The campaign for a Car-Free summer has reached a tipping point with hefty support from high-level city officials, elected representatives, respected advocacy organizations and tens of thousands of dedicated New Yorkers. This rally is a watershed event in the history of the campaign; don't miss it.

As the weather warms and the days become longer, the importance of standing together for a Car-Free park grows. In the summer, when recreational demand is highest and traffic volumes are lowest, a Car-Free summer in Central Park is an imminently sensible improvement to City life.

24-hours a day, 7-days a week and 3-months of this year, we have the opportunity to enjoy a safe, healthy and serene Central Park. Help make this vision a reality. Come to the rally at City Hall on Sunday March 26 at noon and call for a Car-Free Summer.

Help us build a strong rally by RSVPing, and by inviting your friends.

When scarce bike racks are full where are you allowed to park your bike?

While there are no city or state laws that prohibit parking bicycles at City-owned sidewalk fixtures, in the past year the City has stated that bikes so parked can be seized. Fortunately, few have been seized to date.

T.A. has asked City Hall and City Council to create commonsense outdoor bike parking rules, and we need your help to build the case for them.

E-mail T.A. at info@transalt.org to tell us your story if you're confused by the current outdoor bike parking rules in New York City. We're collecting statements to convince City decision makers to create rational outdoor bike parking guidelines.

Ask Manhattan Borough Commissioner Margaret Forgione to support a buffered bike lane for 8th Avenue, like the existing one on Hudson Street to the south.

Community groups, elected officials, the general public and T.A. all want the DOT to stripe a buffered bike lane. On wide and heavily trafficked 8th Avenue, a buffered bike lane—a five-foot bike lane separated from moving traffic by a two- to three-foot striped buffer zone—will be far safer and encourage more people to ride than a standard five-foot lane.

A buffer zone is a stronger visual separation between bike lanes and moving car traffic than standard bike lane striping. It keeps drivers from encroaching into the bike lane and endangering cyclists by forcing them into the "door" zone. Opening car doors are the number one cause of bike crashes in New York City. A buffer zone also provides safe space for cyclists to ride around other common hazards like cars in the bike lane, potholes and debris.

The 8th Avenue bike lane would connect to Central Park and fill the gap between the popular Hudson Street bike lane to the south and the well-used Central Park West, Frederick Douglass and St. Nicholas bike lanes to the north. In Midtown, it would offer a much needed alternative to the sub-standard 6th Avenue lane. The new bike lane would also help tame traffic, make 8th Avenue safer for everyone and reduce sidewalk cycling.

Vanderbilt Avenue in Brooklyn connects Fort Greene and Prospect Heights to Prospect Park. Neighborhood groups are fighting to change it from a thruway to a destination for strolling and biking.

To transform Vanderbilt Avenue from a dangerous thruway into an inviting destination for walkers and cyclists, Transportation Alternatives has been working with the Prospect Heights Parents Association and the Prospect Heights Development Council.

At the request of these two groups, the Brooklyn Department of Transportation recently convened several community groups to talk about Vanderbilt's pro-pedestrian transformation.

We are happy to announce that the DOT has agreed to install some of the community's commonsense recommendations that will improve safety and connectivity of the area for all street users.

By early summer look for Vanderbilt to get a little easier to cross. The DOT will reclaim a travel lane in each direction on Vanderbilt Avenue, adding a striped median that will start between Sterling and Park Place and end between Bergen and Dean Street. While temporary striping is a cheap, easy technique to improve pedestrian safety and accessibility in the short-term and provides drivers adequate time to alter their behavior, permanent raised medians should be installed to ensure maximum safety.

The good news is temporary striping can be transformed into a lush landscaped median as wide as 16-feet in some locations on Vanderbilt Avenue in as little as two years. Addition of this raised median will provide a safer, more enjoyable space for walkers and parents with strollers to stop when they do not have enough time to cross. A landscaped median will also add greenery and shade to a currently barren streetscape.

T.A. commends the DOT for its immediate attention to a dangerous situation. We would also like to thank Councilmember James and Borough President Markowitz for acting in their neighborhood's best interest to increase safety along Vanderbilt Avenue. We ask that the DOT continue to evaluate additional design recommendations and local concerns to ensure that drivers act responsibly.

In a nutshell, this groundbreaking new study shows that only a small percentage of workers and shoppers are currently driving to work or shop in Manhattan's Central Business District, and for 90% of people who do use the car, decent transit alternatives exist. This runs counter to the commonly held belief that auto traffic is paramount to the function of Manhattan's economy.

The study, by Schaller Consulting, uses data from the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council and the U.S. census to show that the automobile is more of a hindrance than a help to most people traveling in Manhattan and that motorists are vastly more likely to switch modes than switch destinations if car travel is made less speedy or convenient.

Here are some of the study's key findings:

• Only 14% of trips to the CBD are by car
• 80% of car drivers have time-competitive transit alternatives
• Only 6% of shopping trips south of 60th Street in Manhattan involve the use of a car

Based on these and other findings, the study concludes that reallocating street space from cars to pedestrians, bicyclists, buses and delivery vehicles would more efficiently contribute to the mobility of persons and goods in Manhattan. It would bolster, rather than slow, Manhattan's economic engine.

So what does all of this mean for the future of New York City transportation?

Reducing the street space devoted to automobiles or restricting auto use would not prevent people from going about their professional and personal lives in Manhattan.

Download and read the full study.

Read what others are saying about this new report.

