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Come to the Volunteer Magazine Mailing Party, Wednesday, November 12th at 6 pm at the T.A. Office (115 West 30th, #1207)! Free pizza, beer, soda, snacks and scintillating conversation. T.A. Seeks Executive Director T.A.’s longtime executive director, John Kaehny, is stepping down in 2004. T.A. is looking for a strong new leader to take his place. If you have the required skills and experience, we encourage you to apply. Applications are due by November 15. Read the job description for more information.
T.A. In the News Latest
T.A. News 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. Valet Bike Parking Volunteers Needed Volunteer to provide valet bike parking at events throughout the year. Register online to express your interest in this opportunity. T.A. still has two open internships:
- Advocacy
(work with T.A. program staff) 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 Contact Matt: info@transalt.org
Do Your Part for Safer Streets! Report: Potholes
and Hazards: Sidewalk
obstructions: Mayor’s Quality of Life Hotline at 888-677-LIFE/
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 25,000 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!
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At a September 23rd hearing, the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission shut down the Department of Transportation’s plan to install a seven-foot tall chain link fence along the entire length of the Queensboro Bridge’s bicycle and pedestrian path. The DOT says that it needs fencing on all bridges to stop people from throwing objects from the bridge but cannot cite any police or other City records of such incidents.
Name:
Your message will also be e-mailed to Transportation Alternatives. If your e-mail program does not support forms, visit this page online: http://www.transalt.org/press/askta/031104.html
Transportation Alternatives strongly endorses proposals by taxi cab driver groups to sharply raise taxi fares and driver pay. Higher paid drivers are safer drivers, and safe cab driving is a critical bicycle and pedestrian safety issue because medallion cabs make 470,000 trips a day and set the tone on streets in Manhattan south of 96th Street.
Taxi Poll
Daily How dangerous are cab drivers compared to other motorists?
Not as dangerous
The average cab fare is $8. How much more would you pay for a safer cab driver?
Nothing
All polls are anonymous. If your e-mail program does not support forms, please follow this link to participate in our survey from a Web browser: www.transalt.org/press/askta/031104.html#s
DOT’s Bollard Absurdity Agency putting cars before pedestrian safety
For years T.A. has been pressing the New York City Department of Transportation to use inexpensive, sturdy posts called bollards to keep moving and parked cars off sidewalks. Every year, hundreds of motorists plunge their cars onto sidewalks in New York City, killing about ten to fifteen and injuring many more pedestrians. Many motorists, especially government employees, also park on sidewalks. But the DOT’s official line continues to be that bollards could hurt vehicle occupants. Despite the agency’s official bollard policy, it uses them to protect City Hall and Federal Courts from car bombs as well as phone booths and fire hydrants from everyday motoring mayhem. The latest iteration of the Department of Transportation’s absurd bollard policy was an e-mailed response to a request that bollards be installed at Department of Education headquarters at 52 Chambers Street in order to keep cars from parking on the sidewalk: From: "Customer_Service-ML" <Customer_Service-ML@dot.nyc.gov>
Dear Customer: This is in response to your May 16, 2003 email regarding vehicles parking on the sidewalk on Chambers Street in front of the Tweed Courthouse and your recommendation to install bollards at that location. We apologize for the (5 month) delay in responding to your request. We have been monitoring conditions in front of the Courthouse and it appears that few vehicles are currently parking on the sidewalk. We generally install bollards as a measure to prevent vehicles that leave the roadway from hitting a pedestrian. Because bollards are a source of crash potential themselves, their use must be carefully considered. The use of bollards on Chambers Street to prevent illegal parking would not be appropriate. Thank you for bringing this matter to our attention. DOT Customer Service CCU Log # 7189
During his October 3 radio show, Mayor Bloomberg announced his desire to see a bicycle and pedestrian path placed on the MTA’s Verrazano Bridge. T.A. led an effort in the mid 1990s to win such a path. The campaign led to a study by the Department of City Planning in 1997 that showed that a path can be built and that it would cost about $35 million in current dollars.
