Mayoral Contenders Talk Transit, Part 3: John Liu
Election Day is more than a year away, but the race to become the next mayor of New York City is well-underway. In the last two issues of its magazine, Reclaim, Transportation Alternatives has been asking the would-be mayors for their thoughts on transit (in the more recent interviews, one question about cycling was added). So far, TA has received responses from all of the major candidates except 2009 Democratic nominee Bill Thompson.
May 23, 2012
More Trains, But No Free MetroCards or RPP in Barclays Center Plan
The MTA will be adding extra transit service on Barclays Center game nights. But past promises of free or discounted MetroCards for arena-goers did not materialize in the transportation demand management plan revealed yesterday by developer Forest City Ratner, which local advocates are calling "too little, too late."
May 23, 2012
DOT’s Newest Bike/Ped Safety Campaign: “Heads Up”
"Heads Up." That's the Department of Transportation's newest message for cyclists and pedestrians, which will appear on six billboards, 300 bus shelters and 250,000 coffee cup sleeves around the city.
May 22, 2012
Hylan Boulevard SBS Will Speed Bus Rides Starting in September
New York City's fourth Select Bus Service route will travel down Staten Island's Hylan Boulevard as soon as this September. The improvements are expected to speed travel times by 20 percent along the island's second-busiest route, according to a report by the MTA [PDF].
May 21, 2012
How Will You Use Bike-Share? New Trip Planner Lets You Find Out
Pretty much anywhere you go within the bike-share service area, you'll be within a few blocks of a bike-share station. There's probably a station around the corner from your office. Odds are, it'll be a boon for any of those tricky diagonal trips that aren't well-served by the subway.
May 18, 2012
Webster Avenue SBS Could Be Best in NYC, With Center-Running Bus Lanes
Webster Avenue could be the place where Select Bus Service reaches the next level. At a community meeting Wednesday evening, the Department of Transportation and the MTA presented three visions of improved bus service for the corridor [PDF]. Two of the templates can already be found on the streets of New York -- bus lanes running curbside and bus lanes offset from the curb by one lane -- and bus riders are seeing travel times improve 15 to 20 percent thanks to those improvements. But the potential for a real breakthrough lies in the third template -- buses running in the center lanes with elevated platforms -- which would be a major step toward true bus rapid transit.
May 18, 2012
Double Bus Lane and Sidewalk Extensions to Boost East New York Transit Hub
The Department of Transportation unveiled a new design for one of Brooklyn's most important transit hubs at a community board meeting Monday evening. By turning a single block of Van Sinderen Avenue into a one-way street, DOT plans to improve bus service and build new pedestrian space at East New York's Broadway Junction, which serves five subway lines and five bus routes [PDF].
May 18, 2012