Traffic Calming

If New York or other large cities are looking for a solution to congestion and its negative impact on the economy, Hong Kong offers an excellent strategy and success story. I was there a few weeks back working on waterfront issues (that rival New York City for unrealized opportunities), and was struck by changes that have taken place since my previous visit five years earlier. In 2001, there were few streets or districts that were comfortable to walk in or engage with despite being known as a bustling shopping city. In the intervening time the city has undergone a major transformation led by non other than the city's Transport Department.

Classic Scene near Queensboro Bridge on Second Avenue (note red light!) Every morning I walk past scenes like this near the Queensboro Bridge (QBB) on Second Avenue. Traffic blocks up on Second Avenue north of the two major crosstown exit routes at 60th and 57th Streets all the way to 70th Street and beyond. The … Continued

(Photo by Will Sherman of Transportation Alternatives)

Every so often I find little gems of street planning that I would love to see replicated elsewhere in the city. For instance, the other night I walked past this side street with bump outs at the crosswalk that give pedestrians more space and prevent automobiles from cutting corners too sharply.

Bayard Street, Chinatown. Photo: SkyShaper

DOT's failure to provide a traffic signal or even a simple crosswalk at intersections along DeKalb Avenue disconnects the neighborhood from its bus stops and its park.

Transponder on the dashboard of a car zipping through the traffic-free streets of Stockholm on January 3, 2006, the first day of that city's congestion pricing experiment. (Photo: Papa Razzi1)

The Daily News reports that Mayor Bloomberg made his first public statements about U.S. oil dependency on his radio show last week:

Van Brunt and Wolcott Streets. Before paint, July 7. After paint, July 14.