Traffic
Top Categories
Time for Legislators to Commit to Better NJ-NYC Transit Access
"Access to the Region's Core" is the rather wonky name given to the long-awaited second commuter rail tunnel between New Jersey and Midtown Manhattan. ARC, which would boost transit capacity and reduce car traffic into New York, is now entering a critical phase. In April, the Tri-State Transportation Campaign reported that local funds must be in place by October in order for the feds to release their matching grant, without which the project will languish indefinitely. Now TSTC is urging New Yorkers and New Jerseyans to contact their elected officials in support of ARC through an email advocacy campaign.
September 15, 2008
Who Loves Traffic? Dan and the Highway Lobby
U.S. PIRG has picked a winner in its "21st Century Transportation" video contest, and it's this irony-soaked entry. Meet "Dan," a guy who just can't get enough stop-and-go time on the highway. He loves sitting in traffic, and the last thing he wants to see is adequately funded transit giving people an attractive alternative to car commuting.
August 21, 2008
How to Fix Off-Street Parking Policy, Before It’s Too Late
The proliferation of off-street parking is pushing New York toward higher rates of car ownership and substantially more traffic. To avert a scenario where the city becomes less transit-oriented and more beholden to car owners, a coalition of planning and environmental groups is calling for the reform of off-street parking policies.
August 20, 2008
Planners and Green Groups Call for Off-Street Parking Reform
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.
August 18, 2008
Report: NYC’s Off-Street Parking Policy Will Set Off a Traffic Explosion
Adjacent blocks in Park Slope, one built before parking requirements took effect, and one built after.
August 18, 2008
Bloomberg Endorses 2,300-Car Big Box Garage for West Side
The Observer reported last week that Extell Development wants to lease an underground chunk of its huge West Side project to big box retailer Costco. Included in the plan: 2,300 parking spaces. To put that in perspective, the Red Hook Ikea, projected to yield 17,000 car trips on peak days, makes do with a 1,400-car parking lot. The building where Extell wants to put the Costco and the garage will be mostly residential. No matter how many spaces are set aside for residents or shoppers, the inclusion of so much parking flies in the face of the city's stated goal to reduce traffic.
July 30, 2008
“Traffic” Author Tom Vanderbilt on Leonard Lopate Today at Noon
Author Tom Vanderbilt will be on Leonard Lopate at noon today, WNYC, 93.9 FM. Streetsbloggers will want to tune in.
July 29, 2008
Wiki Wednesday: Vehicle-Miles Traveled
In the second installment of our serialized tour through StreetsWiki, we turn to DianaD's entry on Vehicle-Miles Traveled:
July 23, 2008
Tom Vanderbilt Ponders Motorist Sociopathy
Yesterday, at the end of our piece about the recent road rage incidents in usually-polite Portland and Seattle, we posed a question to Tom Vanderbilt, author of the forthcoming book, Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do and What It Says About Us. We asked: What is it about automobility that often seems to turn nice, normal people into impulsive, remorseless sociopaths -- blasting their horns, flying into fits of rage and wielding their vehicles like weapons in a crowded, pedestrian-dominated city.
July 18, 2008
High Gas Prices Won’t Cure Gridlock
It's the New Math: a dollar-a-trip rise in the cost of fuel for a car trip to Manhattan is cutting traffic almost as much as Mayor Bloomberg's eight-dollar toll plan would have done.
July 3, 2008