T.A.  News

T.A. is hiring a Membership and Events Director! We are looking for a smart, energetic person to manage our membership program and organize major events (NYC Century and NYC Bike Week) and manage membership. This is a fun and rewarding position. Must be very well organized and have writing and leadership skills, ability to meet many deadlines, and a flexible schedule. Please visit transalt.org/jobs for a full job posting and details on how to apply.

T.A. also has three open internships: 

- NYC Century Bike Tour (helping organize the 2002 NYC Century)
- Bike Week (helping organize 2002 Bike Week)
- Advocacy (work with T.A. program staff)

Please visit transalt.org/intern for more information. 

T.A. In the News

transalt.org/media

Latest

11/5 Park Advocates Jeer Winter Traffic, Park Slope Courier

10/22 THE ROAD BACK: NYC Bike Riding Up 50% Since Sept. 11, Wall Street Journal

10/15 Downtown commuter woes need fix: Pressure building for new bus lanes; many fear job losses because of PATH, Crain's New York Business

10/5 Trade-Off by Environmentalists on Rebuilding, New York Times

10/1 Cycling in a New World, Bicycle Wire

9/27 Off Limits to Solo Drivers, New York Post

9/27 Transit System Faces Tough Test, Newsday

9/19 Commute Eases, With Mass Transit: Holiday helps trim gridlock, Daily News

Come to the  Volunteer Night Magazine Mailing Party on Tuesday, October 30 at 6 pm at the T.A. office (115 West 30th Street, #1207)!

Enjoy yourself with a friendly crowd, get free pizza, beer and snacks and be among the first to see the Fall 2001 T.A. Magazine!  Note: One day earlier than usual because of Halloween. For more info contact Craig Barnes at 212-629-8080 or events@transalt.org.

Donations Wish List

Help cycling and walking and get a tax deduction. Donate to T.A. We need:

-Laptop computer (P 100+)
-Digital Camera
-VCR (4 head)
-Good chairs for conf. table or desks
-Computer Projector

Contact Matt: info@transalt.org

Do Your Part for Safer Streets!  Report:

Potholes and Hazards:
212-442-7070 #2,#1 or report them online at transalt.org/hazard [note: due to the WTC disaster, the form can no longer be processed online by the NYC.gov web site.  Please phone in your hazard reports in the meantime.]

Read more about T.A.'s work to reduce street hazards at transalt.org/haz

Report Dangerous Cabs: 212-221-TAXI

Read more about T.A.'s work to make cabs safer for pedestrians and cyclists at transalt.org/cabs

The T.A. Bulletin is a bi-weekly publication of Transportation Alternatives.

Week of October 29, 2001  

City Installs New Bike Lane on CPW Between 63rd and 110th Streets

Thanks to the initiative of Andrew Salkin, DOT's Manhattan Borough Commissioner, the agency will be striping a new northbound bike lane on Central Park West. The new lane will be five feet wide, outboard of the parking lane on the East (park) side of the street. It should be in place within the next few weeks. T.A. welcomes the new lane, but we have to note that a curbside lane --- which would replace the parking lane --- would be far safer for cyclists, who would be spared the threat of dooring, and cars parking and pulling out. Given that the lane runs along Central Park --- where there are no store fronts, businesses or apartments --- there is no need for trucks to make deliveries, or cars or service vehicles to park. Sadly, it is actually another example of the safety of cyclists being compromised to make life easier for motorists. Sound backwards? It is.

Still, we thank Commissioner Salkin for his efforts and commitment to improving cycling and walking. If you've got an idea for a quick project in your Manhattan neighborhood, please call him at 212-442-7447 or email T.A at info@transalt.org. We are formulating a list.

Car Pool Rule Continues

Giuliani, Bloomberg and Green officials confirm that the rule requiring two or more passengers per private car on bridges and tunnels south of 63rd street will continue at least for the first three months of 2002. The rule has sharply reduced traffic in Manhattan, which is a boon to both new and old cyclists.

T.A. Works Behind the Scenes on Post 9/11 Transpo Vision

In the last month, T.A. and our allies in the Empire State Transportation Alliance, have worked fervently on a transportation plan that will improve transit, pedestrian and cycling access to downtown, Manhattan. Not much has been said in the media, but the planning to rebuild downtown's transportation access has generated tremendous activity by business, labor and advocacy groups. This issue of the T.A. Magazine lays out our plan, which is the basis for much of the broader discussion among transportation and business groups. Standing with T.A. at the core of the advocacy effort with T.A. are the Straphangers Campaign, Tri-State Transportation Plan and the Regional Plan Association. Also prominent in the effort for better transportation has been Former DOT Commissioners Elliot Sander and Lou Riccio.

T.A. Post Disaster Plan in Brief: 

1. Keep Car Pool Rule in place until other traffic reducing options, such as tolls for Single Occupant Vehicles have been put in place. The Car Pool Rule has sharply reduced traffic delays, while only affecting 3% of morning commuters. 

2. Create large pedestrian only area around stock exchange and financial district. Use smart cards and automated barriers to allow service vehicles. 

