TourdeBronx.org
Sunday, Oct. 27

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

Volunteers and Marshals are needed! Call Rich Gans at 718-653-2203 to sign up. 

Come to the bag stuffing party on Thursday, October 24th, 6-10 pm at BOEDC, 198 E. 161st St., 2nd Floor!

10/1 The Sum of the Parts, The Ride

10/1 NYC CityRacks Program in Gear, The Ride

10/1 The Activist: Ken Coughlin, Transportation Alternative's Car-Free Central Park Campaign, The Ride

9/29 How Traffic Lights Can Add to the Danger, New York Times Letters

9/26 Go Ride a Bike, Bronx Times Reporter

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

More Quotes...

Come to the Volunteer Mailing Party, Wednesday, October 9th at 6 pm at the T.A. Office (115 West 30th, #1207). 

Membership and Volunteer Coordinator Needed

T.A. needs someone to work with our Events and Membership Director to coordinate our membership program and serve as the volunteer coordinator. Visit transalt.org/jobs for details.

Paid Advocacy Internship / Asst. to Executive Director

16 to 20 hours a week. Minimum commitment of one semester. Visit transalt.org/jobs for details.

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.

Hazard ID
Bike along with our group and tag street hazards for the DOT to fix.  Next chance: 9 am, October 19, Tillies Café (DeKalb and Vanderbilt). Register online as a Hazard ID volunteer!

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 Advocacy

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 October 7, 2002

43,000 Sign Petition Calling For a Car-Free Central Park

T.A.'s Car-Free Central Park Campaign collected 1,360 petition signatures on October 6, raising the total to 43,000. The goal is to collect 100,000 signatures within the next year. If you want a car-free park, sign the online petition. If you would like to help with petitioning in the park, send an e-mail to petition@transalt.org and we will add you to our Car-Free Central Park petitioning announcement list.

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

T.A. Poll: East River Bridge Tolls

Mayor Bloomberg has included East River Bridge Tolls in his 2003 and 2004 budgets. Do you think he can follow through?

All polls are anonymous. If your e-mail program does not support forms, simply visit this page online to participate in this poll.

Read more about T.A.'s work for East River Bridge tolls and congestion pricing.

DOT's Midtown No-Turn Initiative is Pedestrian Boon

Pedestrians outnumber vehicles by 20 to 1 on cross-town streets in Midtown Manhattan. Yet this walking majority must contend with suffocatingly crowded sidewalks--many of which were narrowed to move motor vehicle traffic faster.

Last week the Department of Transportation announced it's new "Thru Streets" initiative, in which turns off of 36th, 37th, 45th, 46th, 49th, 50th, 53rd, 54th, 59th and 60th streets will be prohibited between Third and Sixth Aves. on weekdays between 10am and 6pm from Oct. 15 to Jan. 15. While the DOT pitched the plan as a way to move cross-town traffic, the greatest beneficiaries will be the tens of thousands of pedestrians who will no longer have to contend with turning cars. Kudos to DOT and Mayor Bloomberg for "Thru Streets," a worthwhile experiment which helps pedestrians and moves traffic. If it works, it will help make Giuliani's ill conceived pedestrian barricades a distant memory.

Read more about the Midtown pedestrian barricade fiasco.

DOT Midtown Ped Boon II — Ped Priority at 37 More Intersections

Along with eliminating turns on ten streets, the DOT is using traffic signals to give pedestrians priority over turning vehicles at 37 additional intersections between 42nd and 60th Streets. Signals will be timed so that motorists intending to turn will be stopped by a red turn-arrow while pedestrians cross. Then pedestrians will be stopped while motorists turn. This is called a “split phase” signal. Overall, pedestrians will get 2/3rds of the crossing time and turning cars 1/3. While overall pedestrian crossing times will be reduced by a third from their current length, pedestrians will not have to face turning motor-vehicles — which are a major safety problem and cause of delay for pedestrians. 

For more, including a map and diagram of “Thru Streets” and the Split Phasing Project check out DOT's Web page.

Bloomberg Noise Crackdown: One Night Stand or Long-Term Commitment?

What's not to like about the Mayor's announcement that under "Operation Silent Night" the police will crackdown on honking, drag racing, "boom cars," loud bars, boom boxes and other noise nightmares at 24 enforcement zones across the city? The mayor says that 83% of the 97,000 complaints received on the city's quality of life hotline (888-677-5433) are noise related. The police department reports that noise complaints will now be part of CompStat and precinct commanders will be held responsible for reducing them. Despite this, given the city's track record on sustaining enforcement "crackdowns," one has to wonder if this welcome effort will be sustained.

Port Authority Eyes Bike Improvements on Both Ends of GWB
(NYC DOT Take Note)

Recently the Port Authority asked T.A. to recommend ways to make cycling to and from the Manhattan side of the George Washington Bridge easier. As part of major repairs to the bridge, the agency has already pledged to improve cycling on the NJ side by constructing a path linking the bridge to Henry Hudson Drive (AKA River Road) in Palisades Park. The Port Authority's interest in improving bicycle access to it's premier bridge stands in sharp contrast to the NYC DOT, which continues to refuse to make much needed bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements at its bridges. Contact T.A. if you have suggestions for improvements to the Manhattan side of the GWB: bike@transalt.org.

