If you thought your commute was a little slow this morning, maybe it wasn't because of a theoretical union slowdown but because, well, mass transit service in New York City is on the decline? Last week Transportation Alternatives asked riders if their commute has gotten better or worse since 2009 and the results were not pretty. more ›

Motor vehicles are the number one cause of death for children in NYC, but a new study (below) by Transportation Alternatives finds that children in or around public housing projects are disproportionately at risk. The report, which analyzed Dept. of Motor Vehicle data 1995-2009, says there are child crash "hot spots" in neighborhoods such as East Harlem and the Lower East Side, particularly near the projects. The LES recently saw a 12-year-old girl fatally run over while crossing the infamously dangerous Delancey Street, but the study finds East Harlem has the "worst intersection for child crashes" in all of Manhattan: East 125th Street and Lexington Avenue. more ›

The man listed on an NYPD crash report as the truck driver who killed a Williamsburg cyclist has spoken for the first time. We placed multiple calls to the home of Leo Degianni last week after the family of the cyclist, Mathieu Lefevre, released a copy of the accident report. Degianni did not resond, but the Times is finally reporting on the Lefevre family's outrageous treatment by the NYPD, and reporter Jim Dwyer got a quote from Degianni, who left the scene of the accident and was not charged. more ›

Next month the MTA is trying out a new approach to maintenance work, shutting down much of a subway line overnight during the week so workers can inspect, fix and replace equipment like signals and switches. A line segment will stop running at about 10 p.m. each night until about 5 a.m., and will be closed for three or four consecutive weeknights. And some New Yorkers are already loving it! more ›

Considering all the news of trucks killing defenseless cyclists, rogue racing bicycles knocking down poor grannies, and pedestrians dying crossing the street—all of which you can see on one map if you'd like—the latest stat out of the NYPD is actually pretty surprising. TransportationNation reports that this year "some 214 people have died in traffic accidents so far" according to the NYPD. Last year at this time there were 256 traffic fatalities on the books. more ›

Cyclists; advocates for safer streets; and the parents, family, and friends of deceased cyclists will gather outside NYPD Headquarters at 1 Police Plaza Wednesday morning to demand justice. Brooklyn artist Mathieu Lefevre became the most recent fatality after he was killed by a flatbed truck in Williamsburg last month—although the driver left the scene, the NYPD opted not to press any charges. Lefevre's parents, who are from Canada, learned about this not from the NYPD—which they say blew them off—but from the press, which seems to have an easier time getting answers than a grieving family. more ›

The family of Mathieu Lefevre, the 30-year-old artist who was run over by a truck in East Williamsburg earlier this month joined Transportation Alternatives at a press conference today at 1 Police Plaza, calling on NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly to reinvestigate the case of Leferve, as well as other cyclist fatalities. On Monday we learned that no charges would be pressed against the flatbed truck driver who left the scene after killing Lefevre. He parked his truck just two blocks away and, according to the NYPD, "had no idea" that he'd hit someone. Lefevre's mother Erika says there were markings on the truck from the accident, which is why investigators decided to track down the driver. more ›

Any pedestrian who has crossed Delancey Street at Essex Street knows that hustling to beat the all-too-short light can be a harrowing experience. The Daily News calls the intersection "among the deadliest in New York," and the evidence bears this out: between 1998 and 2010, pedestrians and cyclists were involved in 134 out of 523 accidents, including 3 fatalities, according to the the state's Department of Transportation records. more ›

We already knew that parking placard abuse has been running rampant in the city for ages (heck, cops' moms are abusing them) but the Daily News and Transportation Alternatives today prove just how absurd the situation has gotten. Using little more than Photoshop and a laminator they were able to park all over town, free of charge. Again. more ›

New York City's roadways are crowded, we can all agree, but who knew they were paved with blood? In the past decade more New Yorkers have died in traffic than from guns, a new report, Vision Zero [PDF], from Transportation Alternatives reveals. Which helps explain how traffic incidents cost the city over $4 billion in 2009. more ›

The flagrant misuse of parking placards has been an issue for quite some time and despite efforts from City Hall to cut down the number of placards out there and up enforcement, a new Transportation Alternatives study [PDF] shows it is still a huge problem. In their check of five dense areas of the city 57 percent of the permits they saw being used were either legal permits used illegally or just illegitimate permits. We wish we were surprised. more ›

A little something to whet your appetite before May's official Bike Month: this weekend we welcome the return of the Dutch-accented New Amsterdam Bicycle Show after a five-year hiatus, and there is quite literally something for everyone, from first-time riders to grizzled bike fetishists. more ›

As you probably know, the NYPD is handing out hefty $270 tickets to cyclists who roll through red lights in Central Park—even if there isn't a pedestrian in the intersection. Today, bike blogger Chasing Wheels posted this video showing just how annoying and absurd it is for cyclists to come to a complete stop at every red light, of which there are potentially 46 (if you've got unbelievably terrible luck and get stuck at red at every intersection). more ›

IT'S THE ATTACK OF THE TWO WHEELED MONSTERS! As you surely know, an impassioned war debate about bicycles has consumed New Yorkers over the past couple of years. Are they taking over NYC with their ubiquitous lanes and their reckless behavior? Or are they the key to alleviating traffic and turning New York into a sustainable, 21st century city? The incredible cycling boom over the past decade has certainly polarized New Yorkers, as drivers, pedestrians and cyclists cope with the dramatic changes brought by the DOT to our traffic-clogged streets. And in the heart of the debate you'll find Paul Steely White, the Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives, a group that has worked closely with the DOT to improve the cycling, pedestrian, and mass transit infrastructure. Yesterday we caught up with White, who had just finished a meeting with City Councilman Eric Ulrich, who plans to introduce legislation requiring all adult cyclists to get licenses and registration. more ›