If the mayor is serious about wanting a Verrazano Bridge path, he should seek the help of Staten Island/South Brooklyn congressman Vito Fossella, a fellow Republican, to help sell the idea to Governor Pataki, who is the MTA’s boss.
It appears that the Department of Transportation is trying out a technology called street prints (www.streetprint.com) at 6th Avenue and Canal Street in Manhattan. The low cost technique can be used to create colored bike lanes and to change the look and feel of the street to reduce speeding. Hopefully, the Department of Transportation will fully exploit this promising technology to improve cycling and walking. The DOT Barricades 9th Ave Sidewalk to Pedestrians
Despite the protest of community and civic groups, local elected officials and property owners, the New York City Department of Transportation barricaded the west side of 9th Avenue between 35th and 36th Streets in October. Though the stated rationale for the barricades is to improve pedestrian safety, it is clear that the real reason for them is that the Department of Transportation and Port Authority want to improve motorized traffic flow at the approaches to the Lincoln Tunnel.
A small sampling of the e-mail T.A. receives Manhattan Bridge Chain Link Fence
Every day I watch progress on the Manhattan Bridge bike path, and I think how lovely it would be if they don't build the horrible chain link fence on top of the original fence as they did on the south path. I wonder if there is still a chance to oppose it; it should be easier to stop it before it is built than to agitate to have it removed. What do you think our chances are? Have you had any discussion with DOT regarding fences on the north path? Walter G. T.A. Response: Walter, Unfortunately, the Manhattan Bridge is not a New York City landmark, so the Department of Transportation is much less accountable to other City, State or Federal agencies for any chain link fence it installs. T.A. has written to the New York City Department of Transportation opposing the chain link fences on the Manhattan Bridge. We suggest that you write to them as well: Commissioner Iris
Weinshall You could also write to the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission and ask why the Manhattan Bridge, which is equally as majestic as the landmarked Queensboro and Brooklyn Bridges, is not a New York City landmark. Robert Tierney Working with the Landmarks Commission, T.A. has been able to postpone and hopefully stop the DOT's plan to install a seven-foot tall chain link fence across the entire length of the Queensboro Bridge's bicycle and pedestrian path. See www.transalt.org/bridges/queensboro.html and upcoming Fall 2003 issue of Transportation Alter magazine for more information. Here's a link to a
picture of the Manhattan Bridge walkway without chain link fence (circa
1936):
Dear T.A., As a recently "doored by a cab" bikerider, I am writing to suggest a mandatory sign inside every cab cautioning passengers to look out and behind them before opening the door, and warning of their legal responsibility to do so. Cab drivers need to have their own responsibility to caution passengers reinforced as well. Stephen L., Ninth Street, Manhattan T.A. Response: Stephen, Sorry to hear about your dooring. Hope you are ok. T.A. has long pushed for similar safety messages and taxi driver education to what you mention below. Please see transalt.org/campaigns/reclaiming/taxicabs.html for a comprehensive list of magazine articles and press coverage about taxi safety. In particular, dooring is addressed in: T.A. Seeks Safer Cabs
(Summer 2002)
transalt.org/press/magazine/023Summer/19cabs.html
You can write to New York City Taxi and Limousine Commissioner Matthew Daus and urge the TLC to adopt these much needed safety measures. Commissioner Matthew
Daus Fax: (212) 676-1100
Are sensor car alarms now legal in New York, the ones that go off when another car passes it? I live on Woodhaven Boulevard. There is a car here that goes off every time another car or truck passes it. A.T. T.A. Response: Audible car alarms are currently legal, but they must be turned off within a few minutes of going off. T.A. is working to change the law so that car owners must install inaudible pager systems. Read more at www.bancaralarms.org.
