Transportation Alternatives congratulates the NYC Department of Transportation and the Department of Parks and Recreation on today's announcement of increased car-free hours in Prospect Park. Coming on the heels of the recent announcement of increased car-free hours in Central Park, this change will close Prospect Park's east loop drive to cars between 5 and 7 PM on weekday afternoons and provide much-needed car-free space for the thousands of Brooklynites who pack the park each afternoon to exercise.

"For an extra two hours each weekday, Brooklynites will breathe easier as they walk, jog, bicycle and recreate in Prospect Park," says Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives. "For nearby residents, particularly parents and kids getting out of school, increased car-free time means a safer and healthier park."

Brooklyn currently has less park space per resident than any other borough. Increasing car-free hours in Prospect Park prioritizes the hundreds of thousands of Brooklynites in need of recreation over the small number of motorists who use the recreational loop drive as a shortcut. Improving access to parks, reducing greenhouse emissions and ensuring New York has the cleanest air of any large American city are goals of Mayor Bloomberg's PlaNYC; increasing car-free hours in Prospect Park advances all of these goals.

Transportation Alternatives has long advocated for the complete closure of Prospect Park's loop drive to cars, and is pushing for a car-free summer trial in 2008. A Transportation Alternatives study conducted in 2006 found that 4 out of 5 of the Prospect Park-goers would use the park more often if cars were permanently banned from the loop drive.