Streetfilms

I was in NYC last week around Broadway by the Juan Valdez and i must say the feeling of having your like own space to sit in like the middle of the street was truly a great experience. I felt included, protected and i spent more time sitting there because i was not bother by the traffic or cars. It was really nice to see the bicyclist really take advantage as well. Hopefully Summer Streets starts in May and ends in September!! EVERY SUNDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From the middle of the country where I am just hoping my state will vote Obama this year all I can say is "Wow!" Oh, TransitGuy already said that.

What NYC DOC is doing is great and that they are overcoming some of the resistance is great too. But, there is still lots more work to do.

I am living in Bordeaux now which from 1950s onwards dismantled its tram systems and made itself car centric--that was until 2003 when the mayor (Alain Juppé) inaugurated the tram which now has just shy of 100 stops with new stops being opened each year (and four more just this week!). The riverfront transformed from a large road to a large quay with shops and tons of open space with a one lane road in each direction, a separated bike path and a tram in each direction. The riverfront is now a major artery for bike traffic and is safe and beautiful. Every day you see thousands of people walking all along it. Bordeaux has problems, many of its separated bike lanes suddenly ending forcing you into the streets. This is especially true where the tram line takes the space forcing bikers onto the rails. But it is an amazing success story overall, despite its need for improvement. The biggest thing is the culture. A great many of the streets are multi-use and cars are used to riding with bikes and don't try to pass them so when you are riding together on the same street there is less to fear.

I mention this because while NYC has progress it is barely the tip of the iceberg. There are very limited separated bike paths. No tram... the BRT is a start but it needs enforcement as we have seen from the pictures. So, while the progress is great we need to keep the pressure on so I can see a city at least as bike and transit friendly as Bordeaux when I come back.

I've heard Mrs. Sadik Khan speak twice at Railvolution. She is wonderful!

Janette Sadik-Khan and her achievement as New York city's Commissioner of Transportation is truly inspiring even for non New Yorkers.

We wish her and her team even greater success in the years to come and feel sure what is happening to New York will encourage other cities to recognize sooner than later that is the quality of street life and not the massive highways and flyovers built for cars that gives personality to a city.

Jane Jacobs' spirit lives on.

Well, gosh and golly gee, it's awfully sweet we have so many bike lanes in New York. Too bad they're largely useless since Mayor Bloomberg doesn't have the balls to tell the police chief that NYPD needs to make ticketing double parkers a priority, and oh, yeah, maybe the cops could refrain from parking in the bike lanes when they go to get their donuts, or beat up Obama supporters or whatever. All you JSK sycophants at Open Planning Project need to wake up and do a little piece on the relationship between DOT and NYPD, and how NYPD is undermining improvements to bike infrastructure and also efforts to improve bus service.

Just getting to this video from Damien's tip from LA Streetsblog.

WOW. This is an inspirational view of street transformation indeed!

Could we please have someone as awesome as Janette Sadik-Khan working at LADOT?
Los Angeles needs to experiment like this.

Thanks again for this wonderful piece!