Technology
Streetsblog Basics
NYPD: Public Too Stupid to Understand a Citywide Crash Map
This morning's City Council transportation committee hearing covered a number of bills, including one that would require NYPD to release data to the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications for a public map of crash locations and traffic fatalities, to be updated monthly. NYPD testified in opposition to the bill, claiming that it was already doing enough to release information to the public. A panel of technology and street safety experts testifying later disagreed, and were joined in their skepticism by some council members, including committee chair James Vacca.
October 10, 2013
Bus Time Went Live in Manhattan This Morning
After signs went up in subway stations last week, the MTA made it official this morning: real-time bus tracking is now available for all Manhattan buses, joining Staten Island and the Bronx, with Queens and Brooklyn to come online within six months.
October 7, 2013
Bus Time Set to Expand to Manhattan This Month; Queens and Brooklyn Next
Nearly a year after the Bronx became the second borough to get real-time bus tracking on all its buses, the MTA's Bus Time program is set to expand to Manhattan this month, according to signs spotted in Manhattan subway stations by Twitter user David Rose and Second Avenue Sagas.
October 3, 2013
Meet Streetmix, the Website Where You Can Design Your Own Street
Last fall, Lou Huang was at a community meeting for the initiative to redesign Second Street in San Francisco. Planners handed out paper cutouts, allowing participants to mix and match to create their ideal street. Huang, an urban designer himself, thought the exercise would make for a great website. Now, after months of work beginning at a January hackathon with colleagues at Code for America, it is a great website.
August 12, 2013
Official Citi Bike Mobile App Now Available
The official Citi Bike mobile application is now available to download. The app provides a map of station locations and real-time updates about bicycle and dock availability, as well as turn-by-turn directions, riding tips, and a timer to help Citi Bike users avoid charges for exceeding the limits per trip. The app also allows users to locate nearby bike shops and, of course, Citibank branches; this summer, restaurant and event recommendations will be added.
May 21, 2013
Seven Ways Technology Is Rendering the Automobile Obsolete
As we try to understand why young people are so much less jazzed about driving than previous generations, one possible explanation always comes up: Kids today just love their smart phones.
May 15, 2013
NYC Open Data Law Will Sort Out NYPD’s Jumbled Traffic Crash Data
When the City Council passed Jessica Lappin's Saving Lives Through Better Information bill last year, traffic safety and open government advocates cheered. Under the law, the NYPD is required to provide monthly data on both traffic crashes and traffic summonsing, shedding light on the hazards of city streets and what steps police take to protect New Yorkers from dangerous drivers.
March 9, 2012
CrashStat Upgrade Provides Interactive, Up-To-Date Street Safety Data
Transportation Alternatives launched an updated version of its CrashStat website today, providing a wealth of new data about street safety in New York City and where pedestrians and cyclists are most at risk. The upgrade adds four years of geo-coded data about traffic injuries and fatalities, a smoother interface, and a wealth of interactive features.
October 12, 2011
Pay-By-Phone Coming To New York — Will Other Parking Innovations Follow?
New York City drivers will soon be able to pay the parking meter using their cell phones, a technological advance common in European cities and spreading quickly across the United States. A year-long, 300-space pilot will roll out this spring with the possibility of a more widespread implementation after that. It remains to be seen, however, whether the city will treat pay-by-phone as a standalone convenience for drivers or as one piece of a comprehensive rethinking of parking policy, pricing, payment and enforcement.
August 16, 2011
“Midtown in Motion” to Come With Rad Driver-Distracting Apps
As it is, the NYC DOT “Midtown in Motion" initiative is a bit of a head-scratcher. To learn that the city is devoting well over a million dollars in addition to staff resources to speed up car traffic in Midtown, which the mayor has declared the "lifeblood" of the CBD -- is it 2006 again?
July 21, 2011