2 Winners of $1,000 Folding Bikes Announced!

Congratulations to Howard M. of Manhattan and Nancy S. of Brooklyn who both won a $1,000 Brompton L3 folding bicycle as a part of our E-Bulletin sweepstakes! Their e-mail addresses were picked from the 20,000 subscribers to the e-bulletin. 

Special thanks goes to the sponsor of the sweepstakes, who donated both bikes: Mr. C.M. Wasson, the U.S. distributor for Brompton folding bikes at bromptonbike
.com.

Details of the sweepstakes are at winafreebike.org.

Keep watching this space for future giveaways to T.A. E-Bulletin subscribers. 

Curious about folding bikes? Come to the "Fold's Up!" Folding Bike Ride and Festival on October 5, 2002 at 2:30 pm starting at the Astor Place Cube. Non-folding bikes are welcome. Sponsored by Time's Up! and the Hub Station. 

TourdeBronx.org
Sunday, Oct. 27

Register online to participate in New York's largest free cycling event, the Tour de Bronx!

9/23 DOT Rejects Car-Free Park, Park Slope Courier

9/22 For Those Who Park Cars on the Street, Sunday Is No Longer a Day of Rest, New York Times

9/8 To Bikers, an Open Door Is No Invitation, New York Times

9/1 Big Trucks Take More Detours, and Residents Near Holland Tunnel Just Smile, New York Times

9/1 Slower Than a Chicken, Faster Than a Snail: The M96, New York Times

9/1 NYC Century Bike Tour September 8, Metrosports New York

8/27 Are park fees unfair? Yes. They violate the Constitution, Daily News Op-Ed

8/26 Commuters Are Working the Pedals, Newsday

8/26 Pedestrian Safety, Gotham Gazette

8/21 Rolling on the River; as bike path use rises, crowding, speeding, vehicles are problems, The Villager

8/16 Judge Says a Regulation on Park Fees Violates Law, New York Times

8/16 Ruling Targets Park Fees - Judge: Can't charge for political events, Newsday

8/16 Judge Rejects Fees for Use of City Parks, New York Post

8/16 Judge clips city fees for park events, Daily News

8/13 Bottle in a Bag Is My Idea Of Park Recreation, New York Observer

8/12 New York Is Heaven and Hell on Wheels for Its Bicycle Commuters, Bloomberg Radio

More Quotes...

Come to the Volunteer Mailing Party, Wednesday, September 25th at 6 pm at the T.A. Office (115 West 30th, #1207). 

Delivery People Wanted!

T.A. is looking for people to deliver City Cyclist to bike shops throughout NYC every two weeks. Person must be willing to be responsible for maintenance of store display. Must be able to carry heavy load long distances. $10/hour. If interested, please call Kit at 212-629-8080. Delivery starts ASAP.

Environmental Transportation Advocate

Experienced public interest advocate needed for T.A.’s cutting-edge NYC environmental transportation campaigning. Will manage pedestrian, traffic calming and car-free parks advocacy. Must have excellent writing skills, post-graduate political and/or advocacy experience and the ability to work both on policy issues and community coalition building. Salary $30k-$40k to start. E-mail and postal mail only. No phone calls please. Send cover letter (important) and resumé to Transportation Alternatives, 115 West 30th Street, Rm. 1207 NYC 10001 or info@transalt.org. Please do not attach Word documents--plain text or pdf only.

Time on your hands? Eager to make a difference? T.A. needs folks who are retired, work part-time or between jobs to help our top-notch advocacy staff make the city a better place for bicyclists, pedestrians and transit riders.
Call 212-629-8080 or e-mail info@transalt.org.

Bike Counts Coordinator Needed

T.A. needs a responsible volunteer to take the reins of the East River Bridge Count project for the fall. Responsibilities include organizing monthly bike and pedestrian counts, collecting count sheets and compiling and presenting the data. Database or spreadsheet skills are a must. East River Bridge Counts are a barometer of cycling activity in the city. The data is also used in efforts to make bridge access safer for cyclists and pedestrians. To apply, contact: bike@transalt.org.

T.A. also needs volunteers to count all those bikes and pedestrians as they cross the Queensboro, Williamsburg, Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges. The counts take place from 7-10 am, one morning a month. To volunteer, register online.

