Press Release

When: Wednesday, October 4th, 2000 7:30 am

Where: The "walking bus" will leave from the corner of E. 229th St and Baychester Av. and travel to school from there, picking children up along the route.

What: A "Walking School Bus" is a group of children, lead by volunteer parents, who walk together along a set route to school, picking up more children who live along the route.

Cycling Goodwill Ambassadors Remind Motorists and Other Cyclists to "Give Respect and Get Respect"

Event Begins @ 6:00 PM on Thursday, August 24, 2000
2nd Avenue and 14th Street (southeast corner)

Start/finish: Central Park, Lenox Ave. and 110th St.
Time: start 6 am - 9 am; finish 1 pm - 6 pm
Good Photo Opportunities: Central Park (at times and location listed above), Brooklyn Bridge (6:45 am - 8:30 am); 5th Ave and Washington Square Park (6:40 am - 8:30 am)

When: Wednesday, October 11 @ 1:30pm
Where: Manhattan entrance to the Brooklyn Bridge Promenade on Center Street
What: 5 Transportation Alternatives will place 10 poster size bilingual signs, and paint bike and pedestrians symbols along the path

Transportation Alternatives (T.A.), NYC's advocates for bicycling, walking and environmentally sensible transportation, appointed Clarence Eckerson as the new chairman of its Brooklyn chapter today.

Department of Transportation
For three months the Department of Transportation has ignored requests to post signs clarifying which side of the Brooklyn Bridge promenade path cyclists and pedestrians should be on. The result has been tremendous danger and confusion as cyclists and pedestrians run into each other on the crowded path. To improve public safety and compensate for DOT ineptitude, Transportation Alternatives will post signs on the path after months of neglect by the Department of Transportation.

When: @ 6:00 PM on Thurs., November 9, 2000
Where: 2nd Avenue and 14th Street (southeast corner)

Mayor Giuliani announced today the latest round of measures to improve safety along Queens Boulevard. While some of the measures are a start towards improved safety, on the whole the plan continues the City's policy of blaming pedestrians on Queens Boulevard, and ignores fundamental safety problems. Among these problems are grossly inadequate crossing times, limited roadway crossings that can be a mile apart, narrow medians, and signal progressions that encourage speeding. Until the City fixes these fundamental problems, New Yorkers will continue to die on Queens

When:
Monday, Feb. 26th at 7:30pm
112th Precinct, Austin St. and Yellowstone Blvd.

Transportation Alternatives, New York's advocates for pedestrians, bicyclists, and sensible transportation will be speaking at tonight's Queens Boulevard Health Outreach sponsored by the Forest Hills Action League. At the meeting, Transportation Alternatives will detail the societal costs of speeding, the relationship between speeding and the chance of pedestrian injury and death, as well as new technology that could help combat deadly speeding on Queens Blvd. and in NYC.

Transportation Alternatives, a NYC traffic safety and pedestrian and bicycle advocacy group endorsed City Council legislation prohibiting the use of handheld telephones while driving.

However, the group called on the Mayor and City Council to make this bill only a first step. Expert studies clearly conclude that using a hand-free cell phone while driving is just as dangerous as using a hand-held phone. Researchers have found that the problem is the distraction of the conversation itself - not the act of dialing or holding a phone.