3. Create bus only lanes on highways, bridges and tunnels entering NYC. For instance, Gowanus Express, Midtown Tunnel, LIE. 

4. Create physically separated, bus only lanes on city streets: including First and Second Avenues and Route 9A (West Side Highway.) Enforce with automated cameras on buses, as is done in London.

5. Add more buses to existing local lines.

Read the latest news on this issue.

Open the Hudson Greenway Now!

Since 9/11 the Hudson River Greenway has been south of North Moore Street and between 40th and 58th Streets. The southern end is adjacent to Ground Zero and its closing understandable. However, to the north, the time has come to open the greenway. Prior to 9/11 the Hudson River / Route 9A Greenway was one of the most popular multi-use paths in the nation, serving thousands of cyclists a day.

The city Office of Emergency Management (OEM) claims the closings are for security reasons, since its command post is at Pier 92 (52nd Street) and the center for victims families at Pier 94(54th Street.) Reportedly, OEM officials have cited suicide cyclists as a threat. An absurdity since huge SUV's travel by adjacent to the greenway path and would be far more likely candidates for a suicide bombing. Hey OEM: what about car bombs? Kenya, Embassy; Beirut, Marine Barracks and Embassy. OEM should relocate to another location if it means keeping the greenway and waterfront closed. A good first step would be to announce a relocation schedule. Otherwise, OEM should erect a security fence and open the greenway. Sept. 11 was horrible for all, why compound the tragedy with high handed, poorly thought out closings of scarce public space in the name of security?

Read the letter to the subway and bus chief you wish you wrote

If you've ever had a gripe about the subways or buses, check out www.Straphangers.org, especially the "Riders Diaries" section. The Straphangers Campaign has collected hundreds of comments and questions about transit service since 9/11 and collated them into a short, smart letter to NYC Transit chief Lawrence Reuter. It's interesting stuff and helps to explain some of the changes and delays we've all been experiencing:

straphangers.org/reuterletter.htm 

Ban on Handheld Cell Phones for Drivers Takes Effect This Week

The first ever statewide ban on handheld cell phones goes into effect on Thursday, November 1, in New York State.  While T.A. applauds this recognition of the danger cell phones pose, we remind our legislators that it is not act of holding a phone that is dangerous.  Phoning and driving, whether with a handheld or hands-free phone, increases the risk of crashing to the same level as driving drunk.  T.A. supports a ban on the use of all cell phones while driving.  For more on this issue, visit transalt.org/cellphone. 

Fall 2001 T.A. Magazine  
--being mailed out this week to all T.A. members--including news on bicycle and pedestrian issues, features, ride listings, and much, much more! View the Table of Contents or request a copy!

Motorists Given Five Lanes of W. Side Hwy While Adjacent Hudson Greenway Blocked

Keep Cars Off the East River Greenway

City's Dummy Red-Light Camera Plan a Smart Move

SI Right Turn on Red Waits Governor's Signature

Bike Lanes: Quality over Quantity

The World Trade Center Attack

Letters

Dear T.A.:

Are you planning any articles about the increasing restrictions being put on pedestrians on NYC sidewalks?

For example, why have there been large planters "planted" at the LIRR entrance/exit on 34th Street? Does this have to do with any anti terrorist activity?

If it's not, it's a terrible idea. They're in the way, especially at rush hour.

I'm one of Rudy's biggest fans. I wish he could hang around after Jan. 1.

But he has definitely not been a friend of pedestrians.

Pedestrian access on NYC's sidewalks has been increasingly curtailed over the last few years. Not all of it is Giuliani's doing, of course, but some of it is.

In midtown, where I work, sidewalks were built wide enough to handle large crowds. But between the huge planters in front of some buildings, those now-ubiquitous awnings that are slapped up in front of buildings that are being worked on (but are never taken down) and omnipresent street hawkers with their stuff spread out all over the place, to say nothing of certain pedestrian lanes in midtown eliminated to allow drivers to turn right unimpeded.

Bloomie or Green wouldn't touch it in the campaign, but pedestrian rights are being pinched almost to the degree of intolerability.

KW

Correction

In our Special Report dated September 26, 2001, we inadvertently placed the list of signatures in favor of the Mayor's car-pooling measure under a list of our recommendations for New York's Transportation future.  The corrected version has been posted on our Web site: www.transalt.org. 

The T.A. Holiday Party

6:30 pm on November 29, 2001 at the Puffin Room Gallery (435 Broome Street, just east of Broadway). This will be fun! Meet and greet T.A. staff and members, refreshments, a raffle, and valet bike parking. Free for T.A. members and their guests, so Join T.A. today if you are not yet a member. To volunteer or for more information contact Craig Barnes at 212-629-8080 or events@transalt.org.

Take Action

T.A. has many volunteer opportunities.  Please visit our site to learn more about how you can help.  Be sure to come to the volunteer night magazine mailing party on Tuesday, October 30 at 6 pm at the T.A. office, 115 West 30th Street, #1207.  Free pizza, beer, and be among the first to see the new T.A. magazine!  This is one day earlier than usual because of Halloween.