Everyone knows that Phoenix has a huge sprawl problem. But now transit-oriented development is on the upswing in this Sun Belt metropolis. In December, the Phoenix region opened one of the most ambitious transit projects in recent U.S. history: a 20-mile light rail line with 28 stops serving three cities (Phoenix, Tempe, and Mesa). Future [...]
Archive for Clarence Eckerson, Jr.
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Phoenix’s METRO Light Rail Takes Flight
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“Snowy High Line” (2003)
It was a very cold December day in 2003 - I recall being sick and the wind chill near zero - when I was able to go up on The High Line after a moderate snow storm and shoot some video. And until the recent whoosh of publicity over the grand opening of Phase [...]
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The Queensboro Bridge turns 100!
It's extremely rare you get to cross one of New York City's major bridges by foot using the main roadway, but early Sunday morning that's just what happened as the Queensboro Bridge turned a hardy 100!
The NYC Bridge Centennial Commission is in the midst of celebrating the completion dates of six major NYC bridges and [...] -
Meet Veronica Moss, A.U.T.O. Lobbyist
Ever wonder what folks working for sustainable transportation at the federal level are up against on K Street? For this Streetfilms exclusive event, we were granted unfettered access to Veronica Moss, lobbyist for Automobile Users Trade Organization (AUTO). Veronica gave us a few precious moments inside her SUV to talk about roads, traffic, [...]
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Bike Parking Respect in Chicago: McDonald’s Cycle Center
Chicago's Millennium Park hosts of one of the most incredible amenities for cyclists in the United States: McDonald's Cycle Center. So sit back and take a most excellent tour with Bike And Roll's Josh Squire, who manages the facility through an agreement with the city.
It's enough to make bike commuters in many cities drool. [...] -
Brooklyn Students Paint the Pavement
In what is being called the first ever of its kind in New York City, Livable Streets Education teamed up with Community Roots Charter School and PS 67 and got a helping hand from New York Cares and The Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership to paint a magnificent street mural on St. Edwards Street in Fort [...]
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2 Million Served!
We are proud to report that the official number of plays of all Streetfilms has now reached 2 million! That's it, end of news item.
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Hal Grades Your Bike Locking 3: The Final Warning!
It's Bike Month - which means there are scads of neophytes out there nationwide giving cycling a try. Oh goody! But, oh baddy - it also means more improper locking - and we all know there are predators just licking their chops at the thought of stealing all or part of your bike. So we [...]
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Milestones galore this week (and photos!)
Just a few quick items...
1 - April brings us another record breaking month. Nearly 50K visitors to the site. Hooray!
2 - We also shattered our number for unique visitors checking out Streetfilms for ze month.
3 - Thanks to two extremely well performing Streetfilms posting simultaneously, Thursday, April 30th was the most traffic we have ever had on our site. Combined with Wednesday's stats it was also the busiest two-day combo.
4 - We are inching very close to having 2 million plays off the Streetfilms site.
And finally, after a great event at Powerhouse in Brooklyn's DUMBO neighborhood to debut our "The Search for the Zozo" short, we have a few nice photos to share of the Livable Streets Initiative group!
Thanks to everyone.
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The Search for the Zozo
Thanks to a marked improvement for pedestrians and cyclists in public spaces in NYC, Zozo's - purple, pleasant creatures who once roamed NYC's streets before the presence of the automobile but thought now extinct - are making a comeback. Watch our mockumentary as we go in search of the ever-elusive Zozo! Will we find it?
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Portland: Bike Rush Hour on the Hawthorne Bridge
The first time you visit Portland, Oregon, the gaggles of cyclists streaming over the Hawthorne Bridge during rush hour is a sight you will never forget. It's something other cities need to see and be inspired by.
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Treehugger Win, New Purple Supers, Filmed By Bike
Just catching up here with a few news items. Firstly, we won our Category against 16 other competitors in Treehugger's First Annual "Best of Green" awards. Our nomination: Best Green Advocacy. Thanks for everyone who voted for us!
As you begin to watch our newest posts, you'll see we are using new spanky animated supers. We [...] -
Trailer: The Search for the Zozo
The Zozo is coming...
Our eclectic mockumentary "The Search for the Zozo" is only days away from debuting. Until then you'll have to do with the charm of this mysterious promo which is all sorts of wonderful and features lots of NYC notables. Have you seen the Zozo? Check back in a few days to see if we [...] -
ATSAC: Behind the scenes at L.A. Traffic Control
I have to admit: the thought of being in a control room documenting technology that moves vehicles more efficiently didn't excite me at first, but once I met Senior Transportation Engineer Bill Shao and the friendly staff at Los Angeles' Automated Traffic Surveillance and Control (or ATSAC), I was full of curiosity.
First off, one [...] -
We have our first Streetfilm at 100,000 plays!
Published a little over two years ago, our Streefilm The Case for Physically Separated bike lanes has become our first with 100,000 plays. The film basically got birthed one day when our Executive Director Mark Gorton was out with me shooting on the streets near our West Village Office and he said he wanted to [...]
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Treehugger’s First Ever Annual “Best of Green” honors Streetfilms!
Wow! We are honored. Treehugger daily blogs dozens of green-goings-on throughout the U.S. and the world everyday (so many some say it is hard to read them all!) We get regularly featured with some of our films and we are very thankful. But even more exciting is the fact that Streetfilms, [...]
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200 Streetfilms!
It's hard to believe, but we now have over 200 Streetfilms on the site to choose from! Most of them really high quality productions that are being used around the world to fight for better, more livable streets, and a happier planet. Speaking of happy, be sure to click this sure-to-make-you-smile, 3 minute [...]
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45K+ Visitors in March; A New Streetfilms record!!
As Livable Streets nationwide starts to gather momentum and seeking out how safer and saner streets can look, the numbers of people visiting Streetfilms continues to grow. This lovely month of March saw over 45,000 people visit (with 21,000 of those visitors unique, also a record!) But as usual with us, that only [...]
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Introducing Livable Streets Education
The newest member of the Livable Streets Initiative, Livable Streets Education (LSE), partners with schools, cultural institutions and community-based organizations working for improved urban livability, greener transportation, and safer streets. This spring, LSE is in residency at fifteen schools around New York City, working with students in grades K-8, as well as partnering with [...]
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The Power of One Streetfilm!
Whenever we can we like to toot our own horn. Imagine how good it felt to receive the following e-mail. (Still waiting confirmation on whether the sender doesn't mind his name and deets being used, so for now we removed some of the facts or personal info.)
Hi, my name is XXXX and I am responsible for the Cycle Strategy for the City of XXXX. While this email is slightly delayed (April '07), I just want to provide thanks for the film "The case for physically separated bike lanes". Following the publication of our draft strategy, and the desire for a 10% mode split I was lost on how to reconcile the two, knowing that bike lanes do not work to get [average] people cycling. After being forwarded your film, I hit upon the idea of compressing our traffic and parking lanes to fit in a physically separated cycleway on our streets.
This has led to a revolution in cycleway design for us and we will be installing 55 kilometres (34 miles) of separated bike lanes (out of 200 kilometres (125 miles) in a 26 square kilometre (11 sq miles) area. This will be rolled out over the next four years with treatments from low cost (like New York) to high cost, complete streetscape upgrades. So, I just would like to say (long overdue) kudos to Streetfilms and the Open Planning Project.
Okay, if you google enough, you can probably figure out the city. But that's as nice as it gets. Please send us your stories. They invigorate us.
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L.A.’s Orange Line: Bus Rapid Transit (plus bike path!)
Who would have thought that one of the best Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems in the U.S. would be in its most crowded, congested, sprawling city? Well check this out. It's really fabulous.
In October 2005, the Los Angeles County Metro Authority (or Metro) debuted a new 14-mile BRT system in the San Fernando Valley [...] -
Seattle Crosswalk: Tap foot, Lights blink, Cross street
Along Seattle's historic waterfront, a new-ish pedestrian amenity has popped up: a crosswalk that lights up as you cross, and all you gotta do is tap the yellow-rectangle to activate it.
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Making a Better Market Street
Just about everyone who visits San Francisco's grand Market Street is awed by its hustle and bustle, the myriad modes of transportation, and some of the most beautiful architecture in the city. But just about everyone also agrees that Market Street has much bigger potential as a space that accommodates its users in more [...]
