T.A. StreetBeat
T.A. StreetBeat March 1, 2012   
With a fare hike planned for 2013, we can't wait for the MTA to improve public transit. Jamaica Center in Queens, where lines for the bus are astonishingly long, is an ideal location to launch a local campaign
to make commutes better by realistic measures.
Images courtesy Nicole Rosenthal



State Senator for the Bronx's 33rd District @NYSenatorRivera tweeted:
Just met with @transalt & signed the transit rider's bill of rights - we have to keep fighting to improve transit #bronx #ridersrebellion
Follow T.A. on Facebook and Twitter to learn your rights as a transit rider.

T.A. in the News

Juan Martinez with Transportation Alternatives estimates that thousands more people with fake permits still use them, and manage to evade authorities. "We cannot arrest ourselves out of this problem," said Martinez. He said the rise of computer programs like Photoshop and widespread internet availability have made it simple to forge and sell parking permits. "The key is to make it harder to fake a parking permit," he said.

 -- Transportation Nation, 2/24.



 
Why We Can't Wait for 2013

The trains shine but the stations grime at Chambers Street.
What could change if local residents organized?
Image courtesy Nicole Rosenthal
Last week, at a Transit Rider Town Hall in the Bronx, local residents came to a surprising conclusion: We can't wait for better public transit.

There aren't enough buses in the Bronx, but it's a bigger picture than that. In all five boroughs, New Yorkers are not getting the service they need. With a fare hike planned for 2013, subpar public transit may soon cost more.

But if communities take local action now -- rallying for cleaner stations and more buses on our routes -- their demands for tangible service improvements can be a tool to fight 2013's fare hike. Complaining won't get us anywhere, but mobilizing for specific service improvements advertises to Albany that we need better service before a higher fare.

The truth is, you aren't David and the MTA isn't Goliath. In fact, over the past six months, we've seen some encouraging examples of how better public transit can be a local victory, courtesy of the MTA. In three separate struggles across New York, the MTA has agreed to increase service in communities where residents worked with elected officials for change:
  • In Park Slope, at the urging of local residents, Council Member Brad Lander conducted a study of bus overcrowding and delays. Armed with statistical results, he was able to convince the MTA to add additional buses to the B61 Bus route.
  • State Senator Daniel Squadron and residents all along the L Train won the addition of 16 more weekday L Train round-trips, plus 11 more on Saturdays and seven more on Sundays, after they presented their case to the MTA.
  • In response to residents' complaints, Council Member James Vacca and State Senator Jeff Klein collaborated to demand the MTA extend the Bx24 Bus route, and won.
"The truth is there is a lot that transit can do for us. But there is a lot we need to do for them as government," Assembly Member Marcos Crespo told the gathered crowd at the Bronx Transit Rider Town Hall. The first step toward a better public transit system is mobilizing to let the MTA know how they can help.

Over the past six years, New Yorkers' public transit fare has risen four times while neither New York City nor New York State has chipped in a single dollar more. All the inflation, interest and rising construction costs of the past six years have been paid for exclusively by New Yorkers like you. In total, you're paying $408 more every year than you were when the monthly MetroCard was introduced in 1998. The City and State are paying exactly the same amount they were in 2003, in fact, the City's been paying the same amount since 1992.

But the more we pay for less service, the more we see New Yorkers mobilizing transit campaigns in their communities. Every laundry list of bus and subway improvements will be a key tool when the fare is debated. T.A. will ensure that Albany is listening.



 
You Did It! Vacca & Vallone Respond to Your Letters

Rasha Shamoon's mother, Samira, testifies, while Mathieu Lefevre's mother (left) looks on. Each woman told a terrible story of their child's death,
and how they NYPD failed them.
Image courtesy Harry Peronius
Justice came too late for Rasha Shamoon, but after last week's City Council hearing on NYPD traffic crash investigations, justice wasn't in vain. Because you sent more than 1,000 letters, Council Member Peter Vallone has pledged to expand crash investigations and stiffen penalties for dangerous drivers, and Council Member James Vacca decided to endorse your demand for a task force to reform NYPD traffic safety procedures.

