After being subjected for most of last year to a heated presidential campaign, you'd be forgiven for regarding 2004 as either the best of times--or the worst of times. The editors of Car & Travel, however, saw things less starkly in reviewing the past 12 months of transportation and travel news. There was a nice mixture of winners and losers, with some candidates falling into both groups.

So in presenting our annual Red Light/Green Light Awards, we offer a toast with a glass both half empty and half full.

Aimless in Albany

A study released by New York University's School of Law last year said it all: The state Legislature is "measurably the most dysfunctional and least democratic in the nation." It found, for instance, that fewer than 5 percent of major bills passed by New York's Assembly or Senate are debated in the respective chambers, with less than 1 percent discussed at committee hearings, and that thousands of bills are approved in one chamber--often by physically absent lawmakers without the slightest chance of passing in the other.

One horrendous piece of legislation that got an automatic "yea" last year was the "Driver Responsibility Assessment," a measure tacked on to the tardiest budget in the state's history, that will subject already-fined and surcharged drivers to an additional $300 fee. (See story on page 14.)

Yet among the Legislature's biggest failings are the votes not taken. State lawmakers failed to act on badly needed no-fault and anti-fraud insurance reforms, reining in the unchecked toll-raising power of the MTA or rescinding an anachronistic "vicarious liability" law that has played havoc with car leasing in the state, hurting consumers, by holding leasing companies liable in accidents to the same degree as drivers.

But Child-Friendly

There was one bright spot in Albany's 2004 record: passage of AAA-supported legislation, effective in late March, that will require the use of a federally approved booster seat for all children ages 4 through 6 transported by motor vehicles. (See story on page 16.)

Auto-Crime Busters

We all want to rest assured that when we park our car somewhere, it will be there when we return. And at the same time, can we please not have to pay an exorbitant amount to keep our cars safe and sound?

In September, federal authorities busted what they called the largest auto-theft ring on the East Coast. The accused, blamed for 5,000 stolen vehicles, mainly on Long Island, would strip the car and abandon the shell, and then repurchase it from insurance company auctions. As a result, the cars could be reassembled and resold. Profits from this elaborate scheme amounted to an estimated $20 million--enough so that the alleged ringleaders could purchase multimillion dollar homes, strip malls, apartment buildings and medical offices on Long Island.

The good news, however, is that overall, auto theft is down in New York. The bad news is that rising fraud has driven up state auto insurance rates by more than 7 percent.

We give Green Lights to some of the people who have been fighting this trend: state Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and the state's Automobile Insurance Fraud Unit, for an early 2004 sweep that nabbed 154 people statewide; and Queens County District Attorney Richard Brown, who indicted more than 30 people, including attorneys and doctors, for their illegal participation in bogus auto accidents for which they reaped more than $1 million.

Thinking Safety Globally

Highway safety has become the world's concern. Our Green Lights for 2004 extend to:

The World Health Organization, which for the first time designated road safety as the key theme during its annual World Health Day at the United Nations in April.

Great Britain, for leading in auto safety among industrialized nations with 1.2 deaths per 100 million vehicle miles traveled. (The United States, regrettably, has fallen from No. 1 to ninth place over the past three decades.)

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, for its new focus on accident-avoidance. While not the world leader, the United States in 2003 recorded the lowest fatality rate (1.48 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled) since the government began keeping such records three decades ago. The improved crash record was attributed, in part, to greater seat-belt compliance.

New York City's Department of Transportation, for helping to bring down the annual toll in traffic deaths to 344, the lowest level in the city since the horse-drawn carriage and trolley days of 1912. The DOT also is to be congratulated for completing a four-year citywide program to replace the old "Walk/Don't Walk" signals at 10,700 intersections with brighter, more energy-efficient lights sporting the internationally recognized walking figure and open hand ... and for installing oversized green-and-white street signs along 14 Manhattan avenues and in the outer boroughs to aid motorist recognition of cross streets.

(Community awards for safety achievements and programs were presented recently by AAA to New York City and other area towns.)

Entrapment in the City

If you received a parking summons in New York City last year, you're not alone. In fact, you were just one in 10 million ticketed by city parking enforcers in fiscal 2004.

The year-long blitz generated 1.9 million more parking tickets than the previous year and filled the city's coffers to the tune of $537.2 million.

In its relentless pursuit of motorist dollars, the city went so far as to police its borders for legitimate but out-of-town towers who, in coming to the aid of stranded motorists, made the mistake of entering the Big Apple without a license issued by the city's Department of Consumer Affairs. Their vehicles were impounded and they were slapped with $1,000 fines, actions the Club is currently challenging in the courts.

The city also unleashed its enforcement agents last year to punish motorists with $65 fines for partly obscuring the words "Empire State" on their license plates with auto dealer frames.

But perhaps the most absurd example of overzealousness was the revelation that traffic enforcement agents were routinely handing out tickets to motorists who left their cars at parking meters where the correct coin had been deposited, but where the meters had been installed less than 15 feet from a fire hydrant.

Zeal of Approval

We'd be remiss in not awarding the Daily News a Green Light for breaking the parking meter/hydrant story--and shaming the city into ending the practice.

At the same time, we won't overlook Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's more worthy efforts last year in cutting back on foreign diplomats' overextended reserved-parking-space privileges and putting the brakes on the unwarranted use of emergency lights and sirens by city officials to plow through traffic on their way to work.