Hi, I am very happy that you are working on getting the bumps removed from the Williamsburg Bridge. There is another issue with the bumps that I haven't seen raised that may be of help to you in this effort. Around rush hour in the morning, the orange cage, which has posts at the joints, casts a shadow across the entire path exactly in line with the bumps. It's quite fascinating really; it makes these bumps, yellow though they may be, almost completely invisible during what is likely the busiest time for the bridge. Very dangerous. Good luck with this and all your other projects! Dave C. Ocean Parkway Bicycle Path Has anyone addressed the problem of pedestrians on the Ocean Parkway bicycle path? The western park strips are divided between pedestrian and bicycle paths (the pedestrian side has benches), and the eastern strips (the former bridle path) are dedicated to pedestrians. So why do people insist on walking, sometimes three or four abreast, on the section clearly marked for bicycles, endangering themselves and cyclists? Is there anything that can be done about this? (I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for police to warn the pedestrians that they're on the wrong side.) Will we have to wait for an injurious or fatal accident and the inevitable blame-casting? Marc K.
Ocean Parkway, America's first bike path, in 1896 T.A. Response: Courteousness is the best short-term approach. Pedestrian's fear of bicyclists, even on bicycle paths (where they should not be walking), creates animosity towards cyclists and makes it hard to win new cycling projects and other improvements for bicyclists. In the interest of a long-term solution, I recommend that you write to the Parks Department and ask them to install better signs on the biking and walking paths on Ocean Parkway. The signs should direct walkers to the pedestrian path and bicyclists to the biking path. Adrian Benepe E-mail: www.nyc.gov/html/mail/html/maildpr.html [an error occurred while processing this directive] Take Action
Advocacy Committees Brooklyn@transalt.org Centralpark@transalt.org Gowanus@transalt.org Citywide: |
Commentary DOT’s Bollard Absurdity Just as we were putting the finishing touches on this bulletin, reports arrived that a cab had plunged onto the sidewalk at 71st street and Park Avenue and killed Jerry Sadesky, a 62 year old doorman on lunch break. The tragedy grabbed our attention because this bulletin was already taking the DOT to task for its ludicrous and hypocritical refusal to install bollards on sidewalks to protect pedestrians from curb jumping cars. This crash makes it that much harder to stomach the DOT’s baffling reasoning that, "Because bollards are a source of crash potential themselves, their use must be carefully considered." It seems that what the DOT is saying is that the agency is more concerned with the safety of the motorist jumping the curb than the pedestrians motorists are striking on the sidewalk. Four times in the last year, I have seen cars crashed on the busy sidewalks of my Upper West Side neighborhood. At the wide intersection of 106th Street and Broadway, cars regularly jump the curb and occasionally kill people. Yet, the DOT continues to reject potentially life saving bollards--except to protect its Muni Meters, phone booths and fire hydrants. The agency also rejects proven, cost effective traffic calming devices like raised crosswalks and raised intersections. Clearly, there is something seriously wrong when the City agency charged with protecting pedestrians is more worried about the welfare of dangerous drivers--let’s be serious, who else is driving on the sidewalk--than protecting children and other human beings walking on the sidewalk.
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Alternatives Magazine, our members-only in-depth quarterly
magazine— Selected articles
City Provides Guarded Bike Parking
DOT to T.A.: No Safety Improvements for Manhattan Bridge
DOT Wants to Color in Curbside Bike Lanes
Needed: Direction Arrows for Bike Lanes
NYPD Keeps Hudson Greenway Open During Fleet Week
T.A. Sues State DOT To Remove Greenway Stop Signs
Support Grows in NJ for GW Bridge to "River Road" Connector Path TAKE
THE TOUR!
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 888-677-LIFE. 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. You can also report them online at transalt.org/ STAY SMART & INFORMED Savvy
transit riders get their lowdown on the subways here: Sensible
Transport Junkies:  The daily Gotham Gazette: gothamgazette .org NYC News summaries and savvy commentary. Bikes
in Bogota? Car-Free Cartagena? Tel-Aviv by Train?
Give on-line at transalt.org/join Quick!
What's your city council GET THERE!
