Jon Orcutt, Executive Director, Tri-State Transportation Campaign - New York, New York

Jon Orcutt’s Tri-State Transportation Campaign has worked successfully to educate and persuade politicians and state agencies that continual expansion of highways is not the way to solve transportation problems. The campaign recently won an end to major highway expansion projects in New Jersey and downstate New York by persuading officials that these expansions would worsen car dependence rather than relieve gridlock. Orcutt and his organization use sound arguments to make the case that shifting from a policy that focuses on highways to one that favors mass transit and bike and pedestrian infrastructure will result in more livable communities. Orcutt and his Tri-State Transportation Campaign skillfully mobilize such disparate communities as environmentalists and low-income city residents. A newsletter Orcutt began in 1994 informs decision-makers and the media about complex transportation-policy issues. Because of Tri-State’s advocacy, buses that serve low-income residents in Nassau, Suffolk, and Westchester, N.Y. have retained their funding and service levels since 1999, despite budget shortfalls. After the campaign put the spotlight on pedestrian and cyclist injury levels, more than $60 million was earmarked for safety projects and additional bike and pedestrian paths in New Jersey and downstate New York.

Jon Orcutt
Tri-State Transportation Campaign
350 W. 31st St., #802
New York, NY 10001
Phone: 212-268-7474
Fax: 212-268-7333
Email: jo@tstc.org
Web: www.tstc.org