Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Transportation Policy

Bloomberg Admin Misses “Golden Opportunity” on Intro. 199

199_hearing.jpg

In the latest issue of Mobilizing the Region, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign questions how the Bloomberg Administration's purported commitment to long-term planning and sustainability squares with the Department of Transportation's opposition to Intro. 199, City Council legislation aimed at collecting better data on how New York City's streets are managed and used:

Testifying before the City Council on Intro. 199, a bill to improve NYC transportation data collection and performance measures, outgoing NYCDOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall challenged the bill's suggestion that New York City's transportation-related data collection efforts don't go far enough. Commissioner Weinshall told the Council, "the City Charter already requires the submittal of objectives and indicators as detailed in the Mayor's Management Report (MMR) and, therefore, any legislation to require additional reporting seems redundant."

Press coverage of the hearing focused on Weinshall's statements that traffic congestion is more a matter of perception owing to bigger vehicles rather than growing numbers of them. Leaving aside the obvious fact that vehicle size matters to congestion-the same number of people driving trucks take up a lot more room than if they were on bicycles - the absence of any real information about traffic or congestion trends in the city in the commissioner's testimony seemed to argue for the Council's proposal.

Tri-State concludes:

The Bloomberg administration missed a golden opportunity to buildsupport through Intro. 199 for new metrics of sustainabletransportation. The Council should pass Intro 199, explicitly chargingthe city administration to come through with a way to measure progresson sustainability goals.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Delivery Workers Continue Push For Deactivation Protections

Delivery workers put pressure on the City Council to pass a bill that would give them "just cause" protections.

October 14, 2025

Parking? Lots! But Manhattanites Want to Unlock Space by Queensboro Bridge

It used to be open in the distant past, and can be once again. But DOT says it needs it for "storage."

October 14, 2025

Opinion: Daylighting Corners Would Add Safety While Tackling New York’s Placard Elite

If he's elected, Democratic Socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani must confront this city's current socialist aberration: Free parking.

October 14, 2025

Syracuse Struggles to Unify for Street Safety

A decade-old effort to pass a Vision Zero plan and tap into a pot of federal money that may be drying up has stalled in Syracuse — and everyone is finger-pointing.

October 13, 2025
See all posts