Streetsblog New York City

During his re-re-election campaign, Mayor Bloomberg said he planned to make room for new blood in his administration should he win a third term. It's no surprise that City Hall News named Janette Sadik-Khan as one department head some have targeted for replacement, but while City Council members are often all too eager to complain about the DOT commish and her runaway safety improvements, this particular story cites but one disgruntled, unnamed source:

"A lot of elected officials do not like her-Democrats and Republicans-and they have made that known to the mayor," said one Council member who is close to the administration, adding that it would cost nothing, politically, to cut Sadik-Khan loose. "She doesn't represent any sort of ethnic group or constituency that the mayor's trying to pander to."

We'd love to know who on the council considers their non-driving constituents unworthy of "pandering." But since this no-cost declaration was issued anonymously, any guesses?

Contrary to popular belief, the mayor isn't the only elected official with a say in New York City transportation policy. So in this installment of Streetsblog's series on Michael Bloomberg's third term, we're switching things up a bit. We asked New York's most experienced transit advocate, Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign, how Comptroller-elect John Liu and Public Advocate-elect Bill de Blasio can put their clout to use for New Yorkers who depend on buses and trains. Here's what he told us.

What can the incoming city comptroller and public advocate do to improve the lives of millions of daily subway and bus riders over their next four years in office?

New Yorkers can be forgiven for putting our focus on the chief executive in City Hall. Our city has what’s called a "strong mayor" form of government. Mayor Bloomberg’s budget powers are great, and virtually all of his commissioners do not have to be approved by the City Council. The mayor is often seen as the Sun King. Everyone else can seem like Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern -- not much of a stage presence.

While it's right to hold the mayor accountable for what the city does on public transportation, there's much that Public Advocate Bill de Blasio and Comptroller John Liu can do on behalf of the city's commuters.

Both gentlemen took stands on key transportation issues as council members. Liu served as chair of the council’s transportation committee and de Blasio promoted the return of F express service in Brooklyn and proposed a "Transit Rider’s Bill of Rights." Additionally, Liu voted for congestion pricing, de Blasio against. Later, de Blasio favored East and Harlem River bridge tolls pegged to the subway fare to fund the MTA, which Liu opposed.

So there’s every reason to expect them to be vocal on transportation. And they’ll have plenty of opportunities to take action. To start with, millions of New York City bus riders have a big stake in the service improvements that newly appointed MTA Chair Jay Walder and Mayor Bloomberg have each made a high priority. De Blasio and Liu, if they choose, can use their new offices to help give millions of transit riders the best possible outcome as these plans advance.

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Charles Alexander Diez, the former North Carolina firefighter who shot cyclist Alan Simons in the head, has been sentenced to four months in jail.

In an Asheville courtroom last week, Diez pled guilty to shooting Simons during a July 26 roadside confrontation. Said to be upset that Simons was riding his bike with his 3-year-old child, Diez fired his .38 caliber pistol as Simons walked away after the two exchanged words. The bullet struck Simons' bike helmet, narrowly missing his skull. 

In August, a grand jury reduced charges against Diez from attempted first degree murder to felony assault. While assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill certainly sounds like an offense worthy of a lengthy prison term, the presiding judge apparently agreed that this was a case of a stand-up guy having a bad day. Mountain Xpress reports:

Convictions on such a charge result in an average 20-39 months in prison for the defendant. But in the sentencing, Superior Court Judge James Downs found that Diez’s military service, along with testimony from former colleagues about his good character, were mitigating factors, and chose to sentence him to 15-27 months instead. Downs suspended all but four months of that sentence unless Diez breaks the law again in the next 30 months.

Diez must also undergo anger management counseling and pay Simons $1,200 "for damage to his eardrum."

The slap on the wrist issued to Diez has some worried that authorities have pretty much declared open season on area cyclists. Asked Brian Jones, who along with his wife is a regular victim of harassment and worse at the hands of local motorists: "If a cyclist shot a fireman, judge or prosecuting attorney in his head, in front of his family, what sentence do you think he/she would receive."

The travesty in Asheville comes amid continuing reports of driver-on-cyclist violence, with, as Sarah noted this morning, recent incidents in Tulsa and Miami.

Sometimes you just can't stop human beings from acting like animals. And I mean that in the best possible way.

Take, for example, the walking paths of Brasilia, the Brazilian capital city that was planned down to the smallest detail in the 1950s and ’60s -- planned for a populace that would move about exclusively by automobile.

