Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Pedestrian safety

New Traffic Monitoring Toolkit Can Get You Started on Street Safety Activism

4:42 PM EDT on March 31, 2011

Just about every New Yorker knows off the top of their head exactly what the most dangerous intersections in their neighborhood are (for me, it's got to be the western end of 125th Street). But what most New Yorkers don't know is what to do about it. Now, thanks to Transportation Alternatives' new Neighborhood Traffic Monitoring Toolkit [PDF], there's a step-by-step guide for citizens to track traffic violations on their streets and press community leaders to improve street safety.

The guide includes tips on each step of the process, from choosing what to measure (speeding, though dangerous, is hard to measure without a radar gun) to targeting the right officials (don't go for your police precinct's commanding officer but his number two, the executive officer). The toolkit includes form letters for writing to your community board chair and City Council member, templates for counting traffic violations, and survey questions to pose to pedestrians walking by.

“To understand why there are so many injuries and fatalities on our streets every year, we need accurate, localized data," said T.A. executive director Paul Steely White in a statement. "The Neighborhood Traffic Monitoring Toolkit empowers ordinary people to make their communities safer.”

Of course, the toolkit is just to get activists started; you can always contact T.A. for more hands-on assistance.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Analysis: ‘Dangerous Vehicle Abatement Program’ is a Failure By All Measures

The Department of Transportation wants the Dangerous Vehicle Abatement Program to simply expire in part because it did not dramatically improve safety among these worst-of-the-worst drivers and led to a tiny number of vehicle seizures.

September 22, 2023

School Bus Driver Kills Cyclist in Boro Park, 24th Bike Death of 2023

Luis Perez-Ramirez, 44, was biking south on Fort Hamilton Parkway just before 3:15 p.m. when he was struck a by school bus driver making a right turn.

September 22, 2023

‘Betrayal’: Adams Caves to Opposition, Abandons Bus Improvement Plan on Fordham Road

The capitulation on Fordham Road is the latest episode in which the mayor has delayed or watered down a transportation project in deference to powerful interests.

September 22, 2023

Friday’s Headlines: Yes He Said Yes He Will Yes Edition

That headline above is a reference to the last line of James Joyce's Ulysses, which we won't pretend to have read. But we have that ... and other news.

September 22, 2023

Madness: Port Authority Will Spend $8.3M to ‘Study’ Widening Outerbridge Crossing

Will this $8.3 million find out anything we don't know about induced demand?

September 22, 2023
See all posts