Daniel, wholeheartedly agree it has taken mighty bludgeoning, flogging and dragging (Thanks TA and many others!) But some good has happened and it's good to applaud it --- which the advocates to their credit, are usually very good about doing. I absolutely agree that there have been failures too numerous to mention, though your list was a good start. My point was only that if you're gonna hold the captain accountable for everything that happened on their watch, they have to get some credit for good things. (On the failure list, very good point about the forsaken and forgotten bus rider --- the Metrocard Mayor needs to step in.)

Incidentally, I do think we know why ped crashes have declined so much. Two reasons: first TA advocacy and neighborhood anger raised public expectations about safe streets. Second, NYPD TrafficStat created an oversight and accountability system that improved their enforcement and cajoled DOT to do basic lighting, signage and design improvements at hotspots. Big (but highly imperfect) fixes on Qns Blvd and the Grand Concourse and better ones at Herald and Times Squares have also helped.

You both make very good and fair points. There were bright spots and missed opportunities. Activists and neighborhood groups did have to apply quite a bit of pressure to get seemingly basic improvements in some areas so we can forgive them for being frustrated after seven years. We can leave a lot of baggage at Weinshall or the DOT staff's doorstep, but that's not where the buck stops in the City. She could only stick her neck out so far on major policy issues. If real change in policy is to occur, the pressure has to come from the top. The choice of a new commissioner and whether or not they charge that person with a good livable streets agenda will be a defining moment for the Bloomberg/Doctoroff legacy.

Yes, the criticism is fair.

Iris didn't take the lead on the Queens Blvd ped improvements that she constantly touts. She didn't take the lead on bike network improvements. Iris's DOT was, essentially, bludgeoned by advocates and neighborhood groups into making those improvements. When Iris's DOT spoke on these issues it was to do things like killing the Downtown Bklyn Traffic Calming Project. Her DOT made conditions better for cyclists and pedestrians grudgingly and only marginally. 200+ miles of painted bike lanes in three years? I know that T.A. has to say, "great" but please. The paint's already wearing off Year One's new lanes. And I note you don't mention bus riders above. Well, Iris's DOT NEVER made conditions better for bus riders. They're still "studying" how to that. Everyone knows that Iris put the brakes on that study prior to the last mayoral election.

Iris never protested, complained about or tried to improve the failed land use policies that you cite. Iris's DOT never put forward any truly progressive, innovative citywide transportation policy while our sister cities and competitors across the Atlantic, Paris and London, reduced traffic congestion by signficant amounts and totally reshaped the way they do inner city street management.

Iris says it in her own resignation letter. Her DOT kept the traffic "flowing smoothly." Her major policy innovation was "Thru Streets." Fewer pedestrians are being killed today then when she took office. That's all we got out of her. The latter is a great accomplishment. But is it Iris's? Maybe. Though, maybe fewer peds are killed today because Midtown traffic speeds are now so incredibly low. maybe it's because trauma care has improved. Maybe it's because DOT finally, after YEARS of pushing and many deaths, made some fixes to Queens Boulevard and various other known death traps.

The bottom line is that we don't know why ped fatalities went down over the last decade. The reason we don't know? Iris's DOT doesn't collect meaningful data other than counting the number of cars on city streets. And when a piece of legislation emerges to push her to do just that, Intro. 199 last week, for example, Iris tries to kill it.

It's one thing for a DOT commish to be cars-first in 1993. But given what we know today about urban transportation and the incredible achievements being made in other cities it is unacceptable for a commish to be cars-first in 2007. Or 2002, for that matter. NYC fell way behind under Iris. That's how history will see it.

So, yeah, JK, the criticism is fair. More than fair. And necessary.

That being said, the anticipation of who the new commish will be is killing me..

But let's talk about what's fair.

Wouldn't it be fair to mention that pedestrian injuries and deaths fell to a one hundred year low while Weinshall was at DOT, instead of dismissing her safety accomplishments by listing them after filling potholes and then giving her credit for improvements on "some of the most dangerous streets?"

Is it fair to ignore the significant growth in the bicycle network (which TA has rightly hailed in the past?)

Is it fair to saddle the DOT commissioner with responsibility for failed land use and parking policies far outside of her control?

Is it fair to single out the outgoing DOT Commissioner as a supporter of a car-first status quo when you could say the same thing about all of her predeccessors, the mayor, almost all of City Council --- including the Transportation chair, John Liu, who has consistently opposed congestion pricing and supported very large parking projects.

Just a few short months ago Weinshall was being touted for her new vision and "renaissance."

I want to applaud the leadership TA and Paul have been showing for a good while now. The ideas, vision, positive opportunism, openness to other points of view, tough-but-fair style -- it's all good, if not terrific.