“Gridlock” Sam Schwartz
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With Waymo Testing Halted, We Have A Rare Chance To Get Ahead of the ‘Driverless Revolution’
Two experts say we don't have to fear AVs, but we do have to prepare for them so we don't repeat the mistakes of the past.
April 8, 2026
FLASHBACK: What Happened To Car-Free ‘Snow Routes’ — And Could They Have Helped City Clear the Streets?
Remember those bright red signs that banned parking from snow emergency routes? Here is the curious story of how New York City abandoned a key component of its snow removal system.
February 6, 2026
Streetsies 2025: Advocate(s) of the Year
Little changes on New York City's streets without fighting for it — but who did it best? Please vote for this year's honoree.
December 22, 2025
‘Gridlock Sam’: MTA Has a Cheap, Cop-Free Way to Make Platforms Safer
Installing metal barriers, with gaps for subway car doors, could be accomplished at hundreds of stations for the same cost as expensive platform screen doors.
August 27, 2024
Komanoff: William (Vickrey), It Was Really Nothing
Former City Council Member Kathryn Freed once said "traffic is killing us in Lower Manhattan." Now, she sues to stop Nobel-Prize-winning economist William Vickrey's congestion pricing idea.
May 20, 2024
MTA Ditches License Plate-Based Congestion Pricing Disability Exemption
Transit official won't grant congestion pricing disability exemptions any car with a disability license plate after all — opting for a case-by-case registration process instead.
February 26, 2024
Wider BQE Could Be ‘Intrusion’ on Brooklyn Bridge Park, Ex-Transportation Leaders Warn
The city says it is only considering whether to widen the crumbling triple-cantilever section of the BQE between Atlantic Avenue and Sands Street into three, 12-foot lanes in each direction, with additional shoulders — a configuration that would require the roadway to be widened from roughly 34 feet to 56.
April 5, 2023
‘Gridlock’ Sam: Give Truckers Credits So Congestion Toll Doesn’t Add to Bronx Pollution
"The only way congestion pricing would send trucks to the Cross Bronx is if the congestion charge exceeded current tolls," said the former city Traffic Commissioner.
September 14, 2022
The MTA May Finally Be Ready To Embrace Variable Price Tolling
The MTA is considering instituting peak and off-peak toll prices for its bridges and tunnels, a move to raise more money, but also shift driving patterns that veteran traffic analysts say is long overdue.
December 10, 2020
Tuesday’s Headlines: No More Toll-Shopping Edition
Truckers, your days of driving through Brooklyn and Manhattan to avoid the toll on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge are over! With a special appearance by Gridlock Sam — plus the rest of the news, too.
November 10, 2020
