Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
DOT

“Midtown in Motion” to Come With Rad Driver-Distracting Apps

As it is, the NYC DOT “Midtown in Motion" initiative is a bit of a head-scratcher. To learn that the city is devoting well over a million dollars in addition to staff resources to speed up car traffic in Midtown, which the mayor has declared the "lifeblood" of the CBD -- is it 2006 again?

Here's another jaw-dropping facet of the program, as reported in the Times:

[City engineers] also plan to offer this data to software developers so that drivers and passengers can gain access to this detailed information on their iPads or iPhones.

Distracted driving is a known killer, an epidemic so widespread and pernicious that it even has Albany's attention. You've got to wonder about the logic behind encouraging drivers to pilot their two-ton missiles through streets teeming with pedestrians while not looking where they're going.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Who Rides on the Sidewalk? To NYPD, Just Blacks and Hispanics

The NYPD has ramped up its enforcement against cyclists for squeezing pedestrians, but in a very suspect manner.

December 8, 2025

‘No Better Place’: Mamdani Must Pedestrianize Financial District

Residents of Lower Manhattan have been demanding pedestrianized streets for decades, but the city and Big Business keep thwarting them. Sounds like a job for Mayor Mamdani.

December 8, 2025

Monday’s Headlines: Congestion Pricing Edition

The New York Post has laid the bait for Gov. Hochul on congestion pricing, but will she take it? Plus more news.

December 8, 2025

Queens Judge Orders City to Rip Up Half-Installed Astoria Bike Lane

The unprecedented ruling flies in the face of reams of data demonstrating the safety benefits of protected bike lanes.

December 5, 2025

Unions and Environmental Groups Push Council To Pass Delivery Protection Act

Intro 1396 would force Amazon and other delivery companies that use last-mile warehouses to ditch the sub-contracting model and directly hire their workers.

December 5, 2025

Watchdog Group Wants Hochul to Veto Bus Lane Parking Mulligan

Reinvent Albany thinks a carve-out for bus lane parkers in Co-op gives rule-breaking motorists a free pass.

December 5, 2025
See all posts