But as you can see from the photo posted by Daniel Nairn of Discovering Urbanism this weekend, the people of Brasilia still move about by foot, leaving their mark in the grassy areas between mega-freeways:

These rogue pedestrians don't have an easy task. Virtually the only way to access this space is to cross at least six lanes of traffic and then cross another six lanes to exit. The width of the open space is 1/4 of a mile, which is exactly twice the width of the national mall in Washington D.C., and there is no shade or amenities whatsoever. They still make the journey.…

This is the network of function over geometry. The paths are trodden out of convenience, but they also gently meander. Lewis Mumford recognized this universal tendency back in 1961, just as Brasilia was under construction: "The slow curve is the natural line of the footwalker, as anyone can observe as he looks back at his tracks in the snow across an open field."

Although it's hard to prove conclusively, it looks like safety concerns played a part in determining where the highways were crossed. Several paths seem to converge at points where on-ramps and off-ramps are separated from the main flow of traffic. Crossing at these points allows the pedestrian to have breaks of median before having to make the next step. It looks as if some people have been willing to sacrifice a certain degree of time in order to cross a little more safely at one of these points.

Interestingly, these points of convergence are analogous to the forces that led to the origins of medieval Paris. 

For more about the what French philosopher Gaston Bachelard called "chemins du désir," or "pathways of desire," see the excellent post on Detroit's emerging web of walking paths on Sweet Juniper! It's one of the best blogs being written today from the urban frontier.

More from the network: Reports of assaults by drivers on cyclists from Tulsa Alternative Transportation Examiner and Transit Miami. Also, Human Transit on the breaking of London's Circle Line, and Hub and Spokes on Mexico City's BRT plans.

It's quality over quantity during this holiday-shortened week. Don't miss your chance to comment on the state's proposed widening of the Major Deegan, and if you RSVP'd for tonight's community board app fest, don't forget to go. Tuesday and Wednesday are all about street improvements. 

• Monday: Today at 5 p.m. is the deadline to email comments to the New York State Department of Transportation regarding the proposal to widen the Major Deegan Expressway as it approaches the Madison Avenue Bridge into Manhattan. Tonight is the Community Board Jammy Jam 2010, hosted by The Open Planning Project. 6 p.m.
• Tuesday: The NYCDOT is still adjusting the street layout at Park Circle in Brooklyn. DOT is hosting a walk-through and workshop to take public comments. 5 p.m.
• Wednesday: DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and Alexandros Washburn from the Department of City Planning discuss what it means to create world class streets. NYU's Wagner Rudin Center hosts. 8 a.m.

Keep an eye on the calendar for updated listings. Got an event we should know about? Drop us a line.

As you may know, Transportation Alternatives put on a red carpet premiere Tuesday night for the "Biking Rules" PSA competition at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The contest pitted video entries against each other in two main categories: "Why Biking Rules" and "Street Code."  

Videos in the "Street Code" category encourage people to use lights, bells, stop at red lights, ride with traffic and generally ride safely and courteously. "Why Biking Rules" is pretty self-explanatory.

Out of some 80 total submissions, about 40 PSAs (and a slideshow of photos) played to a sold out theater. The shorts were truly impressive and scored a well-earned victory over George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, and Mariah Carey at the box office.

Above is one of the winning high-def entries in the Biking Rules category: "Lights Turn Heads," by Aldo Arias and Pam Tietze. You can see the rest of the winners here.

Don't miss back-to-back opportunities to get involved in changing your city over the next few days.

On Sunday, compete to find bike parking spots in the FixCity Bike Rack Roundup, a contest to push through the FixCity project's pilot campaign for 300 new racks in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. Even if you don't live in north Brooklyn, you can help get this experiment in participatory transportation planning off the ground and win nifty prizes like a B's Bikes gift basket (pictured) or an NY Transit Museum multi-tool. If you're coming from south Brooklyn or Queens, you can travel with TA's Brooklyn Committee on their monthly ride or meet them at the Pulaski Bridge.

Then on Monday night, Livable Streets is co-hosting Transportation Alternatives' Community Board Jammy Jam, a party where you can learn about community board membership and complete your application over drinks and dinner. Joining your community board is an incredibly powerful way to help shape our city's planning decisions, and this event will get you through paperwork with fun and ease.

We hope you'll join us for some good times and a better city!

