Vision Zero

Via Gothamist: Early Saturday morning, a driver ran over a pedestrian on the sidewalk in Astoria inflicting serious injuries, then sped off, continuing to drive on the sidewalk. Police told Gothamist that the victim suffered a broken leg and concussion, and they're looking for help locating the hit-and-run driver.

Mayor de Blasio's Vision Zero Action Plan contains a number of initiatives to improve cab driver safety, including "black box" technology to monitor cabbie behavior. TLC Commissioner Meera Joshi told the City Council in early May that the agency has issued RFIs for a telematics pilot program, but she didn't mention the program during testimony at Thursday's council budget hearing.

At a press conference this morning unveiling a street safety redesign at 96th Street and Broadway on the Upper West Side, the first three questions from reporters were all about what the police are doing to deter jaywalking. So it was no surprise when, after a discussion of NYPD's crackdown this week on drivers who text and fail to yield to pedestrians, Juliet Papa of 1010 WINS cut right to the chase for her drive-time audience.

State Senator Tony Avella is opposed to legislation that would lower the default speed limit in NYC to 20 miles per hour.

Wednesday night, Manhattan Community Board 10 in Harlem continued to obstruct a street redesign that could save lives. A safety overhaul for speeding-plagued Morningside Avenue, requested by local residents and developed by DOT, has been stalled as the board refuses to back any plan that includes a reduction in the number of car lanes. In a near-repeat of a board meeting in February, CB 10 sent the issue back to committee, where it has languished since last September. Meanwhile, the board has established a Vision Zero task force, even as it opposes street safety measures.

Mayor de Blasio attached some numbers to his Vision Zero Action Plan in today's executive budget announcement.

The city went live with a major upgrade to NYPD's crash data today. Information about traffic crashes was previously released via difficult-to-use monthly updates posted on the police department's website. Now it's available through a standardized feed updated daily on the city's open data portal, allowing the public to sort crashes by time of day, street, zip code, and borough, as well as by the number of injuries and fatalities.

BigApps NYC, EDC's four-month competition to develop mobile and web applications using city data, is set to launch tomorrow with a mission from Mayor Bill de Blasio to build tools for Vision Zero. The more data the city opens up to developers, the better these apps will be, so the question now is how far City Hall will go to make crash and enforcement information transparent and accessible.

Over the weekend, the New York Times ran a powerful piece by executive editor Jill Abramson about recovering from injuries sustained on city streets, based on her own experience and those of three other Times employees. Their stories, along with accompanying maps of New York City's most dangerous intersections, conveyed the widespread and profound impact of traffic violence more effectively than anything the Times has published before. Now the question is: Will the Times continue to beat the drum for safe streets?