Brad Aaron
Brad Aaron began writing for Streetsblog in 2007, after years as a reporter, editor, and publisher in the alternative weekly business. Brad adopted New York's dysfunctional traffic justice system as his primary beat for Streetsblog. He lives in Manhattan.
Recent Posts
Bike-Share Is Now Online in Jersey City
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.@CitiBikeJC is ready to roll out! @bikejc pic.twitter.com/An27y7DtKD — Tri-State (@Tri_State) September 21, 2015 Citi Bike Jersey City launched today. The Jersey City system is compatible with its NYC counterpart and has the same price structure. If you sign up for one system, you can use bikes in the other. The Jersey City network launched with 350 bikes and […]
Seniors Are Not to Blame for NYC’s Failure to Make Streets Safer
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In response to motorists fatally striking seniors in the Brooklyn South command, NYPD admonished seniors to be more careful when going outside. A recent fatality in the 70th Precinct is a prime example of how focusing on the behavior of victims is a wrongheaded and ineffective approach to street safety. One of the victims cited in last week’s DNAinfo […]
24th Precinct CO: We’re Making Streets Safer by Cracking Down on Cyclists
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An Upper West Side NYPD precinct where motorists killed six pedestrians and cyclists in 2014 says it’s reducing injuries by cracking down on people riding bikes. The 24th Precinct is where drivers fatally struck Cooper Stock, Alexander Shear, Samantha Lee, and Jean Chambers, prompting a public outcry that, coupled with the launch of Vision Zero, raised […]
Rodriguez Bill Would Mandate Daylighting at 25 Intersections Per Year
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City Council transportation chair Ydanis Rodriguez introduced legislation today intended to improve pedestrian safety along bus routes and at intersections with high crash rates. Intro 912 would require DOT to daylight the five “most dangerous intersections” in each borough annually, as determined by the number of fatalities and injuries. Curb extensions would be installed to […]
Times Square Coalition: Keep the Plazas, Regulate Naked People
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The Times Square Alliance and a coalition of electeds has a plan to address complaints about Times Square without destroying the hugely successful pedestrian plazas. The centerpiece of the proposal is to legally redefine the Broadway plazas as a public space with three regulated zones: “civic” zones for public seating areas and programmed events; “flow” zones for pedestrian throughput; […]
NYPD to Brooklyn Seniors: Stop Getting Killed by Motorists
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Drivers keep killing seniors in southern Brooklyn and the NYPD’s response was to admonish seniors to be more careful crossing the street. DNAinfo reports that as of September 9, eight of 15 pedestrians killed by drivers this year in the Brooklyn South command were age 65 or older. To combat the trend, precincts in the area […]
DOT to Replace Seaman Ave. Bike Lanes With Wider Bike Lane and Sharrows
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Last week DOT told Community Board 12 that bike lanes on Seaman Avenue in Inwood, which were wiped out when most of the street was resurfaced in 2014, won’t be coming back on both sides of the street because the old 4-foot wide lanes didn’t comply with agency guidelines. DOT told Streetsblog yesterday that a 5-foot lane will be striped on northbound […]
NYPD: No Charges for Driver Whose Boat Trailer Detached, Killing Cyclist
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NYPD has filed no charges against a driver whose boat trailer came unhitched and struck two people riding bikes in Staten Island yesterday, killing one of the victims. Alexa Cioffi, 21, and another woman were riding northbound on Hylan Boulevard at Redgrave Avenue at around 5:18 p.m. when a northbound driver towing a boat with a truck attempted […]
NYPD and Electeds Idle as NYC’s Hit-and-Run Epidemic Claims Another Life
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It was a particularly barbaric crime: A driver fatally struck a person who was crossing the street with a walker, then left the scene. That it was the second such death in a matter of weeks is another reminder that New York City, thanks in part to indifference in Albany, is failing to meaningfully address its ongoing epidemic of deadly hit-and-run […]
Portland’s Bike-Share System Will Be an Interesting One to Watch
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Next week, leaders in Portland will decide whether to move forward with a long-awaited bike-share system. Assuming it proceeds, Portland’s bike-share is going to be an unusual one. Michael Andersen of BikePortland has everything you need to know in a series of posts on the proposed system (check them all out here). He reports that it would launch next summer with 600 bikes […]
And Now, Your Bike-to-School Moment of Zen
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Time to make the streets safe so there are more scenes like this. #biketoschool #bikenyc pic.twitter.com/oLE6W7vuI3 — Brooklyn Spoke (@BrooklynSpoke) September 9, 2015 A snapshot of the morning commute on the first day of school from Doug Gordon, a.k.a. Brooklyn Spoke. That is all.
Suburban Atlanta Pol: Why Fund Transit When We Can Wait for Robo-Cars?
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Gwinnett County is outpacing the Atlanta region in population growth. People who live there need transit to get to work, so much so that a recent poll found that 63 percent of likely voters were in favor of expanding MARTA service into the county. Gwinnett’s transportation director has asked for funds to restore bus service […]