Transportation Alternatives

In the midst of a 2004 petition drive and campaign, Transportation Alternatives hired me to produce a mini-film called "The Case for a Car-Free Central Park." It featured interviews with many prominent New Yorkers, like Columbia professor Ken Jackson and author Roberta Brandes Gratz, along with dozens of everyday park-goers testifying about how they felt about cars in the park.

Today is the first day of Bike Month 2012, and Transportation Alternatives has launched a comprehensive web site to make sure you don't miss a thing.

A study released today finds that two out of three motorists speed on Brooklyn's McGuinness Boulevard [PDF], a notorious Greenpoint thoroughfare where locals have for years called on the city to take action to prevent pedestrian and cyclist injuries and deaths.

The lawsuit filed by the family of Mathieu Lefevre against NYPD could change police procedure in the aftermath of fatal crashes, making it easier for grieving relatives to access crucial information.

Assembly members Marcos Crespo and Vanessa Gibson pledged their support for transit improvements at a town hall meeting in Soundview last night, starting with a campaign for more rush hour service on the Bx27, Bx36, and Bx41 buses.

The City Council is holding a first-of-its-kind hearing on NYPD crash investigations today, a joint effort of the transportation and public safety committees. Based on the early reports via Twitter, it sounds like council members are holding NYPD's feet to the fire for failing to investigate serious crashes and letting motorists off the hook for the harm they cause.

Children growing up in Manhattan's low-income communities are at significantly higher risk of being seriously injured or killed in traffic than their neighbors in wealthier districts, a new study from Transportation Alternatives finds [PDF]. Intersections near public housing appear to be particularly dangerous for children trying to cross the street.

Despite the millions of New Yorkers who ride subways and buses and the thousands of life-altering traffic injuries suffered by residents of the five boroughs every year, transit and safe streets are typically second- or third-tier issues in the city's big-time political campaigns. The 2013 mayoral election could be different: NYC DOT's program to re-orient city streets for transit, biking and walking has raised the profile of transportation and public space issues. And that's before any bike-share stations have hit the streets.