City Council Unanimously Passes Bill to Open Street Safety Data

The City Council passed three bills to open up traffic information unanimously today, according to Juan Martinez of Transportation Alternatives. The most far-reaching of those bills, Jessica Lappin’s legislation forcing the city to release fine-grained data about traffic crashes and traffic summonses every month, is expected to be signed by Mayor Bloomberg, the Daily News reported this morning.

Last summer, Lappin’s legislation was threatened by strong opposition from the NYPD, which argued that New Yorkers couldn’t handle information about dangerous intersections and traffic enforcement. Today’s victory for street safety and transparency is thanks to the hard work of the advocates and activists who fought for the bill and the legislators who shepherded it through the City Council.

“With better information, communities can collaborate with government agencies to fix problems like rampant speeding, red-light running and other traffic problems,” said Paul Steely White, executive director of Transportation Alternatives, in a statement. “The ability for people to compare their daily experience to up-to-date traffic safety data will open up this process.”