Read more about T.A.'s work for improved bridge access for bicycles and pedestrians.

Deputy Mayor Doctoroff Bicycles to Work

City Hall sources report that Dan Doctoroff, Deputy Mayor For Economic Development And Rebuilding, bicycles to work down the Hudson River Greenway from his apartment on the West Side. Doctoroff's bio lists cycling as one of his hobbies and at least one of member of his staff bike commutes from Brooklyn. (Too bad Doctoroff's route doesn't require him to endure one of the unsafe bridge entrances over the East River.)

T.A. Calls for Bike Improvements in Herald Square

The DOT is on the verge of finalizing its plans for reconstructing Herald Square. The DOT's pedestrian and bicycle improvements in the Square have been a huge success. Pedestrian crashes have been sharply reduced, and the massive intersection is much easier to cross and less chaotic.

Wrong	Right
Correct placement of bike lane in relationship to turning lane

As part of the changes incorporated in the final design, T.A. asked DOT to move the 6th Ave. bike lane to the East or outboard of the turning lane. We also requested that the northbound 6th Ave. bicycle lane on the East side of the Herald Square traffic island (between 34th and 35th Streets) be protected by bollards or some other physical separation, as is the southbound, Broadway bike lane on the other side of the island. The unprotected bike lane is often parked in by police cars and taxis.

Read more about T.A.'s work to make Herald Square safer. 

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Burying West Street: "A Colossal Mistake"

An excellent Op/Ed piece by Gene Russianoff in Saturday's New York Times, called plans to spend $3 to $5 billion submerging West Street in Lower Manhattan a "Colossal mistake. It would divert money from more important transportation priorities and delay downtown's revival by more than a decade." Russianoff notes that the $4.5 billion in federal transportation and emergency aid stemming from 9/11 has already been committed to a new subway / PATH transit center ($2.75 billion) and a more functional South Street Station, as well as spent rebuilding destroyed subway infrastructure. He adds that "For $200 million or less the street could be made into a grand surface promenade. The model is, in fact, the Champs-Élysées, a grand boulevard with eight lanes of traffic - same as West Street - and with no tunnel."

Transportation Alternatives strongly supports Russianoff's position on West Street.

Read more about rebuilding Lower Manhattan.

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International Brief: Car-Free Paris Mayor Stabbed

The NY Times reports (10/7) that Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë is recovering from severe stab wounds to the abdomen inflicted by a man angry at "homosexuals and politicians." The 52-year-old Delanoë, who is gay, is a transportation innovator who transformed a busy Paris highway into a beach, initiated a car-free day, and has installed tens of miles of on-street, separated bikeways. We wish him well.

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T.A. Poll Results: Secure Bike Parking Matters; E-Bulletin Readers Use a Wide Range of Transportation Options

Of the 640 respondents to our poll, "If you had secure bicycle parking at work would you commute by bike?", a majority of respondents who were already commuting by bike had access to secure bike parking:

	Commute by bike with no access to secure bike parking (43%)
	Commute by bike with access to secure bike parking (57%)

Of those not yet commuting by bike, almost half would commute by bike if they had access to secure bike parking:

	Would not commute by bike even if secure bike parking was made available (53%)
	Would commute by bike if given access to secure bike parking (47%)

Of those who would not consider bike commuting even if secure bike parking was provided, most felt that it was too unsafe to ride or that they did not want to arrive at work sweaty or disheveled:

 

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

In our second poll, "Do you consider yourself a bicyclist, motorist, pedestrian, transit rider, all, all but motorist, or some other combination?" 410 respondents told us that most identify with all or almost all available transportation options:

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

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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, October 9th 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

Thursday, October 10, 10 am. Rockaway Beach. Central Park Boathouse. The Weekday Cyclists.

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.

Tuesday, October 15, 10 am. TBA. Central Park Boathouse. The Weekday Cyclists.

Wednesday, October 16, 10 am. Pelham Bay Park - Bartow Pell Mansion. Pelham Bay stp of #6 train, street level. Shorewalkers.

Thursday, October 17, 10 am. TBA. Central Park Boathouse. The Weekday Cyclists.

Sunday, October 19, 9 am. Piermont. Boathouse. Fast and Fabulous.

Saturday, October 19, 9:15 am. Wondering about Wave Hill? Plaza Hotel. 5BBC.

Saturday, October 19, 9:15 am. Fall Foliage Bike & Hike. South Ferry. 5BBC.

Saturday, October 19, 9:30 am. East Island. Cunningham Park. 5BBC.

Sunday, October 20. MS Bike Tour.  South Street Seaport. Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Sunday, October 20, 8:30 am. Oy Oy Oysters. Cunningham Park. 5BBC.

Tuesday, October 22, 10 am. TBA. Central Park Boathouse. The Weekday Cyclists.

More Rides and Walks...