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Take a Ride on the Seattle Streetcar
Seattle's South Lake Union Streetcar is a 1.3-mile line that opened in December 2007, the first leg in Seattle's commitment to new transit and light rail. It passed the half million passenger milestone in its first year, surpassing ridership projections.
The streetcar features many top-of-the-line tech amenities, including real time arrival message boards, solar-powered ticket vending [...] -
L.A.’s East Hollywood ArtCycle & Block Party
The bike scene in Los Angeles is alive and well - and growing every day.
Streetfilms rode along with one of two ArtCycle tours of local studio spaces sponsored by the East Hollywood Neighborhood Council. Afterwards, we joined a block party in progress, arriving just in time to hear solid words of encouragement and promises [...] -
Seattle’s Bus Chick on the Rewards of the Riding Life
Carla Saulter, who lives car-free with her husband and young daughter, pens an awesome blog called "Bus Chick" on the Seattle Post Intelligencer's website. It's all about riding transit, chronicling her daily life doing it, and inspiring others to do it!
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1.5 million Streetfilms plays!
Just slapping ourselves on the backs again. The count at the number of Streetfilms plays now stands right around 1.5 million! Great numbers. And we have lots of videos in the works that feature cities as diverse as: São Paolo, Seattle, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Boston, and Curitiba. Stay tuned!
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The Transformation of NYC’s Madison Square
We already touched on Madison Square in our in-depth interview with Janette Sadik-Khan last fall, but we always felt that it deserved a much closer examination based upon all the footage we couldn't use in that Streetfilm. Take a freaking look!
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Earl Blumenauer talks transit, stimulus, bikes and Obama
Moments after he delivered the keynote address to the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO), Oregon's Rep. Earl Blumenauer, head of the Congressional Bike Caucus, met with us for this exclusive one-on-one chat.
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Streetfilm Strategy in Ten Steps
We have more and more people in their own communities out shooting their own "streetfilms" style shorts (notice the lowercase use there.) And whether it be a public screening or via e-mail, we frequently get asked advice on best techniques to use, what our story selection process is and what makes our films so effective. [...]
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Streetfilms gets a new (temporary) office
Yo, check it out! As of Monday, Streetfilms is chillin' in Brooklyn's D.U.M.B.O. at the Green Desk building at 155 Water Street. For the interim we have re-located there (along with our sister site Streetsblog, the Livable Streets Education group, and Gotham Schools blog) as we wait for newer and more expansive offices to come to fruition.
Ironically, we are now adjacent to one of NYC DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan's first announced public space improvements (see it here in a Streetfilm from what seems like long ago.) So if you have an idea for a Streetfilm or want to come by and chew on our ears, maybe we'll come on down for lunch to meet ya in the green triangle - once the weather gets a little nicer. Here a few photos of Day One.
Streetfilms' Robin Urban Smith literally holds the keys to our success.
Streetsblog's patriarch Aaron Naparstek shows the treads of what walking and bicycling can do to the bottom of your shoes.
Rebecca Jacobs of our Livable Streets Education arm inspects the new desks and view with our limitlessly creative Carly Clark (you can see the arch of the Manhattan Bridge just outside the window.)
Moi showing off the brick wall we hope to use as a background to shoot a few interviews. (While Elizabeth Press toils away making connections for her upcoming trip to South America.)
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Join us on Facebook (and get first notice on some postings!)
Just a reminder, if you are on Facebook then you should join our Streetfilms page. We are nearing the 300 mark and unlike a lot of pages that are created and you join and then nothing beneficial ever happens, we actually send out a weekly notice and give exclusive notice on some postings. We [...]
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Transformando las Calles de Nueva York: Una conversación con Janette Sadik-Khan
Desde que empezó en su nuevo puesto como comisaria del Departamento de Transporte en la mitad del año 2007, Janette Sadik-Khan se retó a transformar las calles de Nueva York. Se reto a mejorar la comodidad y seguridad vial para peatones y ciclistas y a reorientar el foco del departamento al diseño de calles [...]
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Streetfilms in Philadelphia on Friday
If you are a Philadelphia resident, don't miss this chance to get to see over an hour of Streetfilms on the big screen!
We'll be showing an hour of Streetfilms, concluding with a final flurry of all of the bike-share films we have put together for the site at the Academy for Natural Sciences. The event has been put together Russel Meddin, the Bike Share Philadelphia Project Coordinator.
All three Streetfilms master documentarians will be in attendance and we hope to answer your questions and chat. Don't be late, first film begins at 630 PM.
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Streetsblog Comes to San Francisco
While on the West Coast in October for the Railvolution Conference, the announcement went out that San Francisco would become the third chapter in the Streetsblog sisterhood. Hip Hip Hooray!
On Halloween morning, yours truly was invited out to do the person-on-the-street gig at the final Gas-Free Friday event being held by the San Francisco [...] -
Rush Hour Bike Traffic on SF’s Market Street
I just scratched my head in amazement as I read of plans that the MTA board in San Francisco voted to eliminate a bike lane for cyclists along Market Street. Obviously those on the board need a video reminder to demo just how busy Market is with cyclists, so I decided to post some rush [...]
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P.S. 87 First graders give peds, cyclists & drivers advice
How's this for understanding modal harmony?
Livable Streets Education has been working in New York City schools, encouraging students to explore and question the environments around their school and in their neighborhoods, and to voice the changes they want to see on their streets. We recently asked first graders at P.S. 87 to give advice to [...] -
Boulder Goes Bike Platinum
Add Boulder, Colorado to the League of American Bicyclists' cities to achieve Platinum Bike Status. This Fall, they were bestowed the nation's highest rank for U.S. cities and joined Portland, Oregon and Davis, California as the only three cities to have that honor.
I spent five days on a bike in Boulder in October and can [...] -
Grand Street 2005
With all the hullabaloo over the new Grand Street bike lane, we thought we'd resurrect a Streetfilm (actually before they were even called Streetfilms!) from back in June 2005 with TOPP founder Mark Gorton talking about the then incredible width of Grand Street and the inequity of street space devoted to its users. We [...]
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P.S. 87 Kindergartners draw car-free streets
Got a minute to spare?
Livable Streets Education has been working in New York City schools, encouraging students to explore and question the environments around their school and in their neighborhoods, and to voice the changes they want to see on their streets. We recently asked Kindergartners at P.S. 87 what they would do if there [...] -
DVD Review: “Noise”
Released in only a handful of theaters this summer with nary a cinematic sound, "Noise" stars Tim Robbins as a New Yorker whose life becomes upended when the decibels of city living infringe on his daily routine. Now on DVD, hopefully "Noise" will allow more advocates to queue it up in their Netflix accounts.
When noisy [...] -
Listen to Bikescape Podcast!
During my last West Coast Streetfilms field trip, I got to sit down with San Francisco's own Jon Winston who has been putting together the fantastic Bikescape podcast for many moons. If you'd like your ear to take an audio gander, just go here. We talked about many topics including NYC's recent transformation, activism and Streetfilms and Streetsblog opening up a chapter in San Francisco.
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An Alfresco chat with Jan Gehl
Every time we manage to snag an interview with Jan Gehl, it ends up being one of the coldest days of the Fall. But that didn't stop the Danish livable streets maestro from grabbing a table in New York City's new wonderful public space, Madison Square, to chat with Streetsblog's Editor-in-chief Aaron Naparstek.
It was [...] -
New Streetfilms T-Shirt Contest: Pitch a Streetfilm!
Story ideas. People have them. Sometimes they let us know. Sometimes they don't. Sometimes they are good. Sometimes they are bad. Sometimes we don't have a 1 million dollar budget to pull them off. Heck, sometimes they give us a good one at event and we don't write [...]
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Cooking Up Bike Co-Ops in Los Angeles
I don't know if there is an official stat chart on bike co-ops/collectives in the United States, but certainly Los Angeles boasts more in one city then any I am immediately aware of.
So fresh from the oven we cooked up this dish of a Streetfilm from our West Coast swing. We were able to [...] -
LA Gets Diagonal Crosswalks (again)
In an effort to improve pedestrian safety and traffic flow, the City of Los Angeles recently installed ten diagonal crosswalks/pedestrian scrambles/Barnes dances (just pick one, they all mean the same) around the metro area. We were able to check one out with Glenn Ogura of LADOT near the USC campus to learn a little [...]