At the end of the summer of 2008, Rasha Shamoon was struck on her bicycle by an SUV driver at the intersection of Delancey Street and Bowery, in Manhattan. At New York Presbyterian Hospital, she was declared brain dead and taken off life support.

"Other than her death," Rasha's mother, Samira Shamoon, testified at last week's hearing, "the next tragedy was how poorly the NYPD handled the case."

The police report of the crash was sparse and one-sided, ignoring the more than nine witnesses who called 911. It concluded that Rasha had run a red light based only on the opinion of the driver and his passengers, and stated irrevocably that Rasha was not wearing a helmet.

Last month, a civil jury found the opposite; that it was unlikely that Rasha had run that red light, that she was wearing a helmet and that the driver who struck and killed Rasha Shamoon was responsible for her death. At the scene of the crime, the same man was cleared of any wrongdoing by the NYPD and told to drive away.

At last week's City Council hearing, stories like Rasha's were the norm. While incensed City Council members brought NYPD mismanagement to light, heartbroken mothers repeated a theme: When my child was killed, the NYPD's crash investigation procedures were salt in the wound.

"The trauma of that night has been made deeper by the lack of justice here," Samira Shamoon testified. "Rasha was pronounced guilty at the scene by the NYPD."

Now, because you took action with more than 1,000 letters, these powerful City Council members have decided to fix the NYPD's crash investigation problem.

"At the highest level of police enforcement, there has to be a commitment to this," Council Member James Vacca said in a speech last week where he outlined his agenda for the year. An interagency task force, he said, "is a good first step."

The NYPD has a traffic problem, these Council Members agree. With your advice, they're going to fight for a solution. Thanks, to the thousand of you who helped convince them.




 
Take Action: A Fair Share for Prospect Park

In 2008, four Brooklyn teenagers collected more than 10,000 signatures in support of a car-free park, and marched across the Brooklyn Bridge with hundreds of their peers to City Hall.
Image courtesy Andrew Hinderaker
It's Brooklyn's most valuable 3.35 miles of real estate -- and this just in -- it's due for a major renovation. Prospect Park's asphalt loop is about to give everyone a more fair share.

In the 1930's, it was none other than city planner Robert Moses, apotheosis of all things automobile, who first widened and straightened the trolley-ways through Prospect Park. He allowed cars to use the park as another way from A to B. Since then, two traffic lanes have dominated the park while everyone else is crowded into a less-than-a-lane width. The park is open to automobiles during peak-use for everyone else -- right before and after the workday.

Tuesday night, a proposal was announced to right the inequity of Prospect Park's main lane. After months of collecting feedback from park users, the Prospect Park Road Sharing Task Force (a coalition of city agencies, local athletic groups and advocates) presented a common sense plan that would provide a more equitable sharing of space for everyone. One of the two car lanes would be rededicated to bicyclist and walkers, more than doubling the road space given to Prospect Park's two most common users, and giving bicyclists, walkers and cars each their own lane.

With 1,600 miles of roads and less than seven square miles of parkland, Brooklyn has the lowest percentage of greenspace of any borough. That's why Brooklynites have been fighting for decades to make Prospect Park car-free. Tens of thousands have signed on in support of the campaign, one of T.A.'s longest-running. Tuesday night's proposal is the next best thing: A fair share of the road for everyone.

Show your support by sending an email to the Prospect Park Road Sharing Task Force. Let them know you love Prospect Park, and you'd love it more if its loop gave everyone a fair share.

TAKE ACTION

Tell the Prospect Park Road Sharing Task Force you want a fair share for Prospect Park. Send an e-mail to pledge your support for the Prospect Park Road Sharing Task Force's proposal.
 


 

Image courtesy fensterbme
George Carlin once mused, "That's all you need in life, a little place for your stuff... Sometimes you leave your house to go on vacation. And you got to take some of your stuff with you. Got to take about two big suitcases full of stuff." Luckily stuff fits perfectly into Crumpler bags. Crumpler makes backpacks and luggage, plus laptop, camera and messenger cases, and T.A. members are lucky to get a whopping 20 percent off at Crumpler's West Village and SoHo stores. Thick canvases means they'll last forever, which makes T.A. membership worth a lifetime of stuff. Support Transportation Alternatives, and get in on the discounts, by becoming a member today.



