Transportation Alternatives

Last night, DOT closed both lanes of the Park Avenue Tunnel to prepare for the construction of safety upgrades at Park and 33rd Street. That's the intersection where southbound cars exit the tunnel, creating a dangerous blend of speeding vehicles and poor sight lines. From 1995 to 2005, 156 pedestrians and 10 cyclists were struck by cars there, according to CrashStat.

Quick, what do a global financial firm and a neighborhood bakery have in common? Bike-friendliness, as you may have guessed. Credit Suisse and Birdbath Neighborhood Green Bakery were recognized by the city today in the first annual Bike-Friendly Business Competition. Credit Suisse won top honors in the "Commuting Cyclists" category for its sterling indoor bike facilities. Birdbath took the prize for "Working Cyclists" thanks to its use of cargocycles to make deliveries.

Ever wonder how much New York stands to gain by making its streets more livable? Transportation Alternatives has been gathering evidence measuring the economic and social benefits that accrue when cities put pedestrians first. Their report is coming out next week, but the Observer published a sneak preview (headline: "The Woonerf Deficit") this Tuesday:

After calling attention last month to the traffic-reducing power of parking reform, Transportation Alternatives has released a follow-up report with a parking prescription for New York. "Pricing the Curb" [PDF] looks to innovative programs underway in Washington D.C., San Francisco, and Chicago for inspiration. With DOT taking steps toward setting variable-rate prices for curbside parking -- which it calls "peak rate parking" -- the report urges the Bloomberg administration to go further. A full-featured parking policy is one way the city can take on traffic without Albany's approval.

9th St. and 4th Ave.: "A dangerous crossing that divides surrounding neighborhoods and inhibits street life."

Last month, DOT striped buffered bike lanes on Vernon Boulevard (right), part of a package of safety improvements for the north-south corridor that parallels the western Queens waterfront [PDF]. Bike facilities are scarce in this part of the city, and the addition of the new lanes, which eliminated a lane of parking along parts of the route, has not come without opposition from the local community boards, CB1 and CB2. But as Transportation Alternatives' Queens Committee Chair Mike Heffron reports, residents also organized to voice support for the project.

Transportation Alternatives is looking for a few good sources to help handle all the media requests coming their way these days. Here's how Streetsbloggers can lend a hand:

Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg signed into law Intro 199, a bill requiring New York City's Department of Transportation to collect and monitor data specifically aimed at helping the city "to reduce automobile traffic and encourage more sustainable means of transportation vital to combating congestion, pollution and improving the City’s long term economic health." The new law could signal a significant change for a city agency that has typically measured its own performance based on how many potholes it fills, street lamps it fixes and how well it keeps motor vehicle traffic flowing through the city's over-burdened street grid.