Decline in NYC Bus Ridership Concentrated in Manhattan and Brooklyn
New Yorkers have been giving up on the bus, with a 16 percent drop in ridership between 2002 and 2015. An analysis of each borough by Eric Goldwyn shows the bus ridership decline has been concentrated in Manhattan and Brooklyn. There may be several factors at work, but worsening traffic congestion is almost certainly a culprit.
February 21, 2017
Port Authority Will Widen Bike Pinch Points Around GWB Towers
The Port Authority announced plans yesterday to add some breathing room for biking and walking around the towers on the George Washington Bridge. Currently the paths narrow and jog around the towers at tight angles -- the new "wedges" will make for a more comfortable ride.
February 17, 2017
DOT and MTA Expect to Reveal L Train Replacement Plan This Fall
DOT and the MTA have a timetable for releasing their plan to keep L train riders moving when the western portion of the line is shut down for Sandy-related repairs. At a workshop last night, the agencies said they would release a preliminary plan in the spring and a final plan in the fall, with implementation to follow in 2018.
February 17, 2017
Bike Lanes Set for Staten Island’s Van Duzer Corridor After CB Vote Last Night
After eight months of back-and-forth with DOT, Staten Island Community Board 1 voted for bike lanes and traffic-calming along the Van Duzer corridor, which has become overrun by drivers seeking a shortcut to avoid Bay Street. The project also includes a new type of speed hump that accommodates buses and trucks.
February 16, 2017
Will Ronnie Hakim Go to Bat for Bus Riders? So Far, the Answer Is “No”
Don't count on MTA interim chief Veronique "Ronnie" Hakim to inject a sense of urgency into the task of turning around the agency's sputtering bus system. In testimony to state legislators this afternoon, Hakim repeated the same excuses the MTA has given for months to justify stonewalling on fare technology that promises to speed up bus trips.
February 15, 2017
4 Ways the Mayor Can Reduce Congestion Without Congestion Pricing
Mayor de Blasio's forthcoming congestion plan won't call for traffic pricing, but the mayor has plenty of other options to reduce traffic congestion. Here are four policies that would provide much-needed congestion relief on NYC streets -- it's difficult to imagine any City Hall traffic reduction initiative that doesn't include some of these ideas.
February 15, 2017
There’s Still Time to Ask the Port Authority For Wider GWB Paths
On Thursday, the Port Authority board will vote on the agency's $32 billion, 10-year capital plan -- which currently does not include widening the walking and biking paths on the GW Bridge. The paths are much narrower than engineering standards recommend, and with cycling numbers increasing at a rapid clip, the space crunch will only get worse.
February 14, 2017
Coming Soon, Maybe: The Return of Pedestrian-Friendly 32nd Street
In 2015, a temporary sidewalk expansion relieved crowding on a block of 32nd Street with heavy foot traffic between Penn Station and Herald Square, but the project was scrapped after a trial run. Now advocates are pushing to bring it back, and they recently won the support of Manhattan Community Board 5.
February 14, 2017
Council Members Press City Hall for Half-Priced MetroCards for Low-Income New Yorkers
It would cost the city $212 million annually to provide half-priced fares to the 800,000 New Yorkers who live below the federal poverty line. De Blasio has refused to include the funding in his $86 billion budget, prompting City Council members to accuse him of "passing the buck" to Albany.
February 13, 2017
Citi Bike Resumes Service After a Day and a Half Out of Commission
New Yorkers looking to get back in a bike-share saddle were out of luck this morning. After Motivate shut the system down at 11 p.m. Wednesday, it was still offline during the a.m. commute today, even though the streets were mostly clear of snow. We asked the company about the protocol for reactivating the system after a winter storm.
February 10, 2017
