Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Technology

“Midtown in Motion” to Come With Rad Driver-Distracting Apps

By Brad Aaron | Jul 21, 2011 | 16 Comments

As it is, the NYC DOT “Midtown in Motion” initiative is a bit of a head-scratcher. To learn that the city is devoting well over a million dollars in addition to staff resources to speed up car traffic in Midtown, which the mayor has declared the “lifeblood” of the CBD — is it 2006 again? […]

High-Tech Midtown Traffic System Will Ignore Pedestrians and Buses

By Noah Kazis | Jul 20, 2011 | 11 Comments

The Department of Transportation is rolling out a response to Midtown traffic congestion that is as high-tech as it is intellectually outdated. Microwave sensors, video cameras, and E-ZPass readers will gather traffic information in real-time and beam the information to the DOT’s Queens command center, where engineers will instantly adjust the traffic lights as needed […]

CrashStat 3.0 Will Build a Better Danger Map to Empower Safety Activists

By Noah Kazis | Feb 9, 2011 | 4 Comments

CrashStat, the interactive map of cyclist and pedestrian injuries and fatalities, is one of the most important tools for New Yorkers who want to make their streets safer. Nothing else lets you quickly access the safety stats for your community or visualize the injury rates at specific intersections and streets. Transportation Alternatives is now looking […]

City Crowdsourcing Tool Could Help Cyclists During Snowy Commutes

By Noah Kazis | Jan 13, 2011 | 4 Comments

The weather’s given New York City a lot of opportunities to experiment with new responses to snow in the wake of the post-Christmas blizzard. One potentially exciting new tool is a city attempt to crowdsource information about which streets are and aren’t clear of snow and ice. It could be a good resource for cyclists […]

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How the Information Age Can Make Streets and Transit More Efficient

By Tanya Snyder | Oct 7, 2010 | No Comments

In Pittsburgh, elderly para-transit riders get automated phone calls with the precise arrival time of their vehicle. Bus priority lanes and preferential traffic signals in the Twin Cities are improving on-time service. Here in Washington, DC, stored value on SmartTrip cards pays for Metro parking, train and bus, and it can sync with pre-tax employee […]