 
Street Memorial Ride and Walk

In 2011, there were 21 bicyclists and 134 pedestrians killed on New York City streets.
Image courtesy Andrew Hinderaker
Ghost Bikes -- those white-painted bicycles on too many New York City street corners -- are a quiet testament to the danger of our streets. Each marks the site of bicyclist's death. Every year, the Street Memorials Project hosts a ride to all of the bikes installed that year. This year, they will visit 17+ sites where bicyclists were killed in Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx, and host a walk along McGuinness Boulevard in Brooklyn to commemorate the countless pedestrian fatalities there.

Save the date for the Seventh Annual Street Memorials Ride and Walk, Sunday, March 18, 2012. Routes, starting locations and times will be announced soon.

Seventh Annual Street Memorials Ride and Walk
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Times and starting locations TBA



 
A Bicycle Adventure

It's like color-coordinated critical mass,
all week long.

The Climate Ride is a fully-supported five-day bicycle adventure -- traversing the hills and highways from New York City to Washington, DC -- that last year raised nearly $22,000 to fund T.A. advocacy.

Need a break from the New York City grind? It's not too late to register for the Climate Ride. You can take a five-day bicycle vacation, and support T.A. at the same time.

Sign up today, and choose to benefit T.A., and you'll receive a complimentary copy of The Climate Conscious Gardner, donated by Climate Ride participant Elizabeth Peters.

The Climate Ride
May 19-23, 2012
New York City to Washington DC
Register Today



 
New Amsterdam Bike Show
New Amsterdam Bike Show is better than ever before, and this year, a whole lot bigger. A whopping 21,000 square feet of bikes, bikes, bikes -- and proceeds from New York City's only bike show benefit Transportation Alternatives.

The two-day event will feature bicycle-makers, every kind of gear and events that connect your ride to New York City's growing bicycle community. Tickets are now on sale.

New Amsterdam Bicycle Show
April 28-29, 2012
Skylight Soho
275 Hudson Street
Manhattan



 
Where Do You Want Your Bike Share?

With bike share bikes from around the globe,
demonstrations are an "It's a Small World"
rendition of bike share. And just as catchy.
Image courtesy Andrew Hinderaker
The New York City DOT is now hosting open houses in every district with a planned bike share site. If you want to have a say in where your neighborhood's bike share stations will be, this is your moment. Manhattan's Community Boards 1 and 5, and Brooklyn Community Board 8 and 9 are up next. Information about each planned Bike Share Open House is online.

These are open houses, so feel free to drop in and leave when you please. Each will feature neighborhood maps and stickers to place-mark your desired bike share location. From your whole community's choice spots, the DOT will tally input and feasibility, and then present the chosen locations for each neighborhood.

Brooklyn Community Board 8 and 9 Bike Share Open House
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
CUNY Medgar Evers College
1650 Bedford Avenue
Brooklyn

Manhattan Community Board 1 Bike Share Open House
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Pace Student Union
3 Spruce Street
Manhattan

Manhattan Community Board 5 Bike Share Open House
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
Municipal Art Society
111 West 57th Street -- 16th floor
Manhattan



 
Hiring: Bicycle Ambassadors

Last summer, T.A. Bicycle Ambassadors talked to more than 30,000 bicyclists and walkers. How are your conversation skills?
Image courtesy Andrew Hinderaker
With more than 200,000 bicyclists (and growing) on New York City streets every single day, it can be hard to keep track of how our roads and routes are performing. Bicycle Ambassadors are T.A.'s on-the-street communicators, in charge of knowing how New York City bicyclists and walkers feel about New York's newest bike lanes and the new crews of bicyclists trying out this growing form of transportation.

With bike share launching this summer, and New Yorkers taking an estimated 27.5 million new bicycle rides it'll bring in its first year, T.A. needs more personable, outgoing Bicycle Ambassadors than ever before. Apply today to join our team.