New York State is moving ahead with plans to replace the aging Tappan Zee Bridge. The project, while expensive, is critically needed. The current bridge is severely outmoded and requires $50 million a year to be maintained. The absence of adequate breakdown lanes leads to safety hazards and severe traffic jams.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has signaled his commitment to building a bridge that one day could accommodate transit services -- both dedicated bus lanes and eventual commuter rail. Regional Plan Association supports that initiative. While it isn't clear whether there will be sufficient demand for transit by the time the new bridge opens in 2017, the need will surely emerge in the coming years, driven by population growth and economic development across the region. And the only way for mass transit to succeed on the bridge is if it is planned for now, during the initial design process.

Providing mass transit is important for many reasons. It reduces congestion, improves air quality, expands opportunity for those who can't afford to drive and supports a growing economy. It is also true that a minimum level of demand is required for transit to be cost-effective.

A new proposal by the House Ways and Means Committee would eliminate a crucial source of mass transit funding, posing a major threat to the nation's transit systems.

The bill would prohibit the use of gasoline-tax revenue to support public transportation, a funding stream that has been in place for more than three decades. If the bill were to pass, it would introduce a level of uncertainty that will make planning for capital projects far more difficult and expensive.

New York and Montreal are only 330 miles apart, but their economic ties are limited. A corridor linking Montreal with New York City that combines energy transmission with high-speed rail and ultra-fast broadband would allow people and information as well as electrical current to make the journey from Montreal to Albany and then New York City.

In Europe and Asia, railroads, electric transmission and broadband corridors are commonly accommodated in the same shared right-of-way. The opportunity exists to do something similar in the U.S., strengthening the economic, energy and information links between Montreal, Albany and the New York area. Read more on the super-corridor's potential in Spotlight, RPA's newsletter, and see a report RPA prepared on the topic.

Over the past several years, Connecticut has bolstered investment in its intercity rail program with new service planned linking Hartford and New Haven and has approved funding to construct the state's first bus rapid transit system.

But Connecticut has significant repair costs ahead and future federal funding is uncertain. A significant gap exists to pay for maintenance projects and for improvements in transit and highway capacity. The state hasn't identified new sources of revenue to pay for these projects or prioritized these unfunded projects in a strategic plan.

Emil Frankel, director of transportation at the Bipartisan Policy Center, will keynote a forum in Hartford on January 20 exploring the state's transportation financing challenges.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday proposed redeveloping the Javits Convention Center site in Manhattan, bringing new momentum to an idea that has been a longstanding goal of Regional Plan Association.

Under the governor's proposal, everybody wins. The plan will create much-needed convention space for professional conferences and large trade events. It will generate revenue and jobs in New York through the creation of the largest economic-development project in the state, and it will provide new engines of growth for Queens and Manhattan's West Side. Read RPA's proposal on Javits, Unconventional.