Car Culture
Streetsblog Basics
Resolved: More Traffic Congestion & Automobile Dependence
Brooklyn City Councilmember Lew Fidler and a small group of his outer borough colleagues have put forward Resolution 774 "calling upon the Mayor of New York City to oppose the institution of any form of congestion pricing." The resolution is based on a March 2006 report commissioned by the Queens Chamber of Commerce that was, to put it mildly, filled with misinformation and gaping holes about the City of London's congestion charging experience.
April 6, 2007
Auto Worship Still a Sign of the Times
When the Supreme Court held this week that the Environmental Protection Agency does, in fact, possess the latitude to protect the environment, the New York Times called it "a victory for a world whose environment seems increasingly threatened by climate change."
April 4, 2007
When a Two-Car Garage Just Isn’t Enough
There are 255,794 vehicles registered in Staten Island, and as the borough's population has taken off in the last few years, some of the local parking customs have become increasingly strained. A story published Monday in the Staten Island Advance illuminates just how entitled the people of that borough still feel to free parking -- not just on their own blocks, but directly in front of their homes. It tells the story of an anonymous Great Kills resident who, when a neighbor parked in front of his house, left the following note on the windshield:
April 3, 2007
StreetFilm: Room to Breathe
Inspired by a poster produced by Portland's Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) in the mid-1990s, this weekend Transportation Alternatives gathered a gaggle of cyclists on 42nd Street in Manhattan to stage New York's own dramatic illustration of how much street space would be saved if everyone riding an automobile were traveling on a bicycle or bus.
April 2, 2007
Congestion Relief: It’s About Your Health
Yesterday's New York Times editorial on transportation policy makes a strong case for linking concerns about traffic congestion to concerns about health. It's worth looking at the full text of All Choked Up, the report from Environmental Defense that the paper references when arguing that in order to achieve his goal of a sustainable city,
April 2, 2007
Breaking News: Frieden Tapped as DOT Commish
Please note: This was an April Fool's Day post...
April 1, 2007
Why Can’t I Go the Wrong Way on a One Way Street?
From a recent Gridlock Sam column in the Daily News:
March 30, 2007
Zipcar, Meet Zipbike
Two remarkably similar yet fundamentally different campaigns are underway to promote vehicle sharing in the city.
March 30, 2007