Check our maps page for links to NYC-area bicycle and transit maps. RIDES
AND WALKS
Thursday,
November 6, 10 am. Liberty State Park Views Ride. The Loeb Boathouse. The
Weekday Cyclists in NYC.
Friday,
November 7, 9 am. Upper Nyack-Haverstraw Shorewalk. Port Auth. bus
terminal by white commuter statues. Shorewalkers. Friday,
November 7, 10 pm. Central Park Moonlight Ride. Columbus Circle. Time's Up!
Saturday,
November 8, 10 am. Circumbikeulation of Manhattan. Park at Tenth Ave.
and 14th St. Fast
& Fabulous.
Sunday,
November 9, 9 am. Along the Hudson River to State Line. GW Bridge bus
terminal in front of ticket windows; take A or C subway to 175th Street
(GWB). Shorewalkers.
Sunday,
November 9, 9 am. Kendall Sculpture Gardens. Central Park Boathouse. Fast
& Fabulous.
Sunday,
November 9, 10:15 am. Three-Park Swoop. Snack kiosk at SI ferry terminal
in Manhattan on upper level. Shorewalkers. Tuesday,
November 11, 10 am. TBA. The Loeb Boathouse. The
Weekday Cyclists in NYC.
Saturday,
November 15, 9 am. Piermont. Central Park Boathouse. Fast
& Fabulous.
Tuesday,
November 18, 10 am. TBA. The Loeb Boathouse. The
Weekday Cyclists in NYC. |
10/30
10/24 
10/17 
10/17 
10/14 
10/11
10/6 
10/6 
10/4 
10/4 
Transportation
Alternatives extends our deepest sympathies to the families, friends and victims
of the October 15th Staten Island Ferry crash. 
Landmarks Commission Blasts DOT
Chain Link Plan for Queensboro Bridge
The Landmarks Commission
harshly criticized of the chain link fence plan and agreed with path users that it
would be oppressive and demoralizing. T.A. recommends that the City replace the
existing seven-foot, dilapidated chain link fence with lower and nicer, non-chain
link fences on the portions of the bridge path that pass over Manhattan,
Roosevelt Island and Queens, and leave the existing four-and-a-half-foot
non-chain link fences untouched on the sections of the path that pass over the
East River. Landmarks Commission Chairman Robert Tierney concluded the hearing
by saying that the Commission, which must approve the DOT’s final design, will
work with the agency to find a workable solution that preserves the historic and
aesthetic characteristics of the landmark Queensboro Bridge.
The long-term
implications of the final design are significant. In a June 2002 New York Times
article about chain link fencing on East River bridge bicycle and pedestrian
paths, a DOT spokesman said, "…when renovations are inevitably done to the
[landmark] Brooklyn Bridge promenade…chain-link fencing would be installed."
Fax
the Landmarks Commission and ask it to keep chain link fences off city bridge
paths!
Read more about T.A.'s work for
It is a simple equation: More experienced cab
drivers get in fewer crashes, and higher pay attracts better drivers who stay on
the job longer. Cab riders are the most affluent New Yorkers, mainly Manhattan
residents taking short trips. Yet cab fares, adjusted for inflation, are at a
35-year low. Of the 14 cities with a large cab fleet, New York City cab fares
are lower than 12 others. 
The Taxi and Limousine Commission should undertake a
targeted driver survey to more closely determine the relationship between driver
compensation and safety. That survey should inform decisions on what drivers pay
as their lease fees to cab owners. There is no doubt: A big boost in cab fares
is long overdue. 
However, the bridge’s
owner, the MTA remains vociferously opposed to the project, citing security and
cost issues. While the mayor’s words are welcome, it is not yet clear if he will
actually press the MTA to pay for the path or whether he was just speaking to
the ether. It should be kept in mind that the mayor is currently battling hard
to get the MTA to absorb the City’s franchise bus fleet, its $100 million annual
operating subsidy and an additional hundreds of millions of dollars in
long-deferred bus improvements. 
Dear
T.A.: 
Doored
by Taxi
Car
Alarms
Bumps
on Williamsburg Bridge Path
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