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West Coast News and New Streetfilms Stats!
As some of you may know, I had a long ten day trek to the West Coast to participate in San Francisco's Railvolution, to give a Streetfilms screening at the SF Main Library, ride Critical Mass, head down to L.A. and shoot two other Streetfilms, for a grand West Coast total of five! For [...]
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SF Critical Mass Halloween 2008
On my recent West Coast Streetfilms swing, I got to jump into the San Francisco Critical Mass dressed as a "bee" (ironically my childhood nickname!) Although we don't often cover alot of critical mass here on our pages, I thought this one would be apropos since it promised to have up to [...]
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Over 1,000,000 plays on Streetfilms!
A few months back we posted that there were one million plays of Streetfilms in the universe (seeing that we can't really track alien watching habits, we'll say Earth-only watches.) Now, we can report this week Streetfilms has skyrocketed past 1,000,000 plays on our site! Our estimate of viewings of all Streetfilms media sources (YouTube, [...]
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Alewife Station’s Bike Cage: Cambridge, Mass.
In the greater Boston area, a secure bike parking facility for bikes has been erected at the end of the T's Red Line in Cambridge. It boasts one incredible amenity: it's completely free!
Alewife station is perfectly situated at the edge of the burbs and perpendicular to The Minuteman Bikeway, one of the most popular rail [...] -
Streetfilms in San Francisco this Wednesday!
This week we are in San Francisco for the annual RailVolution Conference so we decided to take advantage of that and program a night of Streetfilms. As always, the screening is free to the public and presented by the San Francisco Bike Coalition and the Office of Mayor Gavin Newsom; co-sponsored by the Stegner Environmental [...]
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Report from Boston: Streetfilm vs “streetfilm”
Fresh off an awesome Streetfilms event in Cambridge hosted by LivableStreets Alliance and attended by over 70 people (where they premiered their first self-produced "streetfilm" on Boston PARKing Day 2008), I thought we would address the growing use of the term "streetfilm" in the livable streets lexicon.
First off, we are very happy people around the country are starting to use the term "streetfilm" (note, lowercase) to describe similarly themed productions that are inspired by our site. And we fully encourage that. In fact, if you shoot something that you post on YouTube and you want us to feature on our Eyes On The Street right-hand sidebar, just tag it "streetfilms" and we'll try to throw it up for a few days!
So go nuts. Use the term. Of course, you can't say you work for Streetfilms or call it an official Streetfilms production, but this kind of emulation is flattering and needed, cause we can't be everywhere documenting everything!
Now if you want to see LivableStreets Alliance's first "streetfilm" shot and edited by George Zisiadis, I have embedded it below. You can see it definitely is very similar to what we do; it's a great first effort and we hear he is already working on more:
Much thanks to the whole team over at LivableStreets Alliance team including Jackie Douglas and Jeff Rosenblum. On another note, filmmaker George also happens to be in a well-reviewed movie that just opened in theaters called Frontrunners. I plan on seeing it as soon as possible. Check out this way cool Gothamist interview with him.
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Transforming NYC Streets: A Conversation with Janette Sadik-Khan
Since taking over as New York City's Commissioner of the Department of Transportation in mid-2007, Janette Sadik-Khan has taken on the challenge of making NYC streets more bike & pedestrian friendly while emphasizing livable streets and re-orienting them to accommodate all modes. She and her staff have done it quickly with innovative concepts, thinking outside [...]
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Tour de Bronx 2008
An extremely frosty morning couldn't keep over 4,000 riders from taking in the Bronx alfresco in the 14th Annual version of the original classic. Despite being under the weather I was able to file a short report. As usual, it is one of the best things to look forward to yearly in NYC, [...]
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And the Winner is…
Okay, I was a little amazed we only had eight entries for our first contest (come on folks!) but the good news is that there was plenty of great fodder in those. Everyone that entered had at least one gem amongst their suggestions for a NYC bus route. For sheer ferociousness, I really loved Susan [...]
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Win the first ever Streetfilms t-shirt contest!
From time to time we'll be giving away a Streetfilms t-shirt to a lucky reader or watcher. They are filled with American Apparel sweetness and of course they are a handsome shade of purple. It is the best shirt I have ever owned in my life and I will never wear anything again. [...]
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We are coming to Boston!
If you live in Boston, rejoice! Streetfilms will be in town (Cambridge) on Thursday, October 23rd courtesy of Livable Streets Boston's monthly STREET TALK program. All the details you can handle are here. Please come on out for lots of fun short films about transportation, bicycling and walking! (And I will [...]
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HOP, SKIP, and JUMP aboard a Boulder Bus
Welcome to an innovative way of thinking about transit: ask your passengers to design routes, let them name them, and decide the frequency in which they operate. That's what Boulder, Colorado does and they sure seem to have discovered the right way to make bus riding fun and enticing!
Boulder boasts seven high-frequency bus lines [...] -
Bike-Thru Window Banking – Boulder, Colorado
How's this for customer service? The Pueblo Bank & Trust in Boulder, Colorado has been providing bicycle customers a bike drive-thru window for some time now, complete with a bike rack and H2O for thirsty travelers!
Although this is the first bank I've heard about, in Portland, Oregon there are a number of cafes and [...] -
Praise from the experts…what’s yours?
We love to toot our own horn (rather: tinkle our own bell!) from time to time, and why not? We've been doing a lot of good work that the country and the world are drawing upon to educate and use as tools to change their communities and cities.
Recently, we started a page on the site in which we started collating some of the best comments from notary community and advocates which you can find here. Do you have some accolades you'd like to add? Send us a comment.
Here are just three excerpts from that list:
"All of you are great human beings who are planting seeds all over to make a better world, where people are happier and we have healthier communities. Thanks for your enthusiastic and most creative work.”
-Gil Peñalosa (former Parks Commissioner Bogota, Colombia), Executive Director, Walk & Bike For Life, Ontario, Canada
"Streetfilms' Ciclovia video was critical in our efforts to engage city leaders to start our own Sunday Streets program. Showing the video to our Mayor was the next best thing to flying him to Bogota to witness the joys of Ciclovia firsthand. The success of San Francisco's Sunday Streets owes a great debt to Streetfilms' pioneering work."
-Leah Shahum Executive Director, San Francisco Bicycle Coalition
“The key to the indispensable move to sustainable cities is what goes on in people’s minds. We need to harness all available tools to do this job. And in this Streetfilms is making a terrific contribution. Keep at it Streetfilms. Go go go!”
-Eric Britton, The Commons and the New Mobility Agenda, Paris and Los Angeles
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Watch me on The Brian Lehrer Show
A few weeks ago I was on the Brian Lehrer Show and I wasn't half bad! Plus now I feel like a true New Yorker having finally been on there. Brian is really an amazing host who just makes you feel so at ease. It is like he is just part of the air while you are in there.
I debuted a new shirt for the show. For those that know me that's a very important event...ha ha!
Brian Lehrer and Clarence Eckerson of Streetfilms from Brian Lehrer Live on Vimeo. -
Contra-flow Bike Lane – Boulder, CO
Boulder, Colorado recently achieved the creme de la creme - Platinum bike status from the League of American Bicyclists so Streetfilms decided to pay the city a visit to get the scoop. Among the many bicycle amenities the city can boast, none spoke to us more than the contra-flow bicycle lane that runs three city [...]
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Photo Report from Boulder
I'm not a big fan of "top ten" designations, but I just returned from my first visit to Boulder, Colorado, and since it sits at the top of sundry best biking/most livable/most healthy lists, it's easy to see why the city is so proud of its frequent appearance in these kinds of rankings.
Recently, the League [...] -
Gary Toth: Reinventing Transportation Planning as Community Development
Recently, we were very lucky to have Streetsblog's Editor-in-chief, Aaron Naparstek in the "Streetfilms Headquarters" to chat with Gary Toth the Senior Director of Transportation Initiatives with the Project for Public Spaces.
For thirty-four years, Mr. Toth worked for the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT), and become known for his collaboration and facilitation skills, [...] -
Streetfilms Going Platinum in Boulder
On Monday night, there will be a screening of Streetfilms at Full Cycle in Boulder, Colorado. All the fun deets are here. I will be in Boulder for about six days talking to advocates and city officials about the League of American Bicyclists decision to make Boulder only the third U.S. city to gain the coveted Platinum Award. (Portland, OR and Davis, CA being the other two.)
