When Will Select Bus Service Get Its Flashing Lights Back?
When Select Bus Service launched in 2008, the program included blue flashing lights on the front of each bus to help riders distinguish the service from local buses. This is particularly important for Select Bus Service, since most SBS routes require riders to pay their fare at a machine before boarding. The flashing lights help riders know whether they're boarding an SBS bus, with its special payment system, or a local bus.
April 10, 2014
Trottenberg: “So Many Locations” Where Albany Prohibits NYC Speed Cams
Since being turned on in mid-January, New York City's limited speed camera program -- five cameras near schools, turned on only during weekday school hours -- have caught 14,500 drivers hitting at least 40 mph as of Tuesday, according to DOT. After 15 more cameras come online later this spring, the city will have reached its state-imposed cap on cameras. To bring speeding under control on most of the city's 6,000 miles of streets, though, it's up to Albany to let NYC run a much more substantial automated enforcement program.
April 10, 2014
Atlantic Ave First of 25 “Arterial Slow Zones” to Get 25 MPH Limit This Year
As drivers zoomed by on Atlantic Avenue this morning, local elected officials and advocates joined NYC DOT and NYPD to unveil the first of the city's "arterial slow zones," major streets where the speed limit will be dropped to 25 mph from the current citywide limit of 30 mph. Traffic signals will also be retimed to a 25 mph progression, to help keep motorists' speeds in check.
April 9, 2014
Will de Blasio’s Affordable Housing Plan Take on NYC’s Parking Mandates?
With a plan due by May 1, the clock is ticking for Mayor Bill de Blasio's housing team to come up with a plan to improve housing affordability. Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Vicki Been, who authored reports on the city's regressive parking mandates before joining the administration, is at the center of the team producing the plan. But it's still not clear that the final product will consider the elimination of parking requirements as a strategy to create more affordable housing.
April 9, 2014
Ten Months Later, Parks Department Fills in Hudson River Greenway Hole
Last June, we reported on a sinkhole in the Hudson River Greenway just north of 181st Street in Washington Heights. The Parks Department, which manages the path, said it had cordoned off the hole and was assessing the situation. As of yesterday, nothing much had changed in ten months -- except the hole has filled with leaves and grown slightly larger, swallowing more of the greenway path along with it. Now, the Parks Department says it has filled in the hole as a temporary measure.
April 7, 2014
Using Citi Bike Data to Figure Out Where Cyclists Ride
It's been a week since Citi Bike released a trove of data on bike-share trips, and the public is already using the information to pick out patterns in ridership and glean new details about the demographics of Citi Bike riders.
April 7, 2014
Advocates Urge Lander to Upgrade NYPD Crash Data Bill
A bill that would have pushed Ray Kelly's police department one step closer to opening up crash data has been reintroduced by Council Member Brad Lander. But with new leadership, NYPD is dropping hints that it will release better public data soon. Advocates say Lander's bill could use some upgrades to help the public get more out of NYPD's crash data.
April 7, 2014