Mark Your Calendars: City Announces Vision Zero Workshops
This afternoon, DOT released the schedule for nine Vision Zero workshops in all five boroughs over the next three months. These workshops build upon the Vision Zero town halls the city is hosting now by asking residents to prioritize street safety initiatives, pinpoint dangerous locations, and discuss solutions with agency staff.
April 3, 2014
Top Cuomo Aide: Albany Will Pass Speed Cam Expansion Bill By End of April
Governor Andrew Cuomo's top aide said this morning that the governor is committed to signing a bill to expand the number of New York City school zone speed cameras before the end of April. The firm stance comes after a plan to expand the number of speed cams in NYC stalled during budget negotiations.
April 3, 2014
Will Michael Schlein Stop NYC EDC From Subsidizing Parking?
This morning, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the appointment of Michael Schlein as chair of the city's Economic Development Corporation. Schlein, a Wall Street insider with close ties to the mayor, joins EDC President Kyle Kimball atop the agency's leadership. EDC has a terrible track record of subsidizing parking garages and overseeing mega-projects with acres of excess parking. The contours of a new direction under de Blasio -- perhaps one with less parking -- are still taking shape.
April 3, 2014
Officials Talk Crash Prevention at Packed Brooklyn Vision Zero Town Hall
Last night, Brooklynites filled Borough Hall, spilling into an overflow room for a Vision Zero town hall meeting with elected officials and city agency staffers. Among those on hand were Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg, NYPD Chief of Transportation Thomas Chan, Public Advocate Letitia James, and Borough President Eric Adams. Streetsblog wasn't able to make it to the forum, but here's a snapshot of what unfolded and how elected officials reacted, based on reports from attendees and the Twitterverse.
April 2, 2014
Pedestrian Islands Coming to Deadly Northern Boulevard Intersection
The intersection of Northern Boulevard and 61st Street in Woodside, where an unlicensed truck driver making a left turn through a crosswalk killed 8-year-old Noshat Nahian on his way to school last December, is set for some pedestrian safety fixes after months of work by elected officials and street safety advocates.
April 2, 2014
Rockaway Students Want DOT to Use Extra Asphalt for Walking and Biking
Rockaway Freeway, a multi-lane divided road beneath the A train on the Rockaway peninsula, is hardly friendly territory for walking or biking. A group of teens interning with the Rockaway Waterfront Alliance is looking to change that. Their goal: Gather 10,000 signatures on a petition asking DOT to convert some under-used road space, created as part of a traffic-calming project years ago, into a safe place for walking and biking.
April 1, 2014
New Citi Bike Data on Individual Trips Shows How Bike-Share Links to Transit
Today, Citi Bike opened up a treasure trove of data on how people are using the system, giving the public access to details of individual trips, featuring information such as starting point, ending point, trip time, bike identification number, and anonymous information about the bike user, including gender, age, and whether the rider was using a day, week or annual pass.
March 31, 2014
Speed Cams Eliminated From State Budget But Resurface in Shelly Silver Bill
After Governor Cuomo proposed allowing speed cameras on Long Island and the State Senate recommended expanding New York City's small, 20-camera program by 160 cameras, the final state budget agreement reached late Friday night included neither. But a bill from Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver would make up for much of what was lost in budget negotiations, bringing speed cams to Long Island and expanding NYC's automated speed enforcement program by 120 cameras.
March 31, 2014