In addition, we'll aim to have another Streetfilm on the unique GO Boulder bus system and - as the best Streetfilms have proven - just roam around to see where the wind or bike may take us. Sometimes it is best to stay a little unstructured.
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Streetfilms on The Brian Lehrer Show!
This week, one of Streetfilms' biggest fans and users of our content, The Brian Lehrer Show, will have me on to discuss selected Streetfilms and the growing popularity of Livable Streets advocacy! Please tune in. In the NYC area it airs live Wednesday on CUNY-TV at 730 pm. BUT - if you can't catch then, there are numerous repeats throughout the week and eventually you can watch via the web. All those deets are here.
Now I finally feel like an important New Yorker!
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Park(ing) Day NYC 2008
Transportation Alternatives reports during this year's foray into PARKing Day there were over 50 parking spaces temporarily reclaimed throughout the city, nearly doubling last year's total. I'll say this: that's a lot of freaking sod!!
As usual for these things, the fare ran from the wildly creative to the calm & soothing. There was [...] -
Ciclovía (en español)
¿Cómo se puede hacer que miles y miles de personas en una ciudad participen en actividad física a la misma vez?
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Need cool music for our PARKing Day piece
With our annual PARKing Day piece about a week or so away, just a shout out here: if you have a piece of music you'd like to contribute to Streetfilms that we can use for free in our 2008 version, please let us know. We are looking for all kinds of stuff, but mostly [...]
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Streetfilm Records Abound!
The good news continues! The month of August saw our highest number of unique visitors to the site at just a shade under 20,000. That's quite remarkable considering the last two weeks of August are traditionally low volume weeks. We also just missed out on setting a record for overall visits for the month, but don't worry, we are aiming to break that in September. Check out the chart for the past year - you'll see the lighter green bar indicates unique visitors.In addition, we estimate that Streetfilms have now been played right around one million times, as we have nearly 900,000 views on this site alone. But our films are also on YouTube, our previous incarnation of this site for NYCSR, and are being used all throughout the world at seminars, community meetings, and film festivals.
And thanks to the popularity of Ciclovia-style closures going on all throughout the U.S. (NYC, San Francisco, Chicago among them) we had an amazing August for those type films with other sites linking to us...our NYC Summer Streets Streetfilm is going strong at nearly 30K watches for the month, Bogota's Ciclovia added another 10K+ in August, and the Portland Sunday Parkways video climbed over the 10K mark after hovering at around 5K after its initial run.
Go watch some Streetfilms! We are a few days away from posting a flurry of Streetfilms the rest of the month of September.
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We are now on Facebook
Why not join our new group on Facebook? That's right, we are now part of that social connector that every day grows in scope and members. If you are signed in, just click here which should take you directly to our page. Also look to become friends with all of our filmmakers who have their own pages (and if you dare Streetsblog as well!)
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PARK(ing) Day 2007 NYC (en español)
Park(ing) Day fue un gran éxito en la ciudad de Nueva York el año pasado. Se convirtieron muchos espacios de estacionamiento en espacios verdes para la gente. Se acerca Park(ing)Day 2008, viernes, el 19 de septiembre ocuparemos 50 espacios en los 5 condados de la ciudad.
To watch in English with no subtitles, click [...] -
Summer Streets 2: Electric Boogaloo photos
As predicted, Week Two was even more enthusiastic then the first. Since I didn't have the task of capturing video this week, I was able to snap some photos and was able to relish it more. I even made it all the way up to 72nd Street! Please click here to see the [...]
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Streetfilms T-Shirts! Would you buy one?
That's right, we are ordering up some t-shirts which we will offering to the public at a reasonable price and producing them using American Apparel product. They will look really nice cause our own Carly Clark is designing them. Shirts will be purple (of course!) with our logo in the middle on the [...]
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A Streetfilms Record!
Well maybe it won't compare with the box office gusto of "The Dark Knight", but we here at Streetfilms are setting records. Our recent film on Summer Streets in NYC, reached 10,000 plays in just two days, far faster than any other. Previously Bike Vs. Car Vs. Transit reached that mark in just over a week, while Hal (and Kerri) Grade Your Bike Locking took 10 days.
We also had nearly 10,000 visitors to the site over three days. Also a record. You might ask how we could now have many more views then visitors? Simple, all plays of our videos embedded on other sites report back to us.
Hooray for us.
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Summer Streets 2008 (NYC)
Feeling remarkably similar to Bogota's Ciclovia, the New York City Department of Transportation held its first Summer Streets event on Saturday by opening 7 miles of city streets to pedestrians and bike traffic only. From 7 AM to 1 PM, roads were car-free from 72nd Street to the Brooklyn Bridge along Park Avenue. It was splendiferous.
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All Aboard the Bike Ferry!
For a few days this week, my gal Fatima and I were lucky enough to get a free stay with friends on my first visit to Martha's Vineyard. While out on a 41 mile exploration to Aquinnah, we got to ride the Menemsha Bike Ferry!
It took all of about three minutes to travel across [...]
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Streetfilms en Español
Over the next few months we are going to be subtitling at least five of our Streetfilms in Spanish. We've already had a few requests as to which ones viewers would like to see. ¿Cuál Streetfilm le gustaría ver con subtítulos en español? Please submit your favorite candidate(s) here.
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Streetfilms now in 16 x 9!
If you have watched Elizabeth's latest post on the Queens Blvd Rally, then you already know that going forth you will be seeing some Streetfilms in the widescreen 16 x 9 format. Eventually we may change over to exclusively 16 x 9 (to be in line with High Definition) from our 4 x 3 posting [...]
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Summer Streets PSA
Here's the official 30 second PSA promo that Streetfilms edited to help promote Summer Streets! The event is very similar to other great worldwide street happenings we have brought you - from Ciclovia in Bogotá, Colombia to Sunday Parkways in Portland, Oregon.
In NYC on three consecutive Saturdays - August 9th, 16th, and 23rd - a [...] -
Williamsburg Walks!
If you regularly visit Williamsburg's Bedford Avenue you know that the area is an eclectic mix of shops, people, and synergy. But the sidewalks are often jammed with people. Bikes are clamped to anything that won't move. Consequently, it can be uncomfortable to navigate its density.
This past Saturday (and three more upcoming thru August [...] -
LPI – Leading Pedestrian Interval
Leading Pedestrian Intervals (or LPIs) are a traffic signalization strategy that allows pedestrians an exclusive 3 to 5 second signal (in some cases much longer) to begin crossing the street before cars get a green light. Consequently, they are also known by their sassier nickname, Pedestrian Head Start. But in my view the best variation on what LPI stands for comes from Christine Berthet of the Hells Kitchen Neighborhood Association who proposes: "Life Preserving Interval"
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Praise from the Experts
Hey friends! Not to toot our own horn too much, but we have had so many nice comments from Livable Streets world leaders about our work here at Streetfilms that we thought we would start assembling them in one place. So without further ado, please go down to the About Street Films box on [...]
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3/4 million Streetfilm watches!
Hey folks, we have hit another milestone: at least 750,000 people - and that's our low end estimate - have watched Streetfilms.
Wow, who would have thunk it? As our cities get more congested and transportation continues to be an elevated issue in political campaigns nationwide, people want more Livable Streets outside their doorsteps. [...] -
Great Public Spaces: Pioneer Courthouse Square
According to the Project for Public Spaces (PPS), Portland, Oregon's Pioneer Courthouse Square is one of the Top 10 greatest public spaces in the U.S. & Canada. I couldn't agree more. Affectionately referred to as the city's "living room" the charming and versatile block was once slated to be an 11-story parking garage [...]
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Looking for your testimonials!
We have heard quite a few stories from individuals and groups of how Streetfilms have helped convince and portray certain transportation concepts to important leaders or community organizations throught the U.S. and the world.
We'd love to hear your story and comments. Has a Streetfilm helped you pass legislation for safer streets? Or helped [...] -
Welcome: Robin Urban Smith
If you've seen today's Streetfilm on Block Parties (edited by our amazingly talented Elizabeth Press) then you have also seen a little bit of the camera work of our amazingly talented intern Robin Urban Smith.