The Weekly Carnage is a Friday round-up of motor vehicle mayhem across the metro region. For more on the origins and purpose of this column, please read About the Weekly Carnage.

Fatal Crashes (13 Killed This Week, 268 This Year*, 25 Drivers Charged**)

• SI: Teen's Crash Pushes Car Into Fellow Student; No Charges (Advance, News, Post, WINS)  
  
• Bronx: Hit-and-Run Driver Mows Down 28-Year-Old Woman; CT Man Killed in Separate Crash (News)
  
• Brooklyn: 78-Year-Old Grandmother Killed by Driver on Her Birthday (Post)
• Brooklyn: Hit-and-Run Driver Strikes Ped, Bus; Charged Only With Leaving Scene (Post)
  
• Queens: Pedestrian Hit by Three Drivers; One Flees Scene (NY1)
  
• Queens: Unidentified Ped Death Brings No Charges, Scant Media Coverage (Streetsblog)
  
• Queens: Two-Car Collision Leaves 67-Year-Old Passenger Dead (Qns Courier)
  
• Farmingdale, LI: 14-Year-Old Cyclist Killed; No Charges Filed (Newsday 1, 2, AP)
• Continental Village, LI: Trucker Killed After Oncoming Driver Crosses Center Line (LoHud)
• Stratford, CT: Driver Exits Car After Crash, Killed When Another Driver Plows Into It (AP)
• Sayreville, NJ: Pedestrian, 28, Dies of Injuries From Early Morning Crash; No Charges (S-L)
  
• Montville, NJ: Tractor Trailer-Car Collision Kills 1 (S-L)

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There's a very nice set of livable streets improvements underway at Park Circle, where Brooklynites heading to and from Prospect Park mix it up with traffic heading to and from the Prospect Expressway, Ocean Parkway, and the Fort Hamilton Parkway. Construction was still in progress when I took these pictures a few days ago, but it's already making a big difference for pedestrians and cyclists. (And, I assume, the equestrians coming from Kensington Stables, although I didn't see horseback riders during my visit.)

The DOT plan [PDF] got a thumbs up from Brooklyn CB 7 back in June. Here's a look at the wide open sea of asphalt Park Circle used to be, seen from Coney Island Avenue:

The best thing about the project is that motor vehicles are now channeled into a tighter space. Traffic is noticeably calmer -- the circle doesn't feel like an extension of nearby speedways anymore. Here's a tighter shot of that same angle today, zoomed in on a fairly huge new traffic island:

More pics after the jump.

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City parking meters are a gold mine, and in Chicago, Morgan Stanley is rolling in parking riches. Secret company documents leaked to reporters show the company will rake in a 70 percent profit margin this year from its $1.15 billion, 75-year lease of Chicago's parking meters. This profit is on top of the millions Morgan paid to buy new, high-tech meters. The good times will keep on rolling for investors: In 2010, after another meter price hike, Morgan expects to make monthly profits of $4.8 million, roughly 55 percent higher than in 2009.

Last December, Streetsblog estimated that the Chicago deal would cost taxpayers "several hundred million to even a billion dollars in foregone parking revenue." Using the latest Morgan numbers, privatization expert Roger Skurski told reporters his "conservative estimate" -- Chicago could have earned about $670 million more by holding on to its meters. Back in June, before Morgan's revenue was known, Chicago's inspector general estimated the city could have gotten $2 billion in revenue, or $850 million more than it did from Morgan, had it raised rates and kept meter revenue to itself.

Streetsblog has been following the Chicago parking privatization closely because it is the poster child for all that can go wrong with Public Private Partnerships, or PPPs. The basic idea behind a PPP is that the government leases public transportation infrastructure -- say a bridge, highway, airport, or parking meters -- that can generate user fees. In exchange for the fees, a private investor pays the government a large upfront fee or assumes the cost of improving the infrastructure. PPPs are popular in Europe, especially at airports.

Sustainable transportation advocates should care about PPPs for a number of reasons. First, politicians and bureaucrats are captivated by the fantasy that PPPs are the ultimate free lunch, generating billions in transportation investment at no cost to the taxpayer. President Obama's euphemism for PPPs is "creative financing." Here in New York, state officials have repeatedly presented a PPP as the way to raise billions for the astronomical cost of replacing the Tappan Zee Bridge. This is dangerous thinking. PPPs do inflict a cost, and it's a big one. Huge amounts of revenue that could be directed to public transit, or crucial road and bridge repair, are instead going to Wall Street.

