Transportation Policy
Streetsblog Basics
A “Vision Zero” for New York?
On Tuesday the Bloomberg administration announced record low traffic deaths from 2000 to 2007, and claimed, if not in so many words, that city streets are safer than ever. But the numbers, included on a chart that accompanied this media release, also indicated that 23 cyclists died in 2007. That would make last year -- according to the data released Tuesday, at least -- the deadliest for riders in the eight year period shown.
February 1, 2008
Would Dems’ Pledge for “Change” Bring Transportation Reform?
This is part two of a two-part series on where candidates for
president stand on transportation issues, authored by Streetsblog Los
Angeles correspondent Damien Newton. Damien currently runs the blog Street Heat,
which is soon to become Streetsblog L.A., our first foray into foreign
territory. Damien was New Jersey coordinator for the Tri-State
Transportation Campaign before relocating to California last year.
Yesterday he examined the platforms and records of the Republican
presidential candidates; today, the Democrats.
January 30, 2008
City Numbers Show Highest Cyclist Death Toll in Eight Years
Traffic fatalities in 2007 were at their lowest level since the city began keeping records almost 100 years ago, according to data released today by the Bloomberg administration. However, while the number of pedestrian fatalities last year dropped sharply percentage-wise from 2006, down to roughly one death every two-and-a-half days, cyclist fatalities were up, and pedestrian and cyclist deaths combined accounted for 58.6 percent of the 271 total traffic deaths, the highest such percentage in the past eight years.
January 29, 2008
No Clear Transpo Agenda From GOP Presidential Candidates
Mitt Romney at the 2008 North American International Auto Show in Detroit
January 29, 2008
Streetfilm: Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in Bogotá
Want to learn more about Bus Rapid Transit? Watch this StreetFilm and let Streetsblog editor Aaron Naparstek show you how BRT works in Bogotá, Colombia. Take a gander and you’ll see an efficient, modern and — relatively speaking — inexpensive way of moving 1.3 million people per day.
January 28, 2008
Kheel Plan Getting Lots of Play, Except Where It Counts
With Michael Bloomberg expressing doubts about an apparently favored proposal to move the congestion pricing boundary south to 60th Street, Newsday columnist Ellis Henican challenged the mayor yesterday to get behind the Kheel free transit plan.
January 28, 2008
Parking Workshops Set for Queens and Brooklyn
The Department of Transportation will hold three more neighborhood parking workshops this week, two in Queens and one in Brooklyn.
January 28, 2008
Kheel Planners Detail Free Transit Proposal
Yesterday, Theodore "Ted" Kheel's traffic plan was officially unveiled with a 52-page report (pdf) outlining his proposal to make transit free via a round-the-clock $16 congestion charge for cars ($32 for trucks) entering Manhattan below 60th Street. The report says Kheel's "Bolder Plan" would cut CBD traffic by 25 percent, and traffic citywide by nearly 10 percent, all while increasing mass transit funding and decreasing the number of overcrowded trains and buses.
January 25, 2008
“Carfree Cities” Conference Comes to Portland
The World Carfree Network will hold its eighth annual international "Towards Carfree Cities" conference in Portland, Oregon, from June 16th to the 20th. This year's event, entitled "Rethinking Mobility, Rediscovering Proximity," marks the first time the conference has come to North America. Registration is now underway at CarfreePortland.org, with a discount for those who sign up by the end of February.
January 24, 2008
Motorists Dominate UES Parking Workshop
Streetsblog commenter BicyclesOnly attended last night's DOT neighborhood parking workshop at Temple Israel on E. 75th St. Here is his account (originally posted here):
January 24, 2008