Transportation Policy
Streetsblog Basics
StreetFilms: One Way is the Wrong Way
StreetFilms: One Way is the Wrong Way Running time: 5 minutes 10 seconds In Park Slope, Brooklyn, the Department of Transportation has put forward a plan to convert a pair of two-way neighborhood avenues to one-way operation. DOT says that the plan is designed strictly “to make it safer for pedestrians crossing the street,” but … Continued
March 14, 2007
DOT’s Park Slope Proposal: Is this Atlantic Yards Planning?
Last week, DOT quietly revealed that it was planning to narrow Fourth Avenue and transform Park Slope, Brooklyn's Sixth and Seventh Avenues in to one-way streets. Agency officials say that the the changes are being proposed for no reason other than "to make it safer for pedestrians crossing the street."
March 13, 2007
“Parking Rock Star” Donald Shoup Plays Broadway
Early Friday morning, more than 100 transportation experts and advocates descended on the garish hell that is New Times Square to hear a two-hour presentation about parking. In a cozy theater across the street from Dave and Buster's, UCLA urban planner Donald Shoup held forth on his much-discussed ideas for reforming traffic via "market-based" street parking.
March 13, 2007
One Way? No Way. Send a Message to City Hall.
Park Slope Neighbors, a group that I co-founded and work for, has organized a petition drive in response to the Department of Transportation's plan to turn Sixth and Seventh Avenues into one-way streets. Volunteers were out on the streets this weekend. The petition reads:
March 12, 2007
Insta-Bus Rapid Transit for Lower Manhattan
The Daily News and New York Sun have more details on DOT's plan to speed up buses on Broadway south of Houston Street.
March 12, 2007
Quick Bus and Ped Improvements Coming to Lower Broadway
Nope, that's not Lower Manhattan. It's an example of a "bus bulb" in Edgewater, Chicago, a neighborhood known for its thoughtful planning and pedestrian-friendly streets.
March 11, 2007
City Finally Finishes Eight-Year-Long Truck Study
Yesterday, the Department of Transportation announced the publication of its Truck Route Management and Community Impact Reduction Study. The study, which began over eight years ago (PDF), recommends the establishment of an Office of Freight Mobility, new educational materials and public outreach efforts, improved street signs, better enforcement, and some policy and regulatory changes -- for example, requiring trucks over 26,000 pounds operating on city streets to be equipped with a convex mirror to help reduce blind spots.
March 9, 2007
Brooklyn to Bloomberg: Include Local Stakeholders in Planning
Below is a letter from the Park Slope Civic Council to Mayor Bloomberg and local elected representatives regarding the City's plan to transform Sixth and Seventh Avenue's into one-way streets. It's lengthy but it's worth a read (and full disclosure: I'm a trustee of the Civic Council):
March 8, 2007
Feds Withhold Fatal-Accident Info from Public
An article in the LA Times (reg required) details how the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has systematically withheld information on fatal accidents from the public, even going so far as to deny Freedom of Information Act requests from researchers.
March 8, 2007