Valet Bike Parking Coordinator Needed

Organize volunteers to provide valet bike parking at events throughout the year. You are encouraged to seek out events, though not required. Register online to express your interest in this opportunity.

T.A. still has two open internships: 

- Advocacy (work with T.A. program staff)
- Bicycle Research and Policy

Please visit transalt.org/intern for more information.

Donations Wish List

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

-Pentium II or better PCs
-Laptop computer (P 100+)
-Digital Camera
-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-CALLDOT (hit 0 to speak with a human) or report them online at transalt.org/hazard  

Sidewalk obstructions: Mayor’s Quality of Life Hotline at 888-677-LIFE/5433

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

Report Dangerous Cabs: 212-221-TAXI or report them online.

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. The Bulletin has 20,000 subscribers.

Transportation Alternatives is a 5,000-member NYC-area non-profit citizens group working for better bicycling, walking and public transit, and fewer cars. We work for safer, calmer neighborhood streets and car-free parks. Join T.A. today!

Week of September 23, 2002

Commentary
Highway Ho! Why Worry, There's Oil in Africa

Political pundits of all stripes spent the weekend telling Americans not to worry about a 1970's style "energy crisis" in the event of war with Iraq and future instability in Saudi Arabia. Fortunately for Humvee drivers and other patriots, Angola and Nigeria have enormous oil reserves and they love U.S. dollars. One columnist explained that buying oil was the best form of development aid Americans could extend to the troubled continent. President Bush no doubt agrees wholeheartedly. He has issued an executive order which attempts to eliminate most environmental review of highway and airport projects. Bush and his cabinet explained that expediting highway building was good for the environment and would reduce air pollution, traffic congestion and encourage economic growth.

These matters are of more than academic or philosophic interest to New Yorkers who watched the towers collapse or lost friends and family on that terrible day. U.S. dependence on Saudi oil is integral to understanding how Al Queda evolved with such impunity. It's said "All politics is local." For post 9/11 New Yorkers, all oil politics are local.

Read more about T.A.'s work for sensible transportation policies.

T.A. Poll

DOT Waiting for Cyclist to Be Killed on Brooklyn Side of Manhattan Bridge

In a city of monster potholes and crazed cabbies it takes a lot to rattle veteran cyclists. But even the most seasoned riders agree that the Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge is frightening and unsafe. The two hundred cyclists and pedestrians exiting the bridge path each evening brave on-rushing traffic on Jay Street. Rather than improving conditions on Jay Street, the DOT erected signs guiding path users on a circuitous, quarter mile long route, which requires bicyclists to dismount for a block. Not surprisingly, the DOT's route is ignored by 99% of path users. T.A. has implored DOT to make Jay Street safer - a traffic light is one option - in correspondence dating back as far as 1992. ( See our Manhattan Bridge page for a list of past magazine articles on the subject). When it comes to the Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge, the DOT is clearly putting the flow of traffic before the safety and well being of bicyclists and pedestrians.

Write to DOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall and demand that she make the Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge safer and better designed for bicyclists and pedestrians. Be sure to send a copy of your message to T.A. at info@transalt.org. 

T.A. Poll

City's Explanation of Rejection of 3-Month Car-Free Prospect Park Trial is Baloney

According to the Catch-22 experts at the NYC DOT, a $250,000 traffic study must be performed before a three month car-free trial period can be conducted in Prospect Park. Here's the catch - the DOT doesn't have the money to do such a study. In fact, it doesn't matter, because no traffic study is needed. The 3-month car-free trial period proposed by T.A. is the traffic study. It will reveal the potential traffic impacts of a permanently car-free park on neighborhoods surrounding the park. DOT should stop using traffic studies as a smoke screen for its inaction. A huge study was performed in the late '90's and noted traffic experts like "Gridlock" Sam Schwartz say it shows that making Prospect Park car-free would have a minimal impact on surrounding communities.

Read more about T.A.'s work for a car-free Prospect Park.

Massive British Study Shows Closing Streets REDUCES Traffic

At fifty locations in Europe, Asia and United States, researchers funded by the British government examined the traffic effects of closing major streets or bridges on surrounding areas. They found that in almost every instance, traffic on surrounding streets decreased after the closures. The study was funded after an earlier British government report (SACTRA) found that if a highway is built, or a road widened, traffic increases. The British wanted to know if when road capacity is decreased, traffic will go away. In the Traffic Impact of Highway Capacity Reductions: Assessment of the Evidence (1998, Landor Publishing) researchers found clear evidence that taking away road space reduces traffic. 

