Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Transportation Policy

Americans Turn to Prayer at the Pump

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As this country goes bonkers over $4-per-gallon gasoline, it would seem a good time for a sober discussion about our near-total dependence on one unsustainable mode of transport. But as modern Americans, we generally prefer whining to introspection. And when whining doesn’t work, well, there’s always prayer. Enter Rocky Twyman, a choir director and PR […]

Sadik-Khan Introduces the New York City Model

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DOT revealed its "Sustainable Streets" strategic plan last night, in the very same room where the New York City Streets Renaissance Campaign held its kick-off event a little more than two years ago. Once again, Streetfilms’ Clarence Eckerson was there. Here are excerpts from the presentation by Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, who says that, rather than […]

DOT Rolls Out “Sustainable Streets” Plan

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  The DOT today released its "Sustainable Streets" plan, an outline for bringing "a green approach" to transportation in the city by implementing safer, more equitable "world class streets policies." Of course state lawmakers took away the most powerful tool in the box by rejecting congestion pricing, so the agency is out of necessity focusing […]

How Paris is Beating Traffic Without Congestion Pricing

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Biking by the Seine during car-free hours on the Georges Pompidou Expressway. The mayor of a global metropolis, elected to his first term in 2001, set out to reduce driving and promote greener modes of transportation in his city. Congestion pricing turned out to be unfeasible, because influential political forces in the suburbs believed, rightly […]

Sadik-Khan: We’re Putting the Square Back in Madison Square

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DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan gave a brief, clear-eyed overview of the city’s post-pricing transportation agenda today at the Regional Plan Association’s 18th Annual Regional Assembly. Speaking at a panel discussion called "Making Cars Pay Their Way," she rattled off a list of projects in the works, including some public space improvements that are certain to […]