It isn't just the City Council, drivers and insurance companies who are fuming over the FDNY's proposed crash taxes. Folks in Albany are against it as well. Yesterday State Senator Carl Kruger (D-Brooklyn) introduced legislation to block the fees saying "it's not budgeting. It's a money grab." But the plan does have some backers (besides Mayor Bloomberg). more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] Days after a New Jersey Assemblywoman floated (and then quickly walked back) a plan to require bicycle riders to register with the DMV and put license plates on their bikes, City Councilmember Eric Ulrich (R-Queens) is joining the fun. Ulrich is proposing that all adult cyclists in NYC be required to affix an ID tag to their bikes. "There seems to be a double standard when it comes to enforcing the traffic laws," Ulrich tells the Post, explaining that many of his constituents are senior citizens. "People on bicycles scare the hell out of them. Sometimes they can be an intimidating presence on the city streets." Which reminds us how truck and car drivers used to scare the hell out of people, but then they they got licensed and now they're totally harmless! more ›

The DOT has bowed to pressure from motorists on Staten Island and is removing the bike lanes from a major roadway used by cyclists to get back and forth from the Staten Island Railway and the St. George Ferry Terminal. It's unusual for Bloomberg's DOT to roll back any change once it's implemented, so does this reversal suggest that anti-bike lane forces are gaining the upper hand in the city's grueling bike lane wars? The DOT has already declined to extend the east side bike lanes up to Harlem, as previously planned, and last year the Bloomberg administration abruptly removed 14 blocks of bike lane on Bedford Avenue as an election year sop to the local Jewish community. Now this! more ›

Something tells us we may be the only ones excited about this, but on select nights in September, Transportation Alternatives will be offering free valet bicycle parking to anyone attending a theatrical performance in the Theater District. Finding a place to lock up around there is a real headache, so this is certainly welcome news for Broadway theatergoers who ride their bikes to the theater... all two of them? We're curious to see how people actually take advantage of this. more ›

Transportation Alternatives asked the Today Show's Matt Lauer, Meredith Vieira and Al Roker to participate in the Commuter Challenge—and they agreed! In a segment that aired this morning (it was taped last week), you can see Al ride his bike, Meredith take a car, and Matt hop on a subway to Rockefeller Plaza from West 72nd Street and Broadway. more ›

In response to the death of 33-year-old DJ Solange Raulston, who was struck by a flatbed truck while on her bike in Greenpoint Sunday afternoon, Transportation Alternatives and Neighbors Allied for Good Growth (NAG) have released a statement calling for action. more ›

You'll recall that last week Transportation Alternatives held their Biking Rules PSA Festival at BAM, featuring 40 PSAs created to promote bike safety and responsible cycling (i.e., not pedaling fiendishly down the sidewalk and running over pedestrians, etc.). The videos competed in two main categories, "Why Biking Rules" and "Street Code." Here's one of the winners in the shorter "Street Code" category, which will be broadcast on local TV, at outdoor summer films, and at cultural venues like BAM. Winners Aldo Arias and Pam Tietze also got a cool two grand, which will buy a lot of magical bike lights. more ›

The MTA is considering rolling out bus-only lanes on First and Second avenues that the agency says might shorten commutes between Houston Street and 125th Street. The "East Side speedway" could be laid down by September 2010, and the agency is planning to stock up on "dozens of super-stretch buses for the new service," the Daily News reports. more ›

31% of total traffic deaths in the NYC metropolitan area are pedestrians, but funding for pedestrian and bike infrastructure lags far behind even the meager amount spent in other cities. The conclusion is found a new national report on pedestrian traffic deaths, published by the Transportation for America and Surface Transportation Policy Partnership. Their analysis determined that only 1% of New York State federal transportation funds are spent on pedestrian infrastructure, and the NYC metropolitan area receives only $0.61 per person in federal funds for pedestrian and bike facilities, well below the $1.39 spent per person for metro areas nationwide. more ›

This morning the NYC Straphangers Campaign and Transportation Alternatives held their big awards show for the worst exemplars of poor bus service. The "top" prize is called the Pokey award; it's a golden snail on a pedestal, and it went to the poor sad crosstown M42, which had the slowest bus speed at 3.7 miles per hour, as clocked at 12 noon on a weekday. According to the award presenters, the M42 would lose a race with a five-year-old riding a motorized tricycle with a speed of 5 mph (as advertised by X-Treme Scooters). But the M42 wasn't the only bus to crawl away with a prize! more ›

It's Park(ing) Day, the most wonderful day of the year for people who like sitting in the street. Did you get everything you wanted under the Park(ing) tree? Here are the first photos from the day's festivities, which involve the imaginative transformation of over 50 drab, lifeless parking spots throughout NYC into spontaneous "park" installations. more ›

After studying four intersections for 38 hours, Transportation Alternatives, the bicycling, walking and public transit advocacy group, has released a report with suggestions for the NYPD on reducing "the most dangerous driving behaviors." Some of the findings: "Traffic law violations occur three times every minute (157 times an hour) per intersection" and "On average, each intersection had 24 Failure to Yield violations per hour. Failure to Yield is the second most frequent human factor in causing motor vehicle crashes." more ›