|
• Breaking News:
|
||
| Breaking News: DOT to Replace Williamsburg Bridge “Bumps” with Less Jarring Alternative | ||
Today the New York City Department of Transportation announced that it is replacing the 26 dangerous 2-inch high expansion joint covers on the Williamsburg Bridge biking and walking path with a safe alternative. While details are still emerging, it appears that the new replacement covers represent an improvement. Click here to see T.A.'s hard-hitting, report, "A Bridge to Scar;" about the dangers the bumps have posed to all bridge users. |
||
| RSVP for a Car-Free Central Park | ||
This October we're at it again. In Central Park on Monday, October 24th at 4:45pm, we will celebrate the fact that the Car-Free Central Park Campaign is now the largest grassroots campaign in the history of New York City. On that day, we will collect the landmark 100,000th signature in our petition drive for a car-free park. Who will be the 100,000th signer? We've invited a very special guest. Bring your families, your friends, your children, your pets: everyone benefits from a Car-Free loop drive. So let's benefit everyone and get cars out of the park now. RSVP here to attend the rally and get more information. This event, with the release of two compelling traffic studies, an election year, and growing popularity for our cause, will lead to a loop drive free of cars for once and for all time. Watch the acclaimed short film, "The Case for a Car-Free Central Park": Part I & Part II. |
||
| Who is Jan Gehl and why is he coming to NYC? | ||
In the words of Richard Rogers, the Mayor of London's Chief Advisor on Architecture and Urbanism, Gehl is leading a citywide effort to: "Create a better balance between traffic and pedestrians, improving conditions for walking and cycling around the city, improving the visual quality of London's streetscape, and creating spaces that can be used simply to meet, sit and talk." The time is long overdue for New York City to undertake a similar initiative. From November 14-18, at the invitation of Transportation Alternatives, Jan Gehl is coming to New York City. In a series of forums, Mr. Gehl will share his extensive knowledge and experience in successful street planning with business managers, the Mayor and many other city agencies. If you are interested in attending these forums, or in scheduling a special consultation with your neighborhood or business improvement district, please send an email to tresa@transalt.org with "Gehl" in the subject line. To find out more about Jan Gehl, visit |
||
| Bike Safety Action Plan Gains Momentum Take Action! to get the plan adopted |
||
 After a July meeting with City officials about making New York's streets safe for bicyclists, a rapidly growing coalition of NYC cycling, health and civic groups are awaiting written response to the six-point New York City Bike Safety Action Plan from the Department of Transportation and NYPD. T.A. has asked the Mayor to adopt the plan and the City Council to support it.Help strengthen the call for increased safety for New York City's 120,000 daily bicyclists and three million annual riders! Send a postcard to Mayor Bloomberg and ask him to implement the safety plan. Click here to fill out the form online, if it doesn't work in your email program. If you represent a bike club or team, civic, health or environmental organization, block association or other group that is interested in joining this alliance, please e-mail bike@transalt.org. |
||
| GWB Access Woes get Worse Take Action! Re-open the GWB! |
||
 In August 2004, citing security concerns and lack of resources, the Port Authority closed the George Washington Bridge overnight to bikers and walkers.