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A very interesting article in USA Today on the future viability of suburbs came up in our Twitter feed this morning, via Community Research Partners of Columbus, Ohio.

The piece, by Haya el Nasser, starts out talking about how population is falling in many of the suburbs that grew most quickly over the last few decades -- places like Bellevue, Washington. These communities have become known as "boomburbs." But their boom days are past -- for now. Some have begun losing population.

The most interesting angle in the article, however, isn't the decline of suburban fortunes and the real estate market that fueled them. It's what municipal leaders and researchers are saying will be necessary to make those places economically viable in the future. Which is this: they'll have to become more like cities. Denser. More walkable. Not bedroom communities, but self-contained communities.

Robert Lang, a professor of sociology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas who coined the term "boomburbs," put it this way: "The irony is that if they want to keep growing, they must grow as cities, which is diametrically opposite of how they got so big in the first place."

And transit will be key to that transformation:

Will light rail pave the way to a different future in Irving, Texas? (Photo: pinecone via Flickr)

Population has declined since 2006 in Irving, Texas, but the city is prepared for healthy growth as soon as a light-rail line to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport is completed. "Eventually, you have to shift your focus to not just booming growth but redevelopment," Mayor Herbert Gears says. "That (rail) line is what's given us the opportunity to create an urban center."

Condominiums, apartments and retail are planned along the transit line. The city projects a 240,000 population by 2015, an 11% jump.

Growth in Henderson, Nev., near Las Vegas, has slowed but not stopped. "With the slowdown we've seen, it gives us an opportunity to take a breath," says city spokesman Bud Cranor. Henderson is focused on creating "green" jobs and a more sustainable urban environment, he says.

The article highlights what is emerging as a powerful unifying argument for smarter development: economics. It's an approach that could bring conservatives and liberals together. And it will certainly be part of Transportation for America's upcoming discussion on conservatives and public transportation.

More from the network: Bike Portland on results from an ad campaign that asked, "Should cyclists pay road tax?" Dotage St. Louis on an attractive replacement for a parking lot. And Rights of Way in Portland, Maine, on what a difference a four-foot narrowing of a street can make.

Here's a fun time-waster. Since Monday, @FakeMTA has been posting faux transit updates on Twitter. Examples: "Sneak peek at completed Second Ave. Subway released!" and "If passengers don't move all the way into the car, the C train is going to turn around and go home." There are benign neighborhood-specific barbs as well, with the L line as a favored target.

Surprisingly (or not), @FakeMTA isn't the only agency impersonator. For official, oddly engrossing transit Tweets, try @NYCTSubwayScoop.

We know what you're thinking. As of this writing, @FakeNYCDOT is still available.

Last week we reported on the state DOT's expensive plan to widen part of the Major Deegan Expressway in the southwest Bronx, even as the agency fails to maintain upstate bridges. The dubious Deegan project sucks up $266 million in the state DOT's new five-year capital plan, while more promising initiatives -- like the potential removal of the Sheridan Expressway -- languish without much money at all.

The DOT is considering tearing down the little-used Sheridan, a decision that would clear trucks off local streets and make room for housing, shops, and parks by the Bronx River. But the capital plan sets aside just $2 million for the project. As advocates said in testimony today, that's only enough cash to muddle through the studies already underway.

To repeat: The capital plan includes $266 million to widen a highway in an asthma-choked area of the Bronx, and $2 million for a project that could dramatically improve neighborhoods pummeled by truck traffic. Addressing a State Senate committee today, advocates made the case for a different approach.

"We call on the NYS DOT to reinstate funding for the Sheridan project by reducing the size and scope of the Major Deegan Expressway project," said the South Bronx River Watershed Alliance in a written statement. "With scarce resources, the agency must do a better job of prioritizing transportation investments that promote the safety, health and well-being of New York City residents."

The Tri-State Transportation Campaign submitted detailed commentary on the full capital plan, which you can read here. Here Tri-State explains why the New York State DOT, which doesn't expand highways to the same degree as other DOTs, still has a weakness for widening certain types of roads.

NYS DOT often plans large or over built rehabilitation projects under the guise of "bringing the roadway up to modern design standards." While certain modern design changes can help improve safety, spending millions of dollars, in some cases hundreds of millions, to simply widen interchanges, intersections, or build additional lanes does not make sense. Such projects often do little to solve congestion in the long-run, and come with very high price tags at a time when we have no money to waste.