Transportation Alternatives
Streetsblog Basics
Queens Rep Barbara Clark Searches for Solutions to Deadly Speeding Epidemic
After a fatal crash in her district, a state representative from Queens is again calling on Albany to double fines for speeding, but with NYPD issuing few tickets, lax traffic enforcement continues to be the biggest obstacle to safer streets.
December 5, 2012
Instead of More Fare Hikes, How About Bridge Tolls That Make Sense?
Since the beginning of 2008 -- right around the time that Albany legislators failed to enact congestion pricing -- NYC subway and bus fares have been hiked three times. Now the fourth fare hike in five years is on the horizon, and with Albany lawmakers sitting on their hands as MTA revenues fail to keep up with costs, there's no relief in sight for millions of transit-riding New Yorkers.
October 15, 2012
Bike Lanes Mean Business
The East Village and Lower East Side have seen new bike infrastructure flourish in the past few years, and now have some of the best city bicycling infrastructure in the country, including what will soon be the nation’s longest protected bike lanes on First and Second Avenues, several on-street bike corrals, and, coming next spring, bike-share stations blanketing the neighborhood.
October 12, 2012
The Long-Missing Link: New Push for Verrazano Bridge Bike-Ped Path
Before the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge opened in 1964, New Yorkers on foot or bike could travel between Staten Island and Brooklyn by taking a ferry from 69th Street in Bay Ridge to St. George. Since the bridge opened, there are only two times each year when people are allowed to cross it under their own power: the New York City Marathon, held every November, and the Five Boro Bike Tour each May.
October 4, 2012
TA Survey: Customers on Foot Bring Big Business to East Village Retailers
On the heels of launching New York's first "Bike Friendly Business District" in the East Village and Lower East Side, Transportation Alternatives has released a new study [PDF] showing that people who walk, bike and take transit to the East Village are local retailers' best customers.
October 2, 2012
Mayor’s Report Card: NYC Traffic Fatalities Up, NYPD Enforcement Down
The Mayor's Management Report, an annual summation of how well city agencies are doing their jobs, includes bad news for traffic safety and sustainable streets. In the last fiscal year, traffic fatalities were at their highest level since 2008, and NYPD moving violations summonses were at a 10-year low. Meanwhile, DOT missed its bike lane and bike rack goals for the year.
September 20, 2012
TA Kicks Off Campaign for Safer Fifth and Sixth Avenues
Manhattan's Fifth and Sixth Avenues are two of the busiest bicycle routes in the city, even without protected bike infrastructure to make cycling appealing to a broader range of New Yorkers. They are also major pedestrian thoroughfares in need of safety upgrades. While DOT's "6½ Avenue" project can help relieve some of the crowding, both avenues devote wide expanses to motor traffic and could use the kind of overhaul that the city has used to improve conditions for walking and biking on other major streets.
August 13, 2012
TA: Most City Pedestrians and Cyclists Killed by Drivers Who Broke the Law
A new report from Transportation Alternatives finds that, while NYPD fails to rein in or punish reckless driving, the majority of pedestrian and cyclist fatalities are caused by illegal behavior behind the wheel.
August 6, 2012
Husband Sues NYPD for Botched Investigation Into Death of Clara Heyworth
The husband of Clara Heyworth, the woman killed by a suspected drunk driver in Fort Greene last summer, filed a lawsuit today against NYPD and called on Mayor Michael Bloomberg to take responsibility for the department's failure to investigate traffic crashes.
June 11, 2012
Monday: Rally for Victims of Traffic Violence Failed by Ray Kelly’s NYPD
A Transportation Alternatives event on Monday will again call attention to NYPD's shoddy crash investigation protocols.
June 6, 2012