Your Advocate for Bicycling, Walking and Public Transit

Our Mission is to reclaim New York City's streets from the automobile, and to advocate for bicycling, walking and public transit as the best transportation alternatives.

Transportation Alternatives was founded in 1973 during the explosion of environmental consciousness that also produced the Clean Air and Clean Water Act and the Environmental Protection Agency. Since our founding, T.A. has helped win numerous improvements for cyclists and pedestrians and has been the leading voice for reducing car use in the city. T.A.'s roots are in bicycling, and many of our members are everyday cyclists. But winning a cycling-friendly city means changing the overall transportation system, which, even in mass transit-centered New York City, is still dominated by the private automobile.

T.A. seeks to change New York City's transportation priorities to encourage and increase non-polluting, quiet, city-friendly travel and decrease--not ban--private car use. We seek a rational transportation system based on a "Green Transportation Hierarchy," which gives preference to modes of travel based on their benefits and costs to society. To achieve our goals, T.A. works in five areas: Bicycling, Walking and Traffic Calming, Car-Free Parks, Safe Streets and Sensible Transportation.

Bicycling
NYC is a flat, compact and potentially terrific place to ride a bicycle. This is why 110,000 New Yorkers commute by bicycle everyday. But cyclists face many obstacles, particularly the lack of secure places to park their bikes and unsafe street conditions. T.A. seeks to overcome these obstacles by winning bicycle lanes, off-street greenway paths, secure indoor bicycle parking and unrestricted access to the subways. Our Operation Hazard ID program catalogs thousands of street hazards and gets them fixed by the DOT. T.A. also encourages cycling as a smart, fun way to get around through Bike Week NYC and the NYC Century Bike Tour, and reminds cyclists to stay off sidewalks and obey traffic rules through our Give Respect / Get Respect program.

Safe Streets
Widespread speeding, reckless driving and a general disrespect for cyclists and pedestrians make streets feel unsafe. Last year, motorists injured 12,000 pedestrians and 3,500 cyclists. T.A. fights hard to protect the dignity and safety of bicyclists and pedestrians by winning more police traffic enforcement. But though it has made huge strides in reducing pedestrian deaths and enforcing traffic violations, the NYPD has a long way to go in making streets comfortable places to walk and bicycle. T.A. works hard to make sure that the NYPD is committed to just this. To augment police enforcement, T.A. works with City Hall and the DOT to win permission from the state legislature to use automated red light cameras and speed cameras.

Car-Free Parks
T.A. seeks car-free Central and Prospect Parks. Nothing symbolizes New York City's backwards transportation policies better than the presence of cars in Central Park and Prospect Park. It is absurd that these world famous public spaces-scarce oases of green built to provide New Yorkers with relief from the noise, crowding and tumult of this giant city-are used as short cuts for cab drivers and solo motorists. In our fight for totally car-free parks, T.A. has won extended car-free weekday hours, car-free weekends and reclaimed motor vehicle entrances for park land.

Pedestrian Advocacy and Traffic Calming
New York is a walking city. New Yorkers walk more and drive less than anywhere else in the country. But dangerous streets, crowded sidewalks and too much motor traffic discourage walking and destroy neighborhood quality of life. T.A. advocates for a pedestrian-friendly NYC through programs that traffic calm problem spots around the city. In 1997, T.A. created the nation's first Safe Routes to School program in The Bronx, which inspired the DOT to launch its own multi-million dollar Safe Schools program. Now, T.A. is working on a Safe Routes to Seniors project in northern Manhattan. T.A. also operates a Neighborhood Streets Network of 100 groups that are using traffic calming to reduce motor traffic in their neighborhoods. Finally, T.A. created our Reclaiming the Sidewalk project in 2001 to address the myriad menaces to pedestrians on the sidewalks: parked cars, vending boxes and obtrusive sidewalk vendors.

Sensible Transportation
At the root of the transportation problems New Yorkers face are government policies that encourage the use of private cars. With our allies, especially the Straphangers Campaign and Tri-State Transportation Campaign, T.A. works to make the City charge motorists a fair amount to use the scarce public spaces that are streets and bridges and adjust its method of timing of traffic lights and building roads so that it does not focus only or primarily on maximizing motor traffic flow. As part of our push to get the City to rethink its traffic priorities, T.A. has fought hard for tolls on the East River bridges, worked with the Straphangers Campaign to win more street space for buses and supports city programs to charge more for on-street parking and commercial vehicle parking. We also seek to redirect public spending so that cycling and pedestrian projects, especially safety projects, are well funded. T.A. is the main watchdog group for the NYC Department of Transportation.

Every day, policy makers and journalists turn to T.A. as the authority on cyclists and pedestrian safety. Why? Because we're making a difference by changing the face of New York's streets and improving the lives of cyclists, walkers and transit users.

We need your help to make a difference.

Become a member or donate today.