The study includes a short statistical synopsis of the collapse of half of the West Side Highway in 1973. Before its collapse, the highway, which stretched from the Battery to 60th Street along the Hudson River on Manhattan's West Side, carried 110,000 vehicles a day. Afterwards the remaining section carried 50,000 cars a day, but massive traffic jams did not materialize. In fact, overall north south traffic in Manhattan declined by 8% or 50,000 vehicles. Other examples are even better documented, including reductions in traffic caused by the aftereffects of recent earthquakes in LA, San Francisco and Kobe, and many street closures in London.

Read the latest news on this subject.

With Fanfare Chicago Announces Bike-Lane Ticketing Blitz

The City of Chicago announced on September 16 that parking agents and police were making a special push to clear parked cars from the city's 72 miles of bike lanes. Chicago is on a bike lane binge; it striped 20 miles of lane in 2001 alone. Parking in a bike lane is a $100 offense in Chicago and NYC - which has 108 miles of lanes. T.A. wants NYC to show it's concern for cyclist's safety by mounting a similar high profile campaign.

Read more about T.A.'s work on bike lanes in NYC and T.A.'s Give Respect/Get Respect campaign, which educates motorists about respecting bike lanes.

T.A. Poll Results: NYC Cyclists and Pedestrians Say Conditions Stink

It's not exactly front page news that conditions on the street are not very friendly to bicyclists and pedestrians. E-bulletin readers responding to our first on-line poll, blasted the way NYC treats cyclists and pedestrians.

650 respondents to the question: "In your experience, how does NYC treat bicyclists and pedestrians?"

If you did not have a chance to participate in this poll, you may still vote--results are still being tallied.

Candidate Golisano Proposes Eliminating Tolls in NY

Multi-millionaire gubernatorial candidate Thomas Golisano made news, and earned ridicule, this week when he called for removing all toll bridges and tunnels in NY. Golisano claims removing tolls would:

"save a tremendous amount of taxpayer's dollars by not having the infrastructure to collect all these tolls, and plus we could make people's lives much more pleasant."

Golisano, who was not know to be on hallucinogens while making the remarks, offered no evidence to support his claims. When asked how he would replace the $2 billion raised by tolls, Golisano said. "We could find another way to replace the revenue."

Jeff Zupan, transportation expert at the Regional Plan Association told the NY Sun that "The reason that tolls are good public policy is because the user pays. Of course no one likes to pay tolls. No one likes to pay for anything."

In 2001, despite huge toll losses incurred because of 9/11, the MTA collected $924 million in tolls of which $539 million went to subways, commuter rail, and buses. The Port Authority took in $693 million from its bridges and tunnels, and the Thruway Authority took in $412 million.

---

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

---

Summer 2002 T.A. Magazine  
This issue has been mailed to all T.A. members. It includes news on bicycle, pedestrian and car-free Central Park and Prospect Park, sensible transportation, features and much, much more! View the Table of Contents or request a copy!

Selected articles

Bridge Access Safety Crisis Continues as the DOT Fails to Fix 6 of 8 Entrances

Shore Park Disaster Averted

State DOT NYC Office To Make Big Safety Improvements on Hudson Greenway

Alphabet Soup of Bike Agencies Needs Chef

Secure Parking's 2nd Chance At Grand Central

Council Ups Penalties for Riding on Sidewalk--Again

T.A. Seeks Safer Cabs

Take Action

T.A. has many volunteer opportunities.  Please visit our site to learn more about how you can help.  Come to the Volunteer Mailing Party, Wednesday, September 25th at 6 pm at the T.A. Office (115 West 30th, #1207). 

MAD AS HELL?  DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT!

Call the Mayor's Quality of Life Action Line (real people 24 hrs a day) 888-677-5433 or e-mail Mayor Bloomberg.

POTHOLES, STREET HAZARDS GOT YOU IN A RUT?

Call DOT at 212-225-5368 and hit 0 to skip the message and speak with a human.

STAY SMART & INFORMED

Savvy transit riders get their lowdown on the subways here:

straphangers
.org
The ultimate source for bus and subway service changes, rider comments and complaints that produce action. Help yourself and T.A.’s favorite transit advocates. Check it out.

