Polly Trottenberg
Streetsblog Basics
Select Bus Service Launches on 125th Street
On Sunday, Select Bus Service launched on a route that stretches from 125th Street in Harlem to LaGuardia Airport. Public officials marked the occasion -- the first SBS route to debut during the de Blasio era -- at a Harlem press conference today. With off-board fare collection and dedicated bus lanes (on part of the route), the upgrades will speed cross-town trips for 33,000 bus riders daily, on both the M60 SBS route and local routes that will benefit from the bus lanes only.
May 27, 2014
After Quick Work by CB 7 and DOT, Safety Fixes Debut at 96th and Broadway
After the deaths of Cooper Stock, Alexander Shear, and Samantha Lee at or near the intersection of 96th Street and Broadway shook Upper West Siders in January, DOT promised fixes to an intersection that locals complained had become even more dangerous to cross after a reconstruction project just a few years before. This morning, the city debuted those changes, including an expanded pedestrian island and new crosswalk.
May 13, 2014
Takeaways From This Week’s City Council Vision Zero Hearing
The office of Ydanis Rodriguez says he is aiming to get several traffic safety bills passed in the near future, while others that were taken up by his transportation committee at a Wednesday Vision Zero hearing may be held up.
May 2, 2014
Queens Blvd Gets “Slow Zone” Label, But Speed Limit Remains the Same
Yesterday, DOT announced that Queens Boulevard, one of the city's deadliest streets, would be part of its arterial slow zone initiative that reduces speed limits from 30 to 25 mph. But unlike other streets in the program, Queens Boulevard would have its limit dropped from 35 to 30 mph. Trouble is, the speed limit on Queens Boulevard is already 30 mph, and it's been that way since 2001.
May 2, 2014
Trottenberg: The Goal Is to Roll Out 13 New SBS Routes in Four Years
It's been a big week for buses. Public meetings kicked off for Select Bus Service on Woodhaven Boulevard, signs of SBS are starting to crop up on 125th Street, and news broke that bus lanes are coming to Utica Avenue. After Wednesday's infrastructure forum, I caught up with Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg to discuss the de Blasio administration's commitment to speed up bus service citywide.
April 25, 2014
Panel: NYC Electeds Need to Get Serious About Funding Infrastructure
This morning, the Association for a Better New York, a business group, hosted a discussion on the city's infrastructure. The focus was squarely on transportation, and the message wasn't pretty. Panelists warned of dire consequences if elected officials don't act on the precarious state of transportation funding.
April 23, 2014
McGuinness Boulevard Is NYC’s Third 25 MPH Arterial Slow Zone
Ask a Greenpoint resident to name the neighborhood's most dangerous street, and they'll likely point to McGuinness Boulevard, an infamous speedway that splits the neighborhood in half. Today, it became the city's third "arterial slow zone" to receive a 25 mph speed limit, retimed traffic signals to discourage speeding, and focused enforcement.
April 22, 2014
Grand Concourse Will Be the Next Arterial With 25 MPH Limit
Local elected officials and advocates joined NYC DOT and NYPD this morning to unveil the city's second "arterial slow zone" on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx, where speed limits will be dropped to 25 mph and traffic signals will be retimed to discourage speeding.
April 17, 2014
Trottenberg: “So Many Locations” Where Albany Prohibits NYC Speed Cams
Since being turned on in mid-January, New York City's limited speed camera program -- five cameras near schools, turned on only during weekday school hours -- have caught 14,500 drivers hitting at least 40 mph as of Tuesday, according to DOT. After 15 more cameras come online later this spring, the city will have reached its state-imposed cap on cameras. To bring speeding under control on most of the city's 6,000 miles of streets, though, it's up to Albany to let NYC run a much more substantial automated enforcement program.
April 10, 2014
Atlantic Ave First of 25 “Arterial Slow Zones” to Get 25 MPH Limit This Year
As drivers zoomed by on Atlantic Avenue this morning, local elected officials and advocates joined NYC DOT and NYPD to unveil the first of the city's "arterial slow zones," major streets where the speed limit will be dropped to 25 mph from the current citywide limit of 30 mph. Traffic signals will also be retimed to a 25 mph progression, to help keep motorists' speeds in check.
April 9, 2014