Besides having an awesomely cool middle name, Robin brings a passion for media as an advocacy tool. Her past projects have [...] -
Know of any famous NYC cyclists to Profile?
In the next few months, Streetfilms is looking to shoot some short profiles of cyclists with name-brand appeal, especially here in New York. Sure we all know David Byrne has been cycling for 30 years and Matthew Modine recently contributed a film to the Bicycle Film Festival, but who else out there have you [...]
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Portland (Green) Bike Box!
Earlier this year, Portland's Office of Transportation installed many high visibility bike boxes that are colored lime green to help cyclist avoid right hook collisions. So while in Portland for the World Car-free Conference, we decided to have a little fun and publish a sequel to our very popular "How to Use a Bike Box".
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Photos from Portland
If you haven’t figured out already, Streetfilms and the Livable Streets team have returned from the World Car-free Conference. We had a great time meeting so many of you (wow, we really have fans!)
Hope you are enjoying the first two Streetfilms from Portland: Elizabeth’s “Depaving Day” film and my “Sunday Parkways” video. We […] -
Portland’s Sunday Parkways
Despite a very dreary and damp first half of the day, Portland's first Ciclovia-style street closure, Sunday Parkways, was a smashing success with countless thousands of city residents participating. It was like a giant community block party with walkers, bikers, joggers, bladers, families, and pets filling the 6 mile course.
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Mayor Bloomberg & Friends Announce “Summer Streets”
A large heaping of news media and livable streets advocates converged at Astor Place for the Mayor's presser to make the official announcement of "Summer Streets." Essentially the plan opens Park Avenue to pedestrians and cyclists from 72nd thru to the Brooklyn Bridge (using other connectors) on August 9th, 16th, and 23rd from 7 [...]
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Streetfilms in Portland!
Hey fans, we are headed to Portland, Oregon this week to cover some events in and around the World Car-free Conference. These include a de-paving project and the Sunday Parkways event, which is Portland's first attempt at a Ciclovia-style closure. If you happen to be on the West Coast, come on by as [...]
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Ciclovia (Express Version)
Since many cities around the world are now flirting with the idea of doing their own Ciclovia-style street closures, we have been asked by a few individuals and advocates for a shorter version of our Ciclovia film, which is helping push the debate from idea to reality in some places. And so we have [...]
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Car-free Prospect Park Street Theater! (from 2002)
Back in 2002 there was a huge push on for a three month trial ban on cars in Prospect Park, Brooklyn (I mean really are we still fighting for this?! Come on Mayor Bloomberg it's time to do a trial!) In any event, Aaron Naparstek (with future wife Joanne) organized a fun Halloween street theater event where we all dressed up as cars and raised some eyebrows Saturday morning at the Grand Army Plaza Green Market.
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We are looking all newfangled and stuff!
Please check out our spanky Streetfilms site which is part of the all-new and all-powerful Livable Streets Network! You'll be able to watch our films in a larger size (while still embedding them smaller) and we have beautified the site and made it much more efficient and searchable. We hope you like the [...] -
Tour de Queens 2008
Not even the heat and humidity of a 96 degree day could keep nearly 500 people from pedaling the inaugural Tour de Queens. The beautiful course - which hugged much of the northwest perimeter of the borough was put together by the Queens T.A. Committee and featured "lots of smiles per hour."
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Street Transformations: Grand Army Plaza
As one gentleman said to me while admiring the new greenery and traffic islands in Grand Army Plaza, "Wow, sometimes government does work!" It's easy to quickly forget how things were, but we here at Streetfilms aim to not let that happen. Check out these extraordinary before/afters; especially the new separated bike lane which safely shepherds riders from Prospect Park.
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Tour de Brooklyn 2008
Always a diverse funfest of people, the 4th Annual Tour de Brooklyn from Transportation Alternatives was no different this year with over 2,000 joining the cycling fun. This year's event was moved a week early to coincide with the anniversary of the Brooklyn Bridge's 125th birthday and launched from DUMBO. Among the highlights [...]
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Streetfilms Wants Your Music!
Have you ever wanted to have your music featured on Streetfilms? We're always looking for some good, free use music that fits our quirky brand of film making.
Basically, that means a background scrore that helps tell our stories, a genre usually uplifting or fun in spirit. Obviously tracks without lyrics are preferred, [...] -
View from the Street: “Speed Racer”
With an abysmally-low $20 million debut, perhaps the public took out their anger of rising gas prices on Speed Racer? O.K. probably not, but you certainly won't find sadness here for the latest from The Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix Trilogy).Originally a late 60s, Japanese animation import, Speed Racer has been juiced for [...] -
Streetfilms Looking for Freelancers
With an enormous number of livable streets stories and activities on the horizon in NYC this summer, Streetfilms will be looking for help. So if you are very good with a camera, know transportation issues and are familiar with the current momentum of livable streets, send us your deets! The process to apply [...]
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Snackin’ & Schwag for Cyclists in Queens
If it's Bike Month, then Transportation Alternatives must be hosting their annual commuter pit stops with help from NYC DOT and the five Boro President's offices. Yesterday, it was a Queens afternoon snack and we thought we'd take the pulse of cyclists departing the QBB as they got some rehydration and filled their packs with literature (and mega safety schwag!)
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Melbourne: A Pedestrian Paradise
In the last 15 years, the city of Melbourne has altered its landscape with more car-free spaces, wider sidewalks, greener streets, eclectic cafes, public art and a bustling pedestrian haven where people relate more to their environment
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Janette Sadik-Khan’s “Sustainable Streets”
Commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, unveils NYC DOT's "Sustainable Streets" - a strategic Plan for 2008 and beyond.
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Hal (and Kerri) Grade Your Bike Locking
In our follow up to "Hal Grades Your Bike Locking," two experienced mechanics offer advice and grades on the bike locking ability of New Yorkers.
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Street Transformations: Meat Market Plaza
Check out the dramatic before and after video of this now public space.
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Baltimore gets a Ciclovia!
Greg Cantori, Executive Director of the Marion I. & Henry J. Knott Foundation, has been trying to get Baltimore to put in place a Ciclovia for over two years. With the help of other organizations - and now called Sunday Streets - this October it will (read his entry on the Audacious Ideas blog.) This is great news and one of many U.S. cities where there is a movement to bring some sort of periodic street closures so residents can enjoy their streets; not just used as thoroughfares for cars.
And we remind you, please, if you are out there advocating the same, Streetfilms can help you do it! Our films are being used throughout the world to demonstrate how livable streets initiatives work. Quoting Mr. Cantori's e-mail to us:
....your film played a key role as we showed it to the city hall staff as part of our presentation. It was a hit! You can be very proud of the great work you are doing in creating changes in attitudes and behaviors. If a picture is worth a thousand words then imagine what thousands of pictures in a film can do.
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The Mayor and Tyra Plant a Tree!
While out filming livable streets improvements around Gansevoort and Ninth Avenue today, we roamed into a quagmire of paparazzi in a feeding frenzy. Soon it was apparent why: Mayor Bloomberg and Tyra Banks showed up briefly to beautify our physically separated bike lane on Ninth Avenue by planting a tree!
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Over 500K Streetfilms watches (and we’re just getting started…)
In the past year, Streetfilms have been watched a half million times, and with postings on other sites like YouTube! along with advocates organizing screenings all over the world - and some film festivals - the true number is somewhere beyond that.
The momentum continues. The list of cities and countries has been incredible. Just a small sample reveals the spectrum of demand in the last few weeks: Durham, Thailand, Tucson, Philadelphia, Tasmania, Melbourne, Toronto, Eugene, Amherst, Edinburgh, Baltimore, St. Louis and dozens more.
So what do we have coming up? Nick has some Streetfilms from the L.A. area, Elizabeth is in Paris documenting the Vélib’ & more, and Clarence is just back with his camera from one of the most livable places on the planet: Melbourne, Australia.
Finally a last plug: one of our favorite festivals, Filmed By Bike, takes place next weekend from April 11 thru 13. Elizabeth and Clarence have four films showing there including Clarence, The Traffic Calming Sasquatch. We urge you to go, but if you're not you can always take a gander here.
