Transportation Alternatives

With the fallout from Wall Street taking a toll on city coffers, Mayor Bloomberg has a lot of tough calls to make. The "Bikes in Buildings" bill [PDF] is not one of them. It's a lay-up -- a simple rule change that promises big gains for bike commuting. The bill, also known as Intro 38, would require commercial landlords to allow tenants to bring bikes inside buildings. No storage requirements attached.

Tomorrow morning, Transportation Alternatives will hold a City Hall rally in support of the "Bikes in Buildings Bill." The bill, introduced in 2006 by Council Member David Yassky, would require owners or managers of "any building" to make "reasonable provisions" for bike access. The bill is intended to supplement a still-pending Department of City Planning rule that would require bike parking facilities in new commercial buildings.

A couple of days ago we relayed the remarkable story of Colin Beavan's close call with a careless motorist, which ended with the parties shaking hands. Yesterday, No Impact Man encountered another inattentive driver -- one State Senator Jeff Klein -- but this time there were no heartwarming epiphanies.

In July, bicycle advocates and family members of Asif Rahman, who was killed while biking on Queens Boulevard earlier this year, called on the city to transform the "Boulevard of Death" into a street that safely serves all users. The effort to make Queens Boulevard a complete street continues tonight at 6:30 p.m., when Transportation Alternatives leads a group ride from the Queensborough Bridge to Elmhurst, the first in a series of monthly "bike pools." From T.A.:

Thinking of commuting by bike but looking to get your feet wet first? Ready to take one more long communal warm-weather ride? Sunday's 19th annual NYC Century Bike Tour might be for you. With five routes to choose from, this year's event is expected to draw some 6,000 cyclists at all levels of experience. The ride will cover 30 miles of new bike lanes and 40 miles of car-free greenways.

This curb-cutting driveway leads to a parking lot for a new residential development on 16th Street in Brooklyn.

Yesterday, several planning and environmental organizations joined Transportation Alternatives on the steps of City Hall to tout the release of "Suburbanizing the City" [PDF], the new report that critiques New York City's off-street parking policies. The coalition is similar -- but not identical -- to the array of groups that pushed for congestion pricing earlier this year. Their testimony highlighted the range of benefits that off-street parking reform would deliver, from mitigating tailpipe emissions to reducing housing costs.

Adjacent blocks in Park Slope, one built before parking requirements took effect, and one built after.

Today Transportation Alternatives released "Streets to Live By" [PDF], the report previewed last week in the Observer. It seeks to define what makes a street livable and to synthesize a broad range of data, culled from numerous cities, on the effects of policies that put pedestrians first.