Now, one year later, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey has announced that from September 12, 2005 to June 2006, they will further curtail access to the George Washington Bridge's biking and walking path while doing construction to improve bridge safety and security. From September 2005 to June 2006, the bridge's biking and walking path will only be open from: Monday to Thursday, 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. From September 12 through October 15, bikers and walkers will use the north path. The Port Authority should use the upcoming George Washington Bridge security improvements to implement strong safety measures and make the bridge, once again, accessible to bikers and walkers 24-hours a day, just as it is to car and truck drivers. E-mail the New York Assembly Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions and the New Jersey Assembly Transportation Committee and ask them to urge the Port Authority to reopen the George Washington Bridge to bikers and walkers 24-hours a day. Contact New York Assembly Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions Chair Richard Brodsky and ask the committee to urge the Port Authority to reopen the George Washington Bridge to bikers and walkers 24-hours a day: 518-455-5753. |
||
| Municipal Employees Drive, Drive, Drive | ||
| New Study Finds NYC Civil Servants Drive Twice as Much as Average New York Workers
New Yorkers don't drive; only 2 in 10 New Yorkers even own car. In fact, the car ownership rates in New York City are the lowest in the United States, and lower than many European cities like Copenhagen and Paris where pedestrians, bicyclists and transit riders are the priority and treated like royalty. But here in New York, the supermajority of non-drivers do not have it nearly so good, having to contend with narrow sidewalks, short walk signals, car-oriented streets hostile to walking and bicycling and dismally slow buses. What gives? A new study from Schaller Consulting, "Top 10 Drive-to-Work Census Tracts in Manhattan," sheds light on this "transportation gap," revealing that New York's influential class of civil servants--the very people who set our city's transportation priorities--drive to work at twice the rate of the general population. The reason: guaranteed free parking that employees of the City Department of Transportation, the NYPD and other city agencies have come to expect as their birthright. • 33% of government workers commute by auto, while only: • If government workers commuted by car at the same rate as other workers, there would be 14,000 fewer cars coming into the Manhattan Central Business District each day. Collecting metered parking rates on the parking spaces currently used by these cars would generate over $33 million annually in revenues to the City. See the full report here. |
||
| Stroller Moms: The New Frontier | ||
Over 2,000 people have now taken T.A.'s first annual stroller survey. Clearly, stroller moms, dads and nannies have something to say about the dismal and dangerous conditions of New York City's sidewalks and streets. To take the survey, click here. In October, T.A. will unveil the results.  Stroller Moms want safe streets too. |
||
| Hell's Kitchen Boiling Over with Traffic Take Action! Protest on Sept. 24 |
||
 TOO MUCH TRAFFIC!TOO MANY ACCIDENTS! TOO MUCH POLLUTION! Come to the ANTI-TRAFFIC PROTEST September 24: noon To RSVP and for further information contact: Hell's Kitchen Neighborhood Association |
||
| 6,000 Riders + 250 Marshals + 300 Volunteers = Best Tour Ever | ||
Watch a BikeTV short about the tour. |
||
|
Borough Spotlight: The Bronx |
||
| Back by Popular Demand: Car-Free Grand Concourse | ||
| Before they were ended in 1996 by Mayor Giuliani, Car-Free Sundays provided Bronxites with a rare opportunity to bike and walk freely without the specter of traffic.
Now, thanks to the support of a broad coalition of over 50 health organizations, community groups, churches, advocacy groups and others, Car-Free Sundays on the Grand Concourse is back. Get in on the car-free Sundays action, come out to the Grand Concourse between 161st and 167th streets on Sunday, October 16th from 1pm to 6pm. There will be bike riding lessons for kids and adults, free bike helmets from Trek, and free water bottles and t-shirts from Transportation Alternatives. Other activities include interactive healthy cooking instruction, a teen "iron chef" competition, basketball clinic with members of the NY Knicks, fruits and veggies from Just Food Bronx, walking tours and more. For more information, email info@transalt.org |
||
| Tour de Bronx | ||
| Join Transportation Alternatives and the Bronx Borough President's Office on Sunday October 23rd for the largest free cycling event in New York City. For over a decade cyclists have discovered the beauty of bicycling in the Bronx along the 25- and 40-mile routes. Don't miss out - - register today at tourdebronx.org! | ||
| Job Opening at T.A.: IT Coordinator | ||
Transportation Alternatives (T.A.) seeks an IT Coordinator. You will report directly to the Executive Director. Key responsibilities include maintaining and expanding Transportation Alternatives' web server, operating T.A.'s e-mail lists, maintaining and supporting T.A.'s desktop computer systems and long-range planning, design and implementation for maintenance and upgrades of T.A.'s information infrastructure. You will be the person we rely on for our technical resources. Secondary responsibilities will include providing support to advocacy and events staff on data analysis and map-making. Qualifications Salary: competitive Contact HINTS: YOUR COVER LETTER IS CRUCIAL AND PHONE CALLS AND WALK-INS ARE NOT ACCEPTED. |
||
| Are you a Member, or (gasp!) a Mooch? | ||
| Only 1 in 6 people who receive this e-bulletin are proud, dues-paying members of Transportation Alternatives. Be a member: Join T.A. today. Becoming a member is easier and more rewarding than you think. You can sign up online and soon be receiving valuable discounts at your favorite bike shop, the award-winning Transportation Alternatives Magazine and more! |
Last October, 1,000 New Yorkers rallied for a Central Park loop drive free of traffic. One month after that rally, the City announced more car-free hours and the permanent car-free reclamation of five entrances to the park. 