Sensible Transport Junkies:

Subscribe to the Tri-State Transportation Campaign’s e-weekly, Mobilizing the Region.  tstc.org

The daily Gotham Gazette

Bikes in Bogota? Car-Free Cartagena? Tel-Aviv by Train?

Go global at itdp.org!

Give on-line at transalt.org/join 

Check our maps page for links to NYC-area bicycle and transit maps.

RIDES AND WALKS

Wednesday, September 25, 9:30 am. Osborne Loop Hike on the Hudson. Grand Central info booth. Shorewalkers.

Thursday, September 26, 10 am. Pascack Brook Park. Central Park Boathouse. The Weekday Cyclists.

Friday, September 27, 10 pm. Critical Mass. Union Square Park North. Time's Up!

Saturday, September 28. Escape from New York Century. 122nd St. and Riverside Dr. NYCC.

Saturday, September 28, 8:30 am. Herman McNeil Park. Roosevelt Island Tramway. 5BBC.

Saturday, September 28, 10 am. Strolling along the Hackensack. McGraw Ave & Queen Anne Road in Teaneck. Shorewalkers.

Saturday, September 28, 10 pm. Riverside Ride. Columbus Circle. Time's Up!

Sunday, September 29, 6:30 am. Twin Lights Ride. Pier 11, Wall Street. Bike New York.

Sunday, September 29. Ramapo Rally. Center for Family Resources, Ringwood, New Jersey. Bicycle Touring Club of North Jersey. 

Sunday, September 29, 9:45 am. Kensico. Woodside stop on #4 train. Fast and Fabulous.

Sunday, September 29, 1 pm. Monarch Migration Walk. Richardson Avenue and Hylan Blvd. Shorewalkers.

Monday, September 30, 10 am. Rockland Lake to Nyack. GWB bus terminal ticket windows. Shorewalkers.

Friday, October 4, 10 pm. Central Park Moonlight Ride. Columbus Circle. Time's Up!

Saturday, October 5, 9 am. Explore Queens. Plaza Hotel. 5BBC.

Saturday, October 5, 9:45 am. Annual Monarch Butterfly Walk. Main entrance of Great Kills Park on Hylan Blvd. Shorewalkers.

Saturday, October 5, 10:20 am. Nyack to Lamont-Doherty Annual Fair. GWB Bus Terminal, 178th St. & Broadway to take 10:40 bus to Nyack. Shorewalkers.

Saturday, October 5, 10:30 am. Northside Williamsburg-
Greenpoint Loop. Outside Bedford Avenue L Station. Shorewalkers.

Saturday, October 5, 2:30 pm. Folds Up Folding Bike Ride. Astor Place Cube (rain date October 6). Time's Up!

Sunday, October 6, 7 am. Pumpkin Patch Pedal. Thompson Park, Jamesburg, NJ. SIBA.

Sunday, October 6, 9 am. The Greenway Tour II. Van Cortlandt Park. 5BBC.

Sunday, October 6, 9 am. Old Croton Aqueduct Ride. Van Cortlandt Park Golf Clubhouse (VCP South and Bailey AVe., Bronx). Time's Up! and Fast and Fabulous.

Sunday, October 6, 11:30 am. Jersey City Artist Studio Tour. Grove Street Path Station. Shorewalkers.

Saturday, October 12, 9:30 am. Wandering to Walt's. Kew Gardens. 5BBC.

Saturday, October 12, 7:40 am. Milford to Bethany (and back). Grand Central. 5BBC.

October 13-14. Hazon’s 2nd Annual New York Jewish Environmental Bike Ride (open to riders of any religious background). Hazon.

Sunday, October 13, 8:50 am. Palisades Circular. GWB Bus Terminal for 9:15 am Red and Tan bus to Palisades Ave and Route 9W. Shorewalkers.

Sunday, October 13, 9 am. Brooklyn Sojourn. City Hall. 5BBC.

Sunday, October 13, 9 am. Rye Play Adventures. HI-AYH. 5BBC.

Sunday, October 13, 9:30 am. Traffic-Hater's Ride to Welwyn Preserve. Cunningham Park. 5BBC.

Sunday, October 13, 10:15 am. Bicycle from Patchogue to Montauk. Outside Patchogue RR Station. Shorewalkers.

Sunday, October 13, 12:15 pm. New Jersey Ramble. HI-AYH. 5BBC.

More Rides and Walks...