With No Separated Busway on 34th Street, What’s Next for BRT in NYC?
The walkback of the city's plans for 34th Street from a physically separated transitway to a package of painted lanes and bus bulbs was unquestionably a defeat for bus riders on the extremely congested street. While features like off-board fare payment, scheduled to go into effect this summer, will provide a speed boost to buses, riders won't be able to go crosstown as quickly as if they had lanes free from encroachment.
April 1, 2011
New Traffic Monitoring Toolkit Can Get You Started on Street Safety Activism
Just about every New Yorker knows off the top of their head exactly what the most dangerous intersections in their neighborhood are (for me, it's got to be the western end of 125th Street). But what most New Yorkers don't know is what to do about it. Now, thanks to Transportation Alternatives' new Neighborhood Traffic Monitoring Toolkit [PDF], there's a step-by-step guide for citizens to track traffic violations on their streets and press community leaders to improve street safety.
March 31, 2011
Van Driver Kills Carroll Gardens Pedestrian Crossing Columbia Street
A van driver hit and killed a woman in her 50s as she crossed Columbia Street at around 7:40 this morning, according to an article in the Carroll Gardens Patch. The crash took place near the intersection of Columbia and Summit Street.
March 31, 2011
Correction: No Forensic Audit Required By Budget Bill
On Tuesday, we reported the state budget included a requirement for a forensic audit of the MTA. That information was incorrect. The document we took that information from was the State Senate's one-house version of the budget bill, not the final version approved by the full legislature. The budget bill that ultimately made its way to the governor's desk did not include any audit requirement.
March 31, 2011
Jim Brennan, Marty Golden Aim to Slow Transit Raids
Since 2009, Albany has stolen roughly $260 million dollars from dedicated transit funds in an attempt to plug the state government's enormous deficits. Those cuts have wreaked havoc upon the MTA's budget, precipitating major service cuts and fare hikes.
March 30, 2011
Final Budget Deal Does Not Add to Cuomo’s Transit Raid [Updated]
The final budget agreement reached by Albany leadership will not make additional cuts to transit funding, a state budget division spokesperson confirmed this afternoon. Negotiations with the legislature did not ultimately change the total amount of transit funding from Andrew Cuomo's executive budget, which raided $100 million from dedicated transit funds.
March 29, 2011
SoHo’s Rejected Pop-Up Cafés Won’t Appear Elsewhere
Last Thursday evening, Manhattan Community Board 2 voted down five of six approved pop-up cafés in their neighborhood, choosing parking spaces over public seating.
March 29, 2011