Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Car Culture

Black Clouds Over China

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The balloon says: Drive one day less and look how much carbon dioxide you’ll keep out of the air we breathe. While the Chinese economy is booming, the skies above its cities are blackening. China will actually pass the United States as the world’s biggest source of greenhouse gases this year. The World Wildlife Federation […]

Media (Mostly) Give PlaNYC Its Due

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When Malcom Murray-Clark, Director of Congestion Charging at Transport for London, visited New York last month, he cited negative media coverage as a major obstacle to implementing the congestion charge in the English capital. By contrast, unlike some, New York media on balance appear willing to give PlaNYC, and congestion pricing, the benefit of the […]

What $13 Billion Looks Like

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  With the above chart and these comments in mind, here’s some food for thought from the PlaNYC Transportation chapter: Only 4.6% of working New Yorkers commute to Manhattan by car. The vast majority of trips made in New York are not to Manhattan; even among commuters, nearly twice as many outer borough residents work […]

Council Overrides Pedicab Veto

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NY1 is reporting that the City Council has voted to override Mayor Bloomberg’s veto of its pedicab bill. The pedicab bill caps the number of cabs at 325 and also adds new safety and insurance requirements. The mayor vetoed the bill after meeting with pedicab drivers who were concerned about losing their jobs.

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 […]