Dani Simons
Dani Simons is the Communications Director for the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, an NGO that promotes sustainable and equitable transportation worldwide. She previously served as Director of Strategic Communications for the NYC Department of Transportation where she managed the agencys online communications, social media, large-scale marketing campaigns and started New York Citys Summer Streets program.
Recent Posts
LaHood Announces Safety Summits to Help Shape New Bikeway Standards
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In 2010, DOT Secretary Ray LaHood mounted a table at the National Bike Summit and proclaimed, “I’ve been all over America, and…people want alternatives. They want out of their cars, they want out of congestion, they want to live in… livable communities.” He added, to thunderous applause, “You’ve got a partner in Ray LaHood.” Shortly […]
NACTO Wrap-Up: Cities Are Doing It For Themselves
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The leaders of the nation’s big city transportation agencies have formed a tight-knit circle, brought together by the National Association of City Transportation Officials to share best practices, and yes, battle scars. As NACTO’s first ever national conference drew to a close today, transportation chiefs from Boston, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Chicago and New York all […]
Packed House Tells Cuomo to Build a Tappan Zee With Transit
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Support for transit ran high at the first of two public hearings on the Tappan Zee draft environmental impact statement at the Palisades Mall in Rockland last night. A crowd pegged at 500 people packed into the hearing room and spilled out over into the hallway where union members milled next to mayors of Rockland […]
Transit Deserts Leave New Yorkers Thirsting for Access to Jobs
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Much progress has been made in the five years since Scott Stringer’s first transportation conference, but many transit riders are still wandering in the “transportation deserts” that were the focus of one afternoon panel at the Manhattan borough president’s follow-up event, Transportation 2030, this past Friday. Transportation deserts include neighborhoods from City Island in the […]
To Make Progress on Transportation Policy, Consistent Leadership Matters
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Why do we fail? Chris Ward, the former head of the Port Authority, offered this provocative question at the start of Transportation 2030, the sequel to Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s 2006 transportation conference. Considering how much progress has been made toward sustainable transportation since 2006, it seemed like an odd question at first. But […]
American BRT: A Rapid Bus Network Expands in Las Vegas
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Last month the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy released its report, “Recapturing Global Leadership in Bus Rapid Transit” [PDF], which proposed a LEED-like rating system for bus rapid transit projects and laid out a strategy for American cities to build systems as good as the world’s best BRT. While more than 20 American bus […]