Reward those who use low-impact transport; penalize those who don't

Certain parts of Manhattan--Times Square, Herald Square, Broadway south of 23rd Street, and locations in the outer boroughs as well--suffer from sidewalk spillover. That's what happens when sidewalks are too narrow to accommodate everyone who has to use them, forcing pedestrians into the roadway.

On certain streets, sidewalk spillover is inevitable, an everyday occurrence. It's the direct result of policies and planning--long in effect and only now being challenged--that favor the rights of drivers over pedestrians.

But to mount an effective challenge to these policies, we shouldn't just call for greater equity. That would be like saying that all forms of transportation have equivalent impact on the community and should be assigned more equal portions of public street-space.

But the impacts are in no way equivalent. We know that public and alternative forms of transportation like walking, bicycling and skating are healthier, cheaper, more efficient and more business-friendly than private cars. Our transportation policy should reflect that awareness.

We should be rewarding those who use low-impact forms of transportation and penalizing those who insist on using private transit--cars--that foul our air and turn neighborhood streets into highways and parking lots. And those rewards should be made tangible in street design--specifically, in the way space is allocated to various forms of transportation on high-traffic streets.

Comments

[Mary Bullock]

For several months I walked weekdays to the Ferry and from the Whitehall Ferry terminal to 60 Wall Street. Upon exiting the Whitehall Ferry terminal, we Ferry riders were herded like cattle entering a slaughterhouse along sidewalks edged with jersey barriers. Once at the crosswalk we struggled to cross streets jammed with cars, buses and trucks, engines idling poison, their impatient drivers poised to accelerate. Our large numbers allowed us often to take the streets for ourselves. As the frustrated drivers honked we yelled -- "Next time take the subway." We were asserting walkers' rights.

When a Ferry is off-loading passengers during the morning, we passengers should have the right of way at all intersections.

It is the law in Los Angeles - that most car-oriented of American cities - that pedestrians ALWAYS have the right of way. I gained proof that drivers can be trained to respect this principle --- when I stepped off a curb on an LA back street. I expected the approaching car to go by, before I could cross -- however the driver (with no possibility of consequences if he didn't) stopped and let me cross.