Thursday, March 2nd, 7-9 pm
Old First Reformed Church
7th Avenue at Carroll Street

As the pace of development in and around Downtown Brooklyn accelerates, how will it affect our neighborhoods' traffic and transportation infrastructure? What can we do to ensure that our transportation systems remain functional, and that our neighborhoods continue to be great places to live? Residential parking permits, East River Bridge tolls, car-free parks, bus rapid transit, the Atlantic Yards project—on March 2nd it's all on the table for discussion.

Featuring: Fred Kent, the president of Project for Public Spaces, a leading authority on revitalizing city spaces and one of the world's foremost thinkers on livability, smart growth and the future of the city; Karla Quintero, project coordinator from Transportation Alternatives, who will present the preliminary findings of a groundbreaking study on the impacts of neighborhood traffic on health and social cohesion; and Jon Orcutt, executive director of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, who will talk about what we can do to push forward government policy.

There will also be an exclusive five-minute preview of the new documentary film, Contested Streets: Breaking New York City Gridlock. Representatives of the Department of Transportation, New York City Transit, major real estate developers and elected officials have been invited and there will be time for questions and answers.

See a full listing of Livable Streets events.

3/15, 6:30-8 pm  Stickball: Past, Present, and Future
of the Quintessential NYC Street Game

3/20, 6:30-8 pm  Connecting Neighborhood Leaders
with Resources

Events are at the Municipal Art Society, 457 Madison Avenue, Manhattan
Please RSVP for all events you plan to attend at rsvp@mas.org or 212-935-2075.

The Museum of the City of New York
1220 Fifth Avenue

Please join us at the Museum of the City of NY for a panel discussion on traffic relief.

Three different perspectives on the pressing issue of traffic relief will be presented by Tim Tompkins, President, Times Square Alliance; Councilmember David Weprin, 23rd Council District, Queens; and Paul White, Executive Director, Transportation Alternatives in a conversation moderated by Peter H. Kostmayer, President of Citizens for NYC. A special viewing at 6 pm of the exhibition New York Comes Back: Mayor Ed Koch and the City will precede the program and a reception follows.

Please RSVP by calling Debra Sheldon at 212-989-0909, ext. 592 or by emailing dsheldon@citizensnyc.org.

Applications will be available online this week and interested groups can contact Debra Sheldon at 212-989-0909 or dsheldon@citizensnyc.org for more information.

Parks Advocacy Day will include:

1. Networking breakfast with park enthusiasts
2. One-on-one meetings with Council Members
3. Elected Officials speak on parks

WHEN: May 10, 2006
WHERE: 250 Broadway (City Council Offices)

Sign up on the New Yorkers for Parks website.

NoHo Neighborhood Association, Lower East Side Alliance
and the SoHo Alliance

Thursday, March 2nd at 7 pm
The Public Theater at 425 Lafayette Street

A forum for residents to ask elected officials key questions about Land Use, Traffic and Bar/Restaurant/Nightclub Density in our neighborhoods. This event is co-sponsored by The Public Theater, Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and the SoHo Journal.

This is a unique opportunity for you to express your concerns directly to your elected representatives. All questions will be submitted to our panelists and to City Agencies for their review and response.

Panelists:
State Senator Martin Connor
State Senator Tom Duane
State Assembly Member Deborah Glick
The Office of Sheldon Silver, Speaker, NYS Assembly
Deputy-Mayor Ed Skyler
Borough President Scott Stringer
Council Member Alan Gerson
Council Member Rosie Mendez

The forum will be followed by a reception.

Bicyclists and pedestrians are forced to contend with a dangerous and inconvenient Manhattan entrance to the Queensboro Bridge.

The City is implementing bicycle safety and access improvements on the Queens side of the Queensboro Bridge. They must do the same for the Manhattan side. Why should the City make only one side of the bridge safe while the other remains dangerous?

T.A. needs your help to improve safety and access to the Manhattan side of the Queensboro Bridge and bicycling conditions on the Upper East Side in general. Volunteer to petition and collect surveys that will convince the City to make these necessary changes. Email volunteer@transalt.org, with Queensboro Bridge in the subject line.

Reports Give Conflicting Views of Congestion Pricing in City New York Times 3/2

It's Time: Fee for Midtown Driving Makes Sense Newsday 3/1

Transportation Groups in Drive To Alter City's Traffic Analysis New York Sun 2/27

N.Y.C. is Too Good to Car Drivers New York Daily News 2/26

Slowing it Down on Staten Island Epoch Times 2/26

Ad Campaign Targets Speedy Drivers Staten Island Advance 2/24

Report: Commuters Choosing To Drive New York Sun 2/24

Let Traffic Flow and So Will Commerce, Groups Tell City New York Times 2/23

Private Cars Cause Most Traffic gothamist 2/23

Campaign To Curb Speeding Kicks Off On Staten Island NY1 2/23

Time's-Up! Reaches Out to the Police NYC Indymedia 2/22

The Truth About Jaywalking Maisonneuve 2/22

T.A.'s Noah Budnick on WFMU WFMU 2/22

Livable Streets (For People, Not Cars) Gotham Gazette 2/21

Alarming Racket in Brooklyn New York Post 2/20

Map of the Day: Transalt Crash Map gothamist 2/20

Turning Rails To Trails Project Gets Boost From State Group Queens Chronicle 2/16

Chinatown is Getting Tired of Being the Police Department's Parking Lot The Villager 2/16