The Subway Helvetica Typeface used at the Yankee game

Spotted: The Yankees use a Subway Theme and Typeface to present the statistics of their players. Check it out!

• Sequester Cancels Much-Anticipated Fleet Week in New York – 04/26/2013
• East Coast prepares for the next superstorm – 04/18/2013
• The Shame of Boston’s Wireless Woes [Commentary] – 04/17/2013
• Bigger Fines for Defacing City’s Streets to Save a Spot – 04/17/2013
• City-wide bikeshare program coming in May – 04/10/2013
• Anthony Weiner Could Win New York City Mayoral Election, Strategists Say – 04/10/2013
• Engineering Serendipity [Op-Ed] – 04/05/2013

Events:

• Local Innovations in Bus Rapid Transit: A Panel Discussion – 04/09/2013
• Short Talks, Big Ideas: Transportation Innovations – 04/09/2013

Blog Posts:

• Pedestrians vs. Left Turn Signals – 04/18/2013
• Rudin Researchers present at the 50th Anniversary of Wagner’s Urban Planning Program – 04/17/2013
• Innovations in Bus Rapid Transit: Event Recap – 04/12/2013
• Short Talks, Big Ideas: Recap – 04/10/2013
• April 10th Event Postponed – 04/03/2013

Despite the new signs, pedestrians cross illegally between Broadway medians at 96th Street.

Last week I traveled to my homeland on the Upper West Side. As a recent transplant to Brooklyn, I had forgotten the nightmare that is the intersection of 96^th Street and Broadway.

In 2010, a new median station entrance opened for the 1/2/3 IRT Line 96^th Street station. The entrances had previously been located on the sidewalks. While the new station is beautiful and makes sense for circulation of subway users, it has created a hazard on the street by forcing pedestrians to the median.

Diagram 1: Existing Pedestrian Movements at 96th Street and Broadway

To rationalize traffic movements, NYCDOT installed left turn lanes on Broadway, creating new signal phasing. This change has created a lot of confusion and caused dangerous situations and conflicts between cars and pedestrians.

To mitigate these challenges, NYCDOT has placed signs such as “Wait for Walk Signal” and “No Ped. Crossing Use Crosswalk” (pictured above) to encourage better pedestrian behavior. However, in New York, pedestrians walk wherever and whenever they please. So, if they don’t see cars moving, they go, often putting their lives at risk. This not only occurs at 96^th and Broadway, but many other busy intersections throughout the city with left turn signal phases.

At this intersection, after the east-west traffic stops and before the left-turn signal phase begins, people begin to cross north-south on the western and eastern crosswalks in the intersection, despite the red light and eventual on-coming traffic.  In addition to the potential crashes this creates, pedestrians act outraged, as do the drivers. This prevents cars from moving through the signal with sufficient time, and creates congestion for the following phase as well. Congestion and danger is furthered by people illegally crossing between medians (see Diagram 1).

Diagram 2: Potential Solution: The Pedestrian Scramble ("Barnes Dance")

It is true that better enforcement and ticketing by the NYPD might change pedestrian behavior, but I believe the DOT should explore more creative solutions for this intersection. One possible solution (Diagram 2) could be a variation on the “Pedestrian Scramble” or “Barnes Dance,” which would stop all traffic and allow pedestrians to cross in one movement. This would decrease the amount of separate pedestrian movements and perhaps cause less confusion, while allowing pedestrians to take direct routes. This approach could reduce conflicts between pedestrians and cars, improving safety, health, and convenience for all intersection users.

Carson Qing (MUP '13), Melinda Hanson (MUP '14), and Nolan Levenson (MUP '14) presented their research on the Transportation Impacts of Hurricane Sandy

The report, which was released in November, can be downloaded here.

This week, the NYU Rudin Center and the Wagner Transportation Association (WTA) hosted a panel discussion of recent innovations in bus rapid transit (BRT) in the New York City metropolitan area. The panel’s presenters included Ted Orosz from MTA New York City Transit, Eric Beaton from the New York City Department of Transportation, and Tom Marchwinski from New Jersey Transit.

The discussion highlighted how transportation providers were able to find innovative solutions to implement BRT under the unique context of the New York City metropolitan region, where street widths, curbside usage, land use characteristics, and competing transit options often pose challenges for developing a BRT system similar to those built in Latin America and Asia. The panel’s speakers highlighted how implementation of Select Bus Service in New York City and bus rapid transit in high-volume, medium-density, and suburban settings in New Jersey have succeed in reducing travel times, improving level-of-service, and attracting new riders by adapting BRT characteristics to better fit the context of the corridors and communities they serve.

The presentations are available for download here: Ted Orosz, Eric Beaton, Tom Marchwinski

Thanks to the numerous attendees, and our fantastic presenters:
- Guillaume Charny-Brunet, FaberNovel, 1.6 Billion Rides: A story of NYC subways, big data and YOU!
- Jeff Ferzoco, Owner, Jeff Ferzoco Design and Senior Fellow, RPA, Mapping innovation: The line is the journey
- Stephanie Camay, Parsons Brinckerhoff, Public involvement in transportation projects
- Bob Leonard, EarthGarage, Standardizing sustainable personal vehicles
- Adam Zaranko, NYC Economic Development Corporation, East River Ferry Service
- Chris Whong, NYU Wagner, Baltimore Circulatorbuddy
- Alexis Perrotta, Columbia University Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, Can social fares improve NYCT?
- Anthony Townsend, NYU Wagner, New Data for Bicycling Research

Check out the event video here and the pics below: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/31217383

• How Data Is Helping Riders To Make Sense Of Their Transit System – 03/18/2013
• Sen. Schumer to Push for Storm ‘Bank’ – 03/10/2013

Upcoming Events:

• Local Innovations in Bus Rapid Transit: A Panel Discussion – 04/09/2013
• Short Talks, Big Ideas: Transportation Innovations – 04/09/2013
• Climate-Proofing Connectivity: The Future of New York’s Links to the Northeast Corridor – 04/10/2013

Blog Posts:

• Don’t-Miss Events in April – 03/29/2013
• New book on Smart Cities from Anthony Townsend – 03/22/2013
• USDOT Under Secretary Polly Trottenberg Visits the Rudin Center – 03/13/2013
• Workshop on New Data for Bicycling Research: Crowdsourcing, DIY Sensing & Apps – 03/13/2013
• Super-Commuting vs. Mega-Commuting – 03/08/2013
• Open Transportation Data in NY – 03/06/2013
• Smart Transportation and Sustainability – 03/05/2013

April 9th (morning): Local Innovations in Bus Rapid Transit: A Panel Discussion – This panel will focus on innovative bus planning in the New York Metro area, and the unique challenges it presents to both policy makers and citