Comments on: Andy Wiley-Schwartz Starts at DOT on Monday

By: Hilary Kitasei

Hilary Kitasei — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 15:02:15 +0000

The key recommendation that momos makes for DOT is to SET A TARGET FOR MODE SHARES. We need measurable goals, and they should be used to determine how congestion fees and other incentives/disincentives are adjusted in the future. Goals and triggers will avoid the trap of perverse incentives that arise when other modes benefit from the revenue generated by cars (as happened with transit and bridge tolls.) If traffic volume increases the congestion fee (and or tolls) should rise to neutralize it.

By: Anne (www.sustainableflatbush.org)

Anne (www.sustainableflatbush.org) — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 14:28:41 +0000

re: #5...

yes, Yes, YES!!!

give momos a job at DOT too!!

By: momos

momos — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 20:04:05 +0000

This is really exciting. I hope the change at DOT takes hold all the way down to the engineers on the street.

After implementing congestion pricing, one of the first things the newly transformed DOT should turn its attention to is the abysmal state of NYC's bike lanes. Mere half-visible stripes over broken pavement serve no other purpose than to allow the City to boast that it has created X miles of bike lanes in the last year. Anyone who actually rides a bike down them knows they are meaningless.

Enrique Penalosa's rule that a bike lane must be safe enough for an 8 year old kid to ride in is the principle the DOT should apply to all of the city's major bike routes. This means PHYSICALLY SEPARATED bike lanes. The StreetFilms video brilliantly shows how to do this: simply swap the parking and bike lanes so that the bike lane hugs the sidewalk and is separated from moving traffic by parked cars. There is no change to the distribution of street space, but merely a change to its arrangement. Simple, cheap, effective.

DOT's goal should be to increase bicycling as a mode share by, say, 5% annually. This is totally feasible. Canvass cyclists in the city to find out what their top 3 priorities are (most likely bike lane safety, bike storage, and improved bike access to mass transit). Then target investments accordingly. If this happens in conjunction with congestion pricing, all the better: it'll be easier to reallocated space currently for cars to space for bikes.

By: Nick Grossman

Nick Grossman — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 18:28:28 +0000

Congratulations, Andy!

Can't wait to see y'all get to work at the new DOT.

By: Glenn

Glenn — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 17:50:12 +0000

Whether or not congestion pricing happens, it seems the DOT will never be the same again. Janette has had a nice first month assembling her team. Now it's time to get to work.

By: Clarence

Clarence — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 17:21:10 +0000

Of course, great news. Way to go Andy!

By: da

da — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 17:14:04 +0000

Woo-hoo! Great news and many congrats to Andy.

The lunatics are truly taking over the asylum...