Community Organizations

Today, the Regional Plan Association held its 23rd Annual Assembly, gathering many of the region's transportation and development players under one roof. Unlike recent years, when the buzz was about congestion pricing or DOT's bicycle and pedestrian programs, this year's program didn't have much to excite livable streets advocates.

Next year, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge will mark its 50th anniversary. Although the structure was designed to accommodate pedestrian and bicycle paths, they were never included. Now, advocates are hoping a renewed push can close the gap in what they're calling the Harbor Ring, a 50-mile loop around Upper New York Bay. This week, the initiative launched an online petition to Governor Cuomo, asking him to support the plan and move it forward.

Today, Transportation Alternatives is launching CrashStories, a new website where pedestrians and cyclists can report crashes or near-misses with motor vehicle drivers on an interactive map. Developed by Hunter College city planning graduate student Aaron Fraint, the project aims to fill gaps in official data sources and offer a place for crash victims to be heard.

At its annual membership meeting last night, Transportation Alternatives unveiled its transportation policy platform heading into the thick of this year's election cycle. Primary day -- September 10 -- is less than six months away, and TA is calling on candidates in the mayoral and City Council races to include these principles in their campaign platforms:

Last night, a group of activists traveled to the sites of eight traffic fatalities and stenciled paint memorials for those who lost their lives walking or biking in crashes for which NYPD declared "no criminality suspected" within hours of the crash. This morning, Time's Up! led a memorial bike ride to the eight crash sites.

To read the Daily News analysis of 2012 summons data, you'd think NYPD has reckless driving completely under control. While the story throws out a lot of purportedly high figures, as usual the tabloid's perspective is distorted by the windshield.

The Tri-State Transportation Campaign's latest "Most Dangerous Roads for Walking" report [PDF] is another urgent reminder that roads and streets designed for maintaining auto capacity are not safe for people who travel outside a car.

It was a year ago today that the City Council transportation committee, led by James Vacca and Peter Vallone Jr., convened a hearing on pedestrian and cyclist safety and the failure of NYPD to properly investigate traffic crashes.