Today’s Headlines

  • Census: Fewer Americans Driving Solo to Work (NYT)
  • Can Suburbs Become Better Places to Grow Old? (WSJ)
  • MTA to Roll Out Next-Gen Payment System on Eight City Bus Lines This Year (AMNY)
  • Poetic Justice: New MTA Disclosure Rules Nab State Senate Staffer in Pay-to-Play Mess (MTR)
  • Brooklyn CB15 Wants Double-Decker Belt Highway to JFK; Fidler: Interesting (Post)
  • WNYC Listeners Tell Brian Lehrer: They Want More Bike Lanes, Performance Parking
  • Scenes From the First Day of Hiram Monserrate‘s Assault Trial (News, Post, NYT)
  • Rite Aid Rig Transforms Eighth Ave Bike Lane Into Loading Zone (Gothamist)
  • The Problem With Small Bike-Share Pilots: Not Many People Will Ride (Rebuilding Place)
  • Hardly Anywhere in America Is Like Freiberg, Germany (Yglesias)

More headlines at Streetsblog Capitol Hill.

  • Boris

    “The emotionally charged case is being heard by Justice William M. Erlbaum — rather than a 12-member jury”

    Here, too, our politicians are above the law. Any bets on whether Erlbaum would be more sympathetic to Monserrate than a jury, which would probably contain a few women?

  • steve

    re : “Can Suburbs Become Better Places to Grow Old”

    very interesting article and something that i think will be needed across the country. can’t expect, nor should you want, everyone to “move to the city”…retrofitting suburbia is the right way to go…and actually i’ve seen quite a few that are actually pretty walkable with a bit of TOD as well

  • Pete

    Boris –

    Anyone has the option of forgoing jury trial in favor of having the judge decide. You’d have to ask Monserrate’s lawyers as to why they felt they couldn’t find 12 people who wouldn’t find him guilty.

  • Niccolo Machiavelli

    The best way to “retrofit” suburbs is to merge them politically, and share the tax base and social overhead capital with their proximate city centers.

  • neomax

    what do you mean by that? nyc annexing nassau, suffolk, westchester, etc?
    seems more trouble than its worth..and very unlikely to happen…i just don’t see the need

    agree with steve that its nice to see suburbs redefine themselves, without it being forced upon them…it can really be best of both worlds for residents who don’t want to live in urban centers, but don’t want to be fully auto-dependent either

  • Why do american cities allow such large trucks to use their streets?

    Ive never seen a 16 wheeler outside of highways in europe. Most deliveries are done with van style vehicles.

    Theyre noisy, take up a huge amount of space to unload, and cause massive pollution.

  • Ian Turner

    Jass,

    You have to understand that most Rite Aid locations are in suburban areas designed with this kind of truck in mind, and that their distribution infrastructure is built accordingly. New York City is exceptional, and national chains operating here want to change their operations as little as possible. Local stores tend to receive their deliveries in smaller and much more urban-friendly box trucks.

    Personally, I think the city should allow big rigs, as there is no alternative for large materials like crane parts or building condenser systems, but that the city should also charge a huge penalty fee on such trucks; I figure around $250 per entry should be about right.

  • Ian, arent there enough rite aids in NYC that they can have their own fleet? That is, the pictured truck may go from the local warehouse distribution center to NYC locations only, it may never be needed in the suburbs.

    You make a fair point that big rigs are needed for extra large material, but I dont consider diapers and advils large, they could easily fit in a small truck.

    Is this even cost effective for rite aid? Tolls + gas are much higher in this vehicle than something smaller.

  • Ian Turner

    Jass,

    There aren’t actually that many Rite Aid stores in Manhattan — maybe a dozen? Anyway, the costs to the firm of buying extra equipment, including separate loading docks, training of maintenance staff, and the cost of stocking extra parts are all substantial, if not that much in the grand scheme of things. Big companies like to standardize if only because it reduces communications costs.

    I’m not saying that Rite Aid needs to have trucks of this size, only that it’s convenient for them to do so, and they’re unlikely to give it up without a decent sized stick, and the best way to apply that stick is an across-the-board tax on big rig entry regardless of purpose.