Up in the Air on Airport Security

After the September 11th attacks, it became clear that the employees of private airport screening companies were often badly trained and sloppy. In response, the federal government created the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and put it in charge of security at nearly all the nation's 400-plus airports.

Unfortunately, the TSA has had its own problems, particularly in hiring and retaining adequate staff. So this past November, airports were given the option of once again using private companies, which are required to maintain the government's standards. But given private security firms' past record, this second chance is not exactly comforting for airline passengers. Nor is a report by the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Transportation that, in comparing private firms with the TSA, concluded that both performed "equally poorly."

Maybe the situation would be improved if the TSA spent its money in the right places. It came to light this year that the price for a three-hour awards banquet hosted by the TSA added up to more than $450,000. Costs included $64 per gallon of coffee, $3.75 for each soft drink and $1,500 for three cheese spreads.

Keeping Things Moving ...

The Thruway Authority earns a Green Light for its completion last May of a three-year, $187 million project--the biggest in its history--to reconstruct Interchange 8, providing smoother, safer connections between the heavily-used Tappan Zee Bridge toll plaza, I-87 and the I-287 Cross Westchester Expressway. And it shares another one with the Port Authority and New Jersey transportation officials for implementing high-speed E-ZPass lanes at toll plazas on the Tappan Zee, New Jersey Turnpike, Garden State Parkway and Outerbridge Crossing, with plans to extend highway-speed lanes to the George Washington, Goethals and Bayonne bridges.

Or Not

In sharp contrast, the MTA still refuses to consider ungated express lanes for its crossings--no such program is included in its recently released five-year capital plan--arguing, wrongly we believe, that safety concerns cannot be accommodated. A fitting Red Light to the MTA for a no-go attitude--except when it comes to toll hikes.

Dark Passages

New York City is keeping motorists in the dark--and at considerable risk--by failing to correct continuing lighting outages on Queens parkways and expressways.

Similarly, north of New York City in Westchester County, a long stretch of the narrow, twisting Bronx River Parkway is without lighting because county officials refuse to provide funds to replace an antiquated lighting system that has shorted out 60 lamps in a row.

Industrial Strengths ...

We decided not to award Green Lights to the 15 automakers who have agreed together to redesign their sport-utility vehicles and smaller cars so that impacts between them become less deadly. They did so only under pressure from NHTSA, and the changes may not be in place before the 2007 models go into production.

Instead, we honor the automotive engineers who have voluntarily addressed a problem that can be just as fatal--drowsy driving. The maker of the Infiniti luxury cars has developed a system that utilizes a camera, speed sensor and buzzer to warn nodding-off drivers of unintentional movement out of a designated traffic lane. It is offering it for the first time on its now-available 2005 FX sport utility vehicle, and plans to extend the system to its 2006 M45 luxury sedan going on sale this coming spring. Also, Ford/Volvo engineers are reported to be working on an "active" system that would automatically adjust the steering in a car veering off course. Soon, we hope, it will become standard equipment on vehicles.

and Weaknesses

When an SUV hits a midsize car, the results can be as disastrous as collisions with a more vulnerable small car. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety crashed SUVs into the sides of 13 midsize cars at 31 mph, and reported that life-threatening injuries were likely in 10 of them.

Meanwhile, NHTSA reported that voluntary or U.S.-ordered recalls to correct safety defects now affect one of every 12 vehicles.

It's clear that the auto industry needs to focus harder on making cars safer to drive and freer of defects.

Reckless Advertising

Even a commercial for a car deserves a recall. Following complaints, General Motors last year yanked a TV ad that showed a preteenager in a dream sequence high-speeding it down city streets and then going airborne behind the wheel of a Corvette. GM's Red Light is shared by the other producers of last year's commercials that (despite small-type disclaimers flashing across the screen) glorified the wild side of driving in their sales pitches.

Environmentally Aware

Last year the hybrid car picked up speed, so to speak, and automakers as well as consumers were looking for ways to take advantage of the new gasoline-electric technology.

Yosemite National Park was the latest in a number of communities investing in General Motors' hybrid-equipped transit buses. Meanwhile, at the start of the year Toyota agreed to provide Ford Motor Co. with various technologies that are used in its hybrid engines. (Toyota, by the way, manufactures the Prius, and has sold more than 200,000 hybrid cars worldwide, while Honda has two hybrid models on the market. Ford joined the club when it began making its hybrid Escape SUV available at the end of 2004.)

There's good news beyond the hybrids as well. A report by the U.S. Energy Information Administration revealed that the number of vehicles that run on alternative fuels such as corn-based ethanol, natural gas or electricity was expected to increase 7.3 percent from 2003.The sales figures, while low, are moving in the right direction.

Informed Travelers

New York State's Department of Transportation launched a new Web site, www.travelinfony.com that provides statewide, real-time traffic information. Want to know about highway construction, road closures or driving conditions in a certain area of the state? Just click on the region and then the car icon. Other icons lead to information about trains, mass transit and airports, and there are links for maps, weather information, emergency contacts and tourism boards.

And if you're wondering about potential health hazards when traveling abroad, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has streamlined its online system of issuing health advisories. The CDC's Travelers' Health Web site, at www.cdc.gov/travel, now classifies its information into four warning levels, making it much easier for travelers to assess risks around the world.

Want to know how this year's recipients stack up against last year's? Here's a complete list of the 2003 Red Light/Green Light award winners.