Quality of Life
Streetsblog Basics
The Traffic is the Mitigation
mitigate, verb[Latin stem of mitigare, from mitis, mild, gentle]1. Make milder in manner or attitude, make less hostile, mollify.2. Give relief from pain. Lessen the suffering caused by an evil or difficulty.3. Make less oppressive. Make more humane, more bearable.
November 20, 2006
A Streetsblog Reader Wins Traffic Calming Improvements
Here is a contribution from Sean Roche, a Streetsblog reader in Newton, Massachusetts, a suburb just west of Boston.
November 16, 2006
Straphangers’ Russianoff Will be Named to Spitzer Team
Streetsblog has learned that Gene Russianoff, executive director of the Straphangers Campaign, will be named as a member of Governor-Elect Eliot Spitzer's transition team transportation committee. The announcement is likely to be made tomorrow. Russianoff says, "No comment." Unlike yesterday's inaccurate tip about the Mayor's Office of Long-Term Planning and Sustainability this item seems to be solid.
November 15, 2006
Mayor Livingstone: $50 to Drive an SUV into Central London
London Mayor Ken Livingstone said yesterday that he wants to introduce an emissions-based congestion charging fee in an attempt to reduce his city's carbon dioxide output and to encourage cleaner transportation. The mayor's proposal is to charge the heaviest polluting vehicles emitting 225 grams of CO2 per kilometer, a £25 fee to drive into London's Central Business District. At today's exchange rate that is the equivalent of $47.50 in US dollars. Livingstone said:
November 15, 2006
DOT to Neighborhood: Your School’s in the Way of Our Highway
There is a palpable schizophrenia in the Bloomberg Administration these days when it comes to Livable Streets issues. On the one hand, the Administration is developing some 200 miles of new bike lanes, initiating a long-term sustainability project and, for the first time, talking openly about reducing automobile use. On the other hand, very little seems to have changed in the day-to-day operations of the government agencies responsible for our streets and public spaces. They continue to plan for cars and traffic at the expense of people and places.
November 9, 2006
Reverse Engineering Pedestrian Safety in Boerum Hill
They are putting up a traffic light on my corner this week. It's one of the last intersections in Boerum Hill with four-way stop signs, at Bond and Wyckoff Streets, and I can't imagine who thought this was a good idea.
November 7, 2006
Cyclists and Pedestrians: Fighting Over the Scraps
Cyclists and pedestrians somehow managing to get along with each other in Copenhagen.
November 6, 2006
Queensboro Bridge Area Safety Under Scrutiny
Among the three cyclist fatality clusters identified by the joint report by the City Departments of Health, Police, Parks and Transportation, the Queensboro Bridge is by far the worst. The entrance intersection at 60th and Second also claimed the award for the most unticketed incidents of block the box in the Borough President's study of lax enforcement of basic traffic rules.
November 6, 2006
Slow News Day?
Apropos of I'm-not-sure-what, today's New York Sun dedicates the majority of its op/ed page to an excerpt of my 2003 book, Honku: The Zen Antidote to Road Rage (an excellent holiday gift, I might add). Below are some excerpts from the Sun, including some excellent poems written by visitors to my web site, honku.org. The Comments section is open for new submissions...
November 3, 2006