreda Williams <awilliams@westchesterlegislators.com>,
Benjamin Boykin <Boykin@westchesterlegislators.com>,
letters@lohud.com,
digital@lohud.com
date: Dec 15, 2018, 11:42 PM
subject: Co-op disclosure law signed in Westchester

https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/2018/12/14/co-op-law-westchester/2311645002/

Condominium boards are now imposing the functional equivalent of  traditional co-op requirements, including asking for three personal references and three financial references, even for all cash deals. You're ten years behind.

It doesn't have to be out right traditional discrimination, just stupid. The condo policy falls under the general heading of none of your damn business.

You should also look into CURRENT renting  practices, like the thousands of new rental apartments in White Plains.

Transdev North America, the company driving EMPTY Hudson Link buses through downtown White Plains.

Friday, December 14, 2018

Zero passengers on Hudson Link buses wasting federal TIGER grant money.

See previous post shown above, was sent to all politicians mentioned in it. And also to:

https://www.transdevna.com/news/2018/09/20/transdev-expands-operating-footprint-in-new-york/

Media Contacts

Mitun Seguin
Transdev North America
8601 Georgia Ave., Suite 604
Silver Spring, MD 20910
(240) 485-2117 (office)
(301) 674-3733 (cell)
mitun.seguin@transdev.com

Zero passengers on Hudson Link buses wasting federal TIGER grant money.

And no replies from officials: federal, state, county.

Here, read about the bus nonsense in downtown White Plains, NY:

https://white-plains-ny.blogspot.com/search/label/Buses

The newest and most outrageous: Hudson Link buses. They don't have very few passengers, like the ridiculous $115 million a year Westchester County Bee-Line bus system. They have no passengers.

On the sides of the Hudson Link buses: TransDev:

Transdev Expands Operating Footprint in New York with Rockland ...

https://www.transdevna.com/.../transdev-expands-operating-footprint-in-new-york/

Sep 20, 2018 - ... Transdev will begin operations of a state-of-the-art commuter bus network—the New York State Department of Transportation's Hudson Link ...

Lower Hudson Transit Link

https://www.dot.ny.gov/LHTL

The Lower Hudson Transit Link is a program of integrated projects that support traffic and transit improvements in Rockland and Westchester Counties.

https://www.dot.ny.gov/lhtl/about/tiger-grant

TIGER GRANT

In October 2015, the US Department of Transportation (USDOT) awarded $10 million to the LHTL program through its highly competitive TIGER Grant program, which funds capital investments in surface transportation infrastructure projects. The offices of Governor Andrew Cuomo, Senator Chuck Schumer, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, and Congresswoman Nita Lowey were instrumental in rallying support among stakeholders across the State for the application. The TIGER program is a highly competitive process. The LHTL program was one of the 39 applications selected from 627 eligible applications in 2015!

Although TIGER funding only covers a portion of the project’s total costs, the grant will provide an indispensable resource in the construction and rollout of new amenity-rich bus stations, comprehensive intersection improvements at stations, signal upgrades along Route 59 in Rockland and Route 119 in Westchester, ramp metering/queue jump lanes along I-287, and Integrated Corridor Management (ICM) technology along I-287 and routes 59 and 119.

_____________________________

https://www.dot.ny.gov/recovery/sponsors/tiger

Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER)

_____________________________

Politicians must be licking themselves:

Federal: Schumer, Gillibrand, Lowey

State: Cuomo, Cousins-Stewart, Buckwald

County: Astorino, Latimer, Alfreda Williams, Boykin

Local: Roach, Lecuona, Martin, Krolian, Kirkpatrick, Hunt-Robinson, Brasch

Department of Transportation boondoggle wasting tax payer money?

Sent to:
House of Representatives member Nita Lowey
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
U.S. Senator Charles Schumer

Department of Transportation is on the side of these Hudson Link buses, which after weeks of operation have no visible passengers. NONE. White Plains, NY also has many private bus companies driving through with very few passengers. Is there some kind of Department of Transportation boondoggle wasting tax payer money?

Hudson Link: more empty huge buses downtown for no good reason. Wednesday, November 21, 2018

Legacy of longest serving mayor: mixed at best.

from: Ken
to: digital@lohud.com, letters@lohud.com
date: Dec 6, 2018, 8:32 AM
subject: Alfred Del Vecchio, White Plains' longest serving mayor, dies at 95

https://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/white-plains/2018/12/05/former-white-plains-mayor-alfred-del-vecchio-dies/2213019002/

Projects completed during Del Vecchio's tenure included the Westchester One office building, the Westchester County Courthouse, the White Plains Public Safety building, the Galleria mall, a new Metro North railroad station and several other office buildings and shopping areas.

________________

Credit or blame?

Westchester One is an out of scale monstrosity.

Country courthouse is OK, except for the monster one way streets that surround it and slash through much of White Plains. 

Public Safety building has a police car entrance more secret than that to the Bat Cave. On weekends police are in the basement bunker, unaware of violations on street level.

Galleria mall: biggest mistake. Should have been Central Park. What a mess.

The railroad station is only now catching up on 30 years of neglect and poor original design.

You quoted a former protege and long time commissioner. What were the circumstances of his departure?

No one wants to say a bad word about a recently departed but put a little effort into it.