Samuel Santaella

Recent Posts

The writer would prefer to bike along the curb. Photo: DOT

OPINION: Center-Running Bike Lanes Aren’t as Good as Proponents Suggest

By Samuel Santaella | May 9, 2023 | No Comments

Accessing community amenities requires access to the curb — which is where bike lanes belong, our contributor writes.

A brining team on Queens Boulevard. Photo: Department of Sanitation

OPINION: Swap Out Car Lanes for a Center-Running Bus Lane, Better Bike Facilities on Queens Boulevard

By Samuel Santaella | Apr 26, 2022 | No Comments

Here's a better way to fix of the 'Boulevard of Death' than the DOT has yet proposed.

The redesigned Queens Boulevard, circa 2017, with bike lane. It doesn't go far enough. Photo: NYC DOT

OPINION: Extend the Queens Boulevard Bike Lanes to Jamaica!

By Samuel Santaella | Jun 23, 2021 | No Comments

Cyclists need safety as they cross streets with highway-like conditions on the way to a shopping and transit hub.

No one wants to spend time on crowded buses in the age of COVID. Transit Signal Priority could help speed the buses, but the city has stalled on rolling it out. Photo: Adam Light

OPINION: Give Buses Signal Priority — Now!

By Samuel Santaella | Sep 29, 2020 | No Comments

The DOT's laborious process is holding up a sensible measure that will speed transit and could make riders safer in the age of COVID.

The proposed "Queens Ribbon." Rendering: Sam Schwartz Engineering

Opinion: Gridlock Sam’s Ribbon Bridges Are Growing on Me

By Samuel Santaella | Jul 20, 2020 | No Comments

The proposed bike/ped spans would help active transportation citywide. In fact, we could use more of them!

Riding a cargo bike with kids in Amsterdam. How can we make it convenient and common in NYC? Photo: Clarence Eckerson Jr.

Op-Ed: A Tale of (Transporting) Two Families

By Samuel Santaella | May 11, 2020 | No Comments

Mobility options are unequal for different classes of New Yorkers — but not if we decide to invest in transportation alternatives.

The constant stream of traffic means that anyone seeking to cross Farmers Boulevard must wait for a gap in order to proceed. The new leading pedestrian intervals on the traffic lights make it easier and more predictable for everyone. Photo: Samuel Santaella

Op-Ed: One Small Step for Street Safety, One Giant Leap for Human Dignity

By Samuel Santaella | Mar 24, 2020 | No Comments

As New Yorkers stay home, it helps vulnerable road users to have a few extra seconds to cross a really wide, dangerous Queens street.

This will simultaneously get better, and worse, to ride inside the city. Photo: MTA

Op-Ed: Commuter-Train Fare Cut Doesn’t Help Low-Income New Yorkers

By Samuel Santaella | Mar 4, 2020 | No Comments

Even with an intracity discount, the MTA continues to prop up a system of transit Apartheid.

New cyclist too slow? You're ready to enlist in the War on Cars. Photo: Laura Shepard

Op-Ed: Don’t Forget Us, Bike Mayor!

By Samuel Santaella | Nov 29, 2019 | No Comments

The position should focus on bringing infrastructure to the under-served, outer-borough areas that need it most.

The Select Bus Service project on Woodhaven Boulevard, a major north-south route in Queens, promised to make streets safer. But people who want to travel by bike have no safe routes to other parts of Queens in this transit and bike desert. But there's plenty of free parking!

Op-Ed: Let’s Build Bus and Bike Infrastructure Together

By Samuel Santaella | Oct 23, 2019 | No Comments

It is disappointing that, as the boroughs finally modernize their bus services with bus lanes, stop-consolidation and more, cycling again seems left out of the picture.