Sarah Goodyear
Recent Posts
Gas Costs More? Fill ’Er Up!
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Rising gas prices may be causing a reduction in driving. That makes sense. What doesn’t is the news that in spite of increasing pain at the pump, SUV sales are on the upswing. This, from the San Francisco Chronicle: The numbers for large SUVs rose nearly 6 percent in the first quarter of 2007, and […]
The Car Habit Is Tough to Break
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"People are addicted to their cars," said John Street, the Mayor of Philadelphia, at a panel on transport yesterday during the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit. He was identifying what he saw as the major challenge for cities striving to make their transport systems more environmentally sustainable. That remark prompted a comment later from Jim […]
Congestion Pricing Foes Will Go into Attack Mode
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Crain’s New York Business reports that the group leading the campaign against congestion pricing will begin a lobbying blitz aimed at derailing Mayor Bloomberg’s pricing proposal next week, just as the mayor goes to Albany to try to win state legislators over to his PlaNYC initiative. The arguments to be mounted by the "Keep NYC […]
High-Emission Vehicles to Pay £200 ($400!) to Enter London
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London mayor Ken Livingstone, whose congestion-pricing plan has served as a model for Mayor Bloomberg’s, is expected to unveil today an even more radical measure aimed at reducing pollution in his city. According to the Guardian, Livingstone’s proposal would target high-emission commercial vehicles: Ken Livingstone is expected to confirm that older, "dirtier" lorries and buses […]
They Cover the Waterfront: Brooklyn’s Future Greenway
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Opening this summer: East River State Park on the Brooklyn waterfront It was a dreamy spring day on the Brooklyn waterfront as more than 100 bikers set out to trace the proposed route of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway. Starting at the end of Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint, cyclists were treated to views of the soon-to-open […]
Londoners Take to the Streets — on Cycles
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Via the blog of Stuart Hughes, a BBC journalist who lost part of his leg in Iraq while on assignment in 2003 and who is an avid cyclist, come a few interesting links regarding cycling in London. First, a BBC story on the skyrocketing popularity of biking both for recreation and commuting in London, a […]
It’s Official: Sadik-Khan in at DOT
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After weeks of speculation, City Hall has announced that Janette Sadik-Khan, a senior vice president at Parsons Brinckerhoff, will be the new commissioner of the NYC DOT. This from a press release issued this afternoon by the mayor’s office: "Janette Sadik-Khan has a superb mix of public and private sector transportation management experience and she […]
Can Technology Make Public Transit More Alluring?
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Would they get out of their cars if they could surf the Web on the bus? A recent article in USA Today looks at technological fixes for environmental problems — including traffic — caused by America’s exploding consumption of resources. The USA is growing more rapidly than any other developed nation and is projected to […]
Bus Bulbs Useless Without Enforcement
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A story about the new bus bulbs on Lower Broadway in the New York Times highlights the role that enforcement will have to play if DOT’s plan to make the boulevard more bus-friendly is to work. (Bus Rapid Transit, of course, will face similar issues when it rolls out later this year.) The story points […]
Queens Chamber Continues Campaign Against Congestion Pricing
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Foes of congestion pricing marshalled by the Queens Chamber of Commerce held a press conference yesterday at which several politicians from the borough took a stand against the mayor’s plan. According to a press release provided by the chamber, City Council Finance Chair David Weprin called the proposal unnecessary: "I don’t think City Hall understands […]
Will City Council Override Mayor’s Pedicab-Bill Veto?
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Anticipating a vote in the City Council this afternoon to override the mayor’s veto of Intro 331-A, a bill to regulate pedicabs, a group of pedicab operators was demonstrating outside the American Museum of Natural History after Bloomberg’s big Earth Day speech. Handing out leaflets with the numbers of swing councilmembers like Daniel Garodnick, the […]
How Green Is Our Mayor
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Bookending his much-vaunted Earth Day speech with congratulatory video clips from California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Mayor Mike Bloomberg called for New Yorkers to take the initiative in the international fight against global warming, positioning himself as a leader on the issue. "Climate change is a national challenge, and meeting […]