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Lounging & Lollygaging in Wodonga
On Fridays, residents of Wodonga, Australia take back the downtown by placing sofas in the street and programming music and games for families. David Engwicht author, philosopher and creator of the Walking School Bus and Mental Speed Bumps, has taken on "the challenge of a lifetime" - to revitalize this downtown district and make the streets more vibrant and livable.
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Chicanes In My Neighborhood
Sometimes double-parked cars and street regulations form their own temporary traffic calmed conditions.
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Lessons from Bogotá
In Part 3 of our Bogotá trilogy we look at Cyclepaths, Parks, and some of the great initiatives undertaken to make it a more livable city.
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Need some Streetfilms on DVD?
Just dropping a note here to let you know if you want to show Streetfilms to your community, or you're a livable streets advocate who wants to use our films in your work, or are from one of the many bike/livable streets film festivals throughout the world and want to show Streetfilms on the big screen - all you gotta do is ask!
We provide free DVDs (up to three) to anyone interested in making the world a better place. Our films are Creative Commons 3.0 tools and are able to be copied and distributed, embedded on sites, etc. so long as no one profits from them. If anyone wishes to re-edit our material for their own use, please ask Clarence for permission first at clarence (at) openplans.org.
To get those DVDs, it's easy. Just email Lily Bernheimer, the NYC Streets Renaissance Project Coordinator, at lily (at) openplans.org and let her know which of our films you are interested in, give her your address. Our films are on volumes - most of which contain other Streetfilms - so you'll most likely get additional videos with your request.
In the near future we will have an ordering form and special DVD theme collections.
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Reasons Why You Shouldn’t Give Me a Ticket!
A humorous but enlightening look at the visual signals drivers send to try to avoid getting a parking ticket.
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Enrique Peñalosa talks with COMMUTErs
Enrique Peñalosa encourages New Yorker activists to fight for positive change and Bus Rapid Transit.
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From Tragedy to Advocacy: Mary Beth Kelly
Mary Beth Kelly's husband, Dr. Carl Henry Nacht, was killed while riding a bike, but it hasn't stopped her from doing something she enjoys nor fighting for safer streets.
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Barnes Dance!
The Barnes Dance is an all-cross pedestrian signal!
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Bus Rapid Transit: Bogotá
In Part 2 of our Bogotá trilogy, we examine the tremendously successful Bus Rapid Transit system which has revolutionized transit there.
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Crosswalks #1
The streets of NYC can be very dangerous for pedestrians. And we think this footage is on the mild side.
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How to use a Bike Box
There are dozens of Bike Boxes popping up all over NYC, wanna find out how to use them?
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Ciclovia: Bogotá, Colombia
In Part 1 of our Bogotá trilogy watch as every Sunday & holiday, every week, the City of Bogotá, Colombia closes down over 70 miles of roadways to cars and let people bike, walk, talk, exercise, picnic, sunbathe, I could go on and on. Just watch the video, it's amazing.
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Transportation Ethics
Executive Director Mark Gorton interviews NY Times' Ethics columnist Randy Cohen about urban automobility.
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NYC Streets Renaissance with Jan Gehl
Jan Gehl headlines an exciting livable streets event at the Jewish Community Center in Manhattan.
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Street Transformations – Upper West Side
We take three before & after photosims, manipulate them and add music. Voila! You've baked a livable streets cake!!
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Clarence: The Purple Traffic Calming Wizard
The Purple Traffic Calming Wizard chats with the hoi polloi to find out what peeps think about the physically separated bike path on 9th Ave.
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Photos of the Tour de Bronx 2007
Photo montage of the Tour de Bronx.
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We Welcome Elizabeth Press to the StreetTeam!
We here at StreetFilms are so happy to be back to full StreetTeam strength with the addition of Elizabeth Press. She comes to us after four years as a producer for the independent TV/Radio program, Democracy Now! She received her MFA in Electronic Arts at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with a focus on community media. While working on her thesis, Elizabeth spent a year teaching youth video in the Dominican Republic on a Fulbright Scholarship.Her videos have screened in festivals all over the world, including a grassroots organized tour with her most recent documentary, Still We Ride. You will usually find Elizabeth commuting on her second-hand spectrum bicycle.
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In Davis’ Platinum City Even the Munchkins Ride Bikes
Davis, California is the only Platinum bike city in the U.S. Come see why.
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David Byrne Celebrates NYC Bicycling in Style
Last night, I was one of 1200 lucky ticket holders attending "How New Yorkers Ride Bikes" a David Byrne presentation at Town Hall as part of the 2007 New Yorker Festival. Stuffed with laughs, entertainment, and bicycle inspiration, it was hard not to be psyched about the current state of cycling in NYC. In fact, [...]
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Ninth Avenue Gets a Physically Separated Bike Lane
NYC is getting a separated bike lane. Pinch us! Pinch us!!
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Minding the GAP (Grand Army Plaza)
DOT press conference for GAPCO ped/bike improvements.
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PARK(ing) Day NYC 2007
In Fall 2007, T.A. & The Trust for Public Land organized a of group of motley advocates in liberating nearly two dozen parking spaces and turning them into open green areas for city residents to enjoy. Parking Day rules!
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T.A. Century 2007
Hitch a ride along Transportation Alternatives annual Century ride, one of the most enjoyable and friendly rides in the nation. Here is the 2007 campaign.
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Portland: Celebrating America’s Most Livable City
StreetFilms' 30 minute film on Portland, OR showing just a few of the ways it is one of the most livable cities in the U.S.
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StreetFilms at the Guggenheim: August 18th
This Saturday, August 18th from 12 to 3 pm, Transportation Alternatives has been invited to take part in the acclaimed Shapes of Space exhibition at the Guggenheim. The exhibit explores the concept of space within art, and T.A. has assembled an interactive discussion of New York City's public space that will include showing StreetFilms' Intersection Repair and ten other of our shorts.
Admission is FREE to T.A. members! You can't beat that deal. (Maybe the producers of Xanadu are reading; I'd love to see that for free too!)
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S.F. Giants: Valet Bike Parking 81 Games Per Year
The San Francisco Giants offer free, convenient, attended bicycle parking at all 81 of their home games.
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Photos from a Platinum Bike City: Davis, CA
That's a bus shelter ad from Davis, CA - which according to the League of American Bicyclists is the only Platinum Bicycle city in the U.S. I was there this weekend and in a whirlwind visit and tried to document as much of the city and bike amenities as possible in 36 hours. I [...]
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One Night of Fire
Thousands of people walked over the Brooklyn Bridge and invaded the subway system to go out to Coney Island and watch a fantastic display of fire performers.
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Pedestrian: Obey! What’s up with this?
Bicycling home from the Village, came across this sign at corner of Washington & Barrow Streets asking peds to obey all pedestrian traffic laws.
Anyone know what this is for? Odd corner; very low traffic volumes. Looks unofficial. -
Brooklyn Critical Mass: Feel the Love
In Brooklyn there is a monthly Critical Mass that has had no arrests or tickets issued for three years!
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Trading Car Parking for Bike Racks
In a historic move, the New York City Department of Transportation has replaced three car parking spaces in Williamsburg with on-street bike racks to accomodate about 30 bicycles.
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Take a Virtual Tour of NYC’s First Chartreuse Bike Lane
It's a lime green bike lane...and we love it.
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NYC Metamorphosis!
Copious amounts of positivity coming from the NYC DOT. Check out these before and afters.
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StreetFilms at the Pioneer Theater
Tuesday, July 10th at 7 PM StreetFilms will be showing twenty of our best and most poignant short films from the last year at the Two Boots Pioneer Theater!
So please join us for our 85 minute program (titled StreetFilms: Intersection Intervention) and then continue the dialogue afterwards at the free beer and pizza reception in the Den of Cin! Theater is at 155 East 3rd Street.
Our first event was great and with so many positive transportation changes underway in NYC this year's program is sure to encourage a more livable city and inspire lots of discourse. Theater seats 99 people, so pick up tickets early. Please use this link for tickets and more information.
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Street Lessons from a Blizzard
Back in Feb 2006, as the largest ever recorded NYC snowfall (26.9") was winding down, I ran outside with a camera to try to capture some traffic calming, transportation and livable streets lessons.
