Gotham Gazette

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Transportation Alternatives

Transportation Alternatives

  • Adams Administration Far Behind on Bus Infrastructure Benchmarks, with Promises to Improve This Year

    Bus riders (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office)


    On thecampaign trail and inCity Hall, Mayor Eric Adams

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  • To Protect Older New Yorkers, Leaders Must Expand Proven Solutions to End Traffic Violence

    Crossing the street safely (photo: Clay LeConey)


    99-year-old Holocaust survivorJack Mikulincer was killed crossing the street in his wheelchair by an SUV driver in Brooklyn.

    88-year-old...

  • As City Reopens, De Blasio’s ‘Better Buses’ Plan Stuck in Traffic

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    Mayor de Blasio on the bus (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor's Office)


    Early in June, when New York City was just entering phase one of its economic “reopening” and the city still had daily triple-digit coronavirus death counts, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced an ambitious plan, the Better Bus Restart Initiative, to add 20 more miles of bus lanes and five new busways by October, in addition to making the 14th Street busway permanent. While this plan, offered during a unique opportunity to rethink city street use, did not go as far as many public officials and advocates would

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  • City Council Hears Speaker’s Bill Requiring ‘Master Plan for City Streets’

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    (photo: Emil Cohen/City Council)


    [Note: this hearing was indeed held on Wednesday June 12; this article is a preview of the hearing]

    On Wednesday, the New York City Council transportation committee will hold a hearing on a bill sponsored by Council Speaker Corey Johnson that would mandate the creation of a five-year “master plan” for city streets with a variety of specifications aimed at making the city more friendly to bikers and pedestrians, and less deferential to cars. If passed and implemented, the legislation would have a major impact on

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  • Assessing Vision Zero Amid a Spike in Traffic Fatalities

    Vision Zero

    (photo: John McCarten/City Council)


    Soon after Mayor Bill de Blasio stepped into office in 2014, he championed Vision Zero, a signature street safety program with the goal of reducing traffic-related fatalities from 297 in 2013 to zero by 2024. About halfway through that ten-year timeline, the program has become a significant de Blasio success, even as some advocates and lawmakers have said the administration could and should be moving ahead faster to protect pedestrians and bikers, and limit deference to cars.

    Through increasing the number of protected bike

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  • Max & Murphy Podcast: Is Vision Zero Stalled?

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    (photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office)


    June 5, 2019 - Max & Murphy Podcast: Is Vision Zero Stalled?

    yd r marcoThe Vision Zero street safety program is one of Mayor Bill de Blasio's signature programs and its reductions in traffic fatalities one of his major accomplishments. But, pedestrian and cyclist deaths are up this year and, regardess of that spike or not, but especially because

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  • Where Mayor De Blasio Must Take Vision Zero Next

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    Mayor de Blasio and Vision Zero (photo via DOT)


    Vision Zero is a singularly successful legacy project for Mayor Bill de Blasio. It would be more successful if his safety projects were decoupled from parochial interests.

    In 2011, Transportation Alternatives and the Drum Major Institute published Vision Zero: How Safer Streets in New York City Can Save More Than 100 Lives a Year, the first Vision Zero report in the

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  • De Blasio’s 'Piecemeal' Transportation Agenda

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    Mayor de Blasio on the subway (photo: Michael Appleton/Mayor’s Office)


    Announcing the next steps of his citywide ferry service initiative at a recent press conference, Mayor Bill de Blasio said he is pleased with what his administration has done to improve transit options for New Yorkers, but admitted that he hasn’t put forth a coherent, comprehensive transportation agenda.

    Though transit experts have praised some of de Blasio’s moves to expand the city’s transportation network, many have also criticized

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