Good Afternoon. My name is Elizabeth Ernish, and I represent Transportation Alternatives, a 4,000 New York City citizens' group working for better walking, cycling and mass transit. I am also speaking for the Neighborhood Streets Network, a coalition of over forty PTAs, community groups and block associations working for quieter, safer, friendlier neighborhood streets.

First I would like to commend the City Council for making pedestrian safety a top priority. The legislation before us today can potentially usher in a new era in traffic engineering. It seeks to place the use of traffic-calming devices such a speed humps permanently within New York City's transportation policy.

The need for increased pedestrian safety is clear - 249 pedestrians were killed last year after getting hit by motor vehicles, and over 35 a day were sent to the hospital. This death and injury toll is the direct result of the chaos on our streets-twice as many people are hit crossing in the crosswalk with the "WALK" signal than crossing against it. Speeding, red-light running and failing to yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk are rampant. It is especially frightening when you keep in mind that the number one cause of death and injury for New York City children ages 5-14 is getting hit by a car.

Traffic calming is a practical solution to excessive speeding and reckless driving. Traffic calming is all about redesigning streets to encourage drivers to slow down, so that pedestrians, drivers and cyclists all have an equal right to the road. It involves techniques like speed humps, chicanes (bends in traffic direction), corner sidewalk extensions, mini traffic circles in residential neighborhoods and street direction changes on a neighborhood-wide basis. Suffice it to say that traffic calming can lead to reductions in death and injury of more than 90 percent.

Unfortunately, arcane state law prevents true traffic calming on our streets. In 1997, the NYC DOT installed an unprecedented 120 speed humps but because of the state law, the humps are engineered to allow speeds of 30 mph. This speed is fine for many avenues but is inappropriately high for many neighborhood streets.

Last term, the state Assembly introduced bills that would allow New York City to design streets with traffic calming devices at any level below 30 mph - the current state mandated minimum. However, before there is any more progress in Albany, the City Council must support the legislation via a home rule message by immediately.

Additionally, the Council should consider policy requiring the Department of Transportation to immediately map pedestrian injuries and fatalities. Similar to the New York Police Department's COMSTAT program, crash statistics could be mapped on a real time basis and distributed to Community Boards throughout the City. These maps would allow DOT to instantly pinpoint critical intersections, and better assist in the planning of projects.