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We Say Goodbye to Sean Clifford
Today we wish one of our own the greatest of luck as Sean Clifford departs StreetFilms in pursuit of the lights, glamour and (gulp!) gridlock of Los Angeles to pursue a film career. Sean produced quite a few videos for us here, especially notable is this video on Grand Army Plaza which may one day serve as a historical document chronicling when neighbors stood up to demand changes to make it safer. This year the NYC DOT is doing just that. Hooray for everybody!
This leaves us down one videoperson. Very shortly we will be posting our job opening for what we are calling a Transportation Activist Video Guru. If you know plenty about film and transportation activism, we urge you to apply. So check back shortly on how to do that (until then please no e-mails or questions regarding the position, we will not be answering them.)
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Count Cars Breaking the Law in Prospect Park!
When Doug Gordon visits Prospect Park he always sees vehicles entering illegally after it is closed to cars at 7 pm. It made him mad, so he got out his video camera.
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Make Music New York
Summer Solstice 2007. Hundreds of bands take to the streets and sidewalks of New York City. Here are just a few in our tribute to the day.
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Go To Governors Island!
Governors Island is a car-free, New York City paradise and now it's open to residents weekends from June thru Sept 2nd.
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Tour de Brooklyn 2007
The third annual Tour de Brooklyn 2007 attracted over 2,000 riders including new, New York City DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.
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Intersection Repair
In Portland, Oregon, City Repair promotes intersection interventions where hundreds of people take back their streets by painting street murals and creating community-friendly commons to gather and socialize.
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100,000 and counting…
After adding up the numbers, I declare that sometime today we had our 100,000th viewing of a StreetFilm since going live on March 1st! Thanks to everyone who has helped contribute - our crew, webmasters, musicians, volunteers, people in the community, fellow bloggers helping to spread the word and our partners at TOPP, T.A., [...]
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Clarence: The Traffic Calming Sasquatch
Thanks to the great traffic calming and livability a city like Portland, Oregon has to offer, even a bigfoot has felt safe enough around cars to come out of his decades of hiding and ride his bike.
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Photos: Village Building Convergence – Intersection Repair
Just returned from City Repair's 7th Annual Village Building Convergence in Portland, Oregon where hundreds of neighbors, students, and volunteers are taking back their streets to make them more livable, and community-oriented. Of the dozens of seminars, celebrations and building projects going on, StreetFilms loves the Intersection Repair.
An Intersection Repair usually involves [...] -
T.A. Rides with the Mayors of Sydney & Copenhagen
Lord Mayor Clover Moore of Sydney, Australia and Copenhagen’s Mayor of the Technical & Environmental Administration Klaus Bondam ride bikes with Transportation Alternatives in a symbolic loop around Central Park.
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Secure Bike Parking Just Cents Per Hour
At many locations in the Bay Area you'll find electronic, on-demand Bike Link locking facilities where you can park your bike securely for between 3 to 5 cents per hour!
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Gridlock Sam: Car-free Central Park
Sam Schwartz, former NYC Commissioner of Traffic, explains how closing Central Park to cars will not result in traffic chaos.
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A StreetFilm in Portuguese and more!
Our "Interview with Enrique Penalosa" has been translated into Portuguese at dotsub.com. As a result it's also subtitled in English for the hearing imparied. Please give it up for Bruno Santos and his zeal to spread the word!
If you live in Boston, don't miss our hour long StreetFilms presentation there this Wednesday at the next Livable Streets event.
StreetFilms just added as part of the Bike to Work Week events in Flagstaff, Arizona.
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Future Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway
In the next few years, much of a 15-mile, Hudson River-style greenway will finally become reality along Brooklyn's shores, thanks largely to Brooklyn Greenway Initiative.
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Bikestation: Berkeley
Dave Campbell of the Bicycle-Friendly Berkeley Coalition gives us a quick tour of the Berkeley Bikestation, one of many innovative bike parking facilities in the East Bay area.
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Tour de Brooklyn 2006
Highlights from the 2006 Transportation Alternatives' Tour de Brooklyn.
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Hal Grades Your Bike Locking
Mechanic Hal Ruzal from Bicycle Habitat grades the bike locking ability of New Yorkers. Avoid a bad grade and listen to his advice.
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“Contested Streets” Premieres on StreetFilms in May!
Later this May, StreetFilms will be posting the WORLD WEB PREMIERE of "Contested Streets: Breaking New York City Gridlock." The film explores the history of NYC's streets and contrasts our current transportation policies with some of the achievements of cities like London, Paris, and Copenhagen, where car travel is being deemphasized in favor of safer streets, more cyclist amenities, faster mass transit, and people-first environments.
Here we present the awesome trailer for your early consumption if you haven't seen it already. The film is Directed by Stefan Schefer from Cicala Filmworks, Produced by Diane Crespo, and co-Produced by Mark Gorton. Paul Steely White from Transportation Alternatives served as a Consulting Producer.
Can't wait? Order "Contested Streets" directly from the T.A. website today.
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Little Legs for Green Streets
Students at P.S. 321 in Park Slope participated in an Earth Day walkathon to raise money for three non-profit green groups, including Transportation Alternatives.
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Talking Transportation with Bob Kiley
Bob Kiley who served as Commissioner of Transport for London from 2001 to 2006 talks about congestition pricing, the benefits it has brought to London, and possibilites for New York City.
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Photo: Physically Separated Bike Lane…sorta
This Park Slope phenomenon is interesting. On street cleaning rule days, people in the Slope will still double park, but they do it outside the bike lane!
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Mark Your Calendars for StreetFilms!
We'll be presenting many StreetFilms and participating in a discussion about livable cities at the
next Sustainable Flatbush event, a new group trying to raise the dialogue in central Brooklyn about changing our streets and culture to be more green and sustainable. Come on out, we hear their first event drew a crowd in a raging snowstorm!WHEN: Friday, April 27th 8 PM to midnight.
WHERE: Vox Pop Cafe/Bookstore, 1022 Cortleyou Road (at Stratford) 718.940.2084
OTHER DEETS: DJs plus yummy food & drink specials all night.
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StreetFilms News 2x
The StreetFilms juggernaut "The Case for Separated Bike Lanes" continues to thrive. Having already inspired debate around the world and seen nearly 40,000 times here, on YouTube and our NYCSR site, it was just accepted for The Bicycle Film Festival this May!
Next month, StreetFilms will also be on local access television in Miami & Portland.
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David Byrne’s Bike STOLEN!
Sad news to report...David Byrne's bike has been taken by a cowardly thief!! Dang!
You may ask yourself, "Who would do such a thing?" Unfortunately, those of us in NYC know it is all too common. In fact if you've only had one bike stolen, consider yourself lucky.
Click here [...] -
Icons of a Living City
Icons of a Living City is a trio of uplifting posters from Transportation Alternatives encouraging New Yorkers to walk, bike, and take mass transit.
We here at StreetFilms love 'em and their positive vibe. So much so, we got our hands on some high resolution files to present some of the fine details in what might be the first of its kind: a one minute commercial for posters!
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StreetFilms: Coming to a theater near you?
Four of our Streetfilms including "The Sidewalk Nibblers" will be showing this September at the Walk/Bike conference in Davis, California.
We also just learned "The Eric Ng Memorial Ride" has been accepted for 2007's
Bicycle Film Festival in New York City.
Just a reminder, our films are free to transpo groups, organizations, festivals or anyone that wants to spread the livable city love. Read up more here and send us an e-mail. -
Clarence: The Traffic Calming Maniac
Sometimes the alternative transportation world doesn't have to be all serious and analytical as this impromptu, "transportation comedy" short shows.
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How do I make a better StreetFilm?
We recently recieved this nice comment:
IanD: "...the work that [StreetFilms] is doing is fantastic and makes the stories on the streets really accessible. I’d love to add more well-produced pieces, but just don’t have the technical skills...Would you be interested in sharing some hints and tips?"Clarence: In late Spring, we plan to host at least [...]
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Bike Move!
Meet members of Portland's warm and innovative bike community where dozens of folks regularly help others move their belongings to a new abode using nothing but bike power.
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Room To Breathe: NYC
Transportation Alternatives (T.A.) gathered a gaggle of cyclists on 42nd Street in Manhattan to stage a dramatic visual that shows how much street space is gained if more people rode bicycles or took mass transit instead of driving personal cars.
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StreetFilms on TV
Last night, Noah Budnick of Transportation Alternatives was a guest on Brian Lehrer Live, the hour long, weekly talk show on CUNY-TV. Brian and Noah discussed bicycling and transportation issues and during the segment, Brian played three StreetFilms clips!
