Elections

Last night at a candidate debate hosted by block associations in Harlem, incumbent Council Member Inez Dickens, first elected to the District 9 seat in 2005, faced off against challenger Vince Morgan, a community development banker and former chair of the 125th Street Business Improvement District. While transportation didn't come up much in the debate itself, some important differences between the candidates were discernible -- particularly on the issue of Select Bus Service on 125th Street and the city's plans for a waste transfer station on East 91st Street.

StreetsPAC has released its mayoral candidate questionnaire.

In a City Council district in the heart of the Bronx, where the overwhelming majority of households are car-free, an aide to Council Member James Vacca distinguished himself last night by vocally supporting congestion pricing, on-street parking reform, and protected bike lanes.

If you were hoping for inspiring leadership from the City Council on transportation issues after the next election, you may want to look somewhere other than District 35, which covers the neighborhoods just east of downtown Brooklyn. Two-thirds of households in the district are car-free, according to the 2000 Census. But while most candidates supported traffic calming improvements at a forum last night, they were unanimous in their opposition to removing on-street parking spaces, and many were reluctant to support policy changes that would cut down on driving in the district.

StreetsPAC announced its second round of City Council endorsements today. Endorsees include a council newcomer in the Bronx, and incumbents in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and Queens.

Yesterday, Transportation Alternatives sent out questionnaires to all City Council and mayoral candidates, asking their positions on pedestrian safety, bike lanes, transit, bike-share, and traffic justice. The first responses are set to go up on TA's website at the end of this month.

Candidates for a City Council seat on the west side of Upper Manhattan expressed support for bike-share expansion and complete Select Bus Service on 125th Street at a campaign forum last night. Some candidates urged the city to restore the original SBS plan and extend the bus lane west, after DOT curtailed its proposal to the delight of State Senator Bill Perkins.

Yesterday, riders at the sixth annual Tour de Queens got a preview of Anthony Weiner's proposal to introduce new city tax breaks for businesses that help employees bike to work. It's one of the meager transportation proposals in his policy book, "Keys to the City." There are already plenty of financial incentives to bike -- walking is the only mode of transportation that's cheaper -- so, understandably, riders were much more interested in hearing from Weiner about how he'll make streets safer. But his ideas about street design were similarly underwhelming.

Slowly, the major mayoral candidates are fleshing out their platforms, including their positions on transportation issues. Last month, Bill de Blasio used his policy book to stake out street safety goals. This morning, Anthony Weiner stumped for a bike commuter subsidy he proposed in April. Last week, Christine Quinn released her own policy book, in which she adds some new information about her previously-announced policy goals.