One of the clips he played was from our Separated Bike Lanes piece which has now been watched a combined 30,000+ times both here and on YouTube.
You can download the Brian Lehrer Live episode FREE via their feed or through Apple's iTunes. This week's show is not up yet, but should be available soon.
On another note, director Alfonso Cuarón has put together a fascinating documentary on the DVD release of Children of Men. The Open Planning Project recieved an Additional Footage Provided credit for providing some StreetFilms.
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Victory!
I'd like to think we had a little something to do with this.
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NYCSR in Chicago
The Project for Public Spaces visited Chicago to meet with many of the key leaders in the Livable Streets movement.
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Dr. Shoup: Parking Guru!
According to Dr. Shoup, reforming "free parking" policies will lead to a better pedestrian environment, cleaner streets, less pollution and safer downtown shopping districts. Here is part of our interview with him.
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Park Slope: One Way Is The Wrong Way
Most advocates believe that two-way streets function better for pedestrians, cyclists, commerce, and livable streets. In Park Slope, Brooklyn the NYC DOT is headed the wrong direction.
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The Battle in Park Slope
What's going on in Park Slope, Brooklyn is a microcosm of the war that is being waged all over NYC: communities with smart ideas, good intentions and the capacity for volunteerism are being completely ignored by the Department of Transportation in the planning process.
Yesterday, Sean and I went out to cover a public planning workshop [...] -
Greetings from StreetFilms
Here we are! It's been a long journey and passion of mine over these past few months to get the StreetsFilms site going and get it right. Of course, it's still a work in progress so please let us know anything that you think could be better. Features you may enjoy [...]
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T.A. Rides with Peñalosa & David Byrne!
The staff of Transportation Alternatives rides with Enrique Peñalosa & David Byrne to the "Manhattan on the Move" transportation conference.
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Physically Separated Bike Lanes
Physically separated bicycle paths exist in cities worldwide. This video explains what they are, how they work, and asks: "Why not here?"
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Tribute to Eric Ng
A memorial ride for Eric Ng, who was killed by a drunk driver on the West Side Highway Bike Path.
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Berkeley Bike Boulevards
In Berkeley, Calif. a citywide network of traffic calmed streets called Bicycle Boulevards allows bicyclists to navigate safely. They are marked by wonderful purple signage and street stencils larger than a car!
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Interview with Enrique Peñalosa
Former Bogotá mayor Enrique Peñalosa discusses his amazing success transforming Bogotá into a livable city for cyclists and pedestrians.
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Portland, Ore. – Traffic Calming: Diagonal Diverter
The use of traffic calming in Portland emphasizes keeping thru traffic out of neighborhoods.
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Portland, Ore. – Festival Streets
Innovative thinking in Portland has produced a new street design which emphasizes community use.
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Portland, Ore. – Older Adults Bike Program
Seniors in Portland ride three-wheeled trikes thanks to a program by the Portland Office of Transportation (PDOT).
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Portland, Ore. – Bicycle Boulevards
Who needs bike lanes on wonderful streets like these when you keep traffic to a minimum?
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Portland, Ore. – Crosswalk Enforcement Actions
In Portland, OR, you can get a $242 ticket for failing to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.
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Portland, Ore. – Safe Routes to School
This Portland institution emphasizes using non-motorized means to get to school.
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Portland, Ore. – Innovative Bicycle Signal
This unique bike signal gives Portland cyclists the right of way!
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Public Space Transformations
These photo simulations from the Project for Public Spaces show how we can transform some of our misused intersections into amazing spaces full of life, commerce, and vitality.
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PSA-We’re Walking
While walking around Manhattan, pedestrians might wonder where all the cars come from. After seeing these statistics, it seems obvious.
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PARK(ing) Day San Francisco 2006
In San Francisco, several organizations led by REBAR temporarily liberated over two dozen parking spots, turning them into temporary green spaces for pedestrians.
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PSA-Cab in a Crosswalk
See how much disruption and danger one taxi cab stuck in a Times Square crosswalk can create.
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The Defeat of the Mt. Hood Freeway (Portland, Ore.)
In Oregon, a battle raged for nearly twenty years over the construction of a highway project known as the Mt. Hood Freeway. If approved, the Freeway would have removed more than 1% of all housing stock in Portland. In the mid 1970s, after the proposal's defeat, the city opted to build a mass transit infrastructure. [...]
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PSA-Pedestrian Obstacle Course
A visual example of the hoops through which a pedestrian must jump to cross a street in Times Square.
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Fulton Street
Jeff Prant collects signatures on his petition to maintain Fulton Street's car-free hours.
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Greenwich Street
A popular crosswalk (at Greenwich and Duane Streets) used by children, the elderly and families walking to Washington Market Park is constantly ignored by motorists. The dangerous situation has been the target of reforms by local schools and community organizations, including The Washington Market Park Board. The Park Board has formed the "Tribeca Kids Safety [...]
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A conversation with Lou Riccio
Discussion about the transportation planning with former NYC D.O.T. Commissioner Lou Riccio.
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PSA-Pedestrian Density
Cars get more space than pedestrians do on the streets, which leads to overcrowded sidewalks.
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Nicole’s Journey
Bronx resident, Nicole Duncan, films the daily, perilous, pedestrian conditions while walking her children to school.
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Car-free Central Park Rally
A Transportation Alternatives rally on the steps of City Hall demonstrates residents' support for a car-free Central Park.
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Jan Gehl in Times Square
Jan Gehl (Gehl Architects) and Mark Gorton discuss the potential for pedestrian-friendly changes in Times Square.
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Gridlock Sam: Parking Policy & Permits
Part Two of our interview: Sam Schwartz and T.O.P.P. founder & Executive Director Mark Gorton discuss how the modal split into NYC's Central Business District (essentially south of 59th Street) has changed over the last half century and how some of those numbers could easily be reversed by revoking free parking permits for NYC Governmental [...]
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San Francisco: Removal of the Embarcadero Freeway
In 1989, a 7.1 earthquake struck the Bay Area which severely damaged many of its elevated highway structures. The Embarcadero Freeway - an ugly, double-decked highway - was replaced with a grand boulevard which emphasizes access to the waterfront and provides people with transportation options like walking, mass transit, and bicycling instead of an emphasis [...]
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PSA-Dirty Little Secret
An inequitable use of parking by government agencies is a dirty little secret in Chinatown.
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Psychic Space
Mark Gorton, founder of The Open Planning Project, points out how parked cars and street use makes a difference in two streets just blocks apart in SoHo are felt by pedestrians.
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Interview with Enrique Peñalosa (Short Version)
As mayor of Bogota, Colombia, Enrique Penalosa accomplished remarkable changes of monumental proportions for the people of his country in just three years.
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Parking Spot Squat
In June 2006, Transportation Alternatives volunteers staged a "Parking Spot Squat" in Brooklyn's busy Park Slope neighborhood. The volunteers "liberated" two parking spaces, providing amenities that allowed residents to sit and relax.
The demonstrations created a temporary, but much-needed public space.The event caused many to question traditional notions of the way public space is reserved for [...]
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The Sidewalk Nibblers
A proposed plan by DOT for a subway station at 96th street will leave pedestrians with 18 ft. less sidewalk space!
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Canal Park: The Re-Emergence of a Park!
Richard Barrett talks about his community's struggle to rebuild Canal Park, a task deemed impossible by New York City's Department of transportation.
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Grand Army Plaza Traffic Survey
Residents and neighborhood leaders of GAPCO evaluate how traffic conditions could be improved for pedestrians.
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Above The Law: Government Parking Permit Abuse in NYC
Transportation Alternatives releases a comprehensive study on permit parking abuse.
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PSA-So Why Are They Driving?
Nearly every person who drives into New York City has an alternate means of transportation.
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Miracle Ticket
Sometimes when you are armed with a camera in New York City, miracles do happen.
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Car-free Sunday on the Grand Concourse
In the early 1990s, three and a half miles of The Grand Concourse, a major arterial roadway in the Bronx, was closed to cars every Sunday from July thru November. The closures provided residents with much-needed open space to safely bike, walk, play and develop a sense of community with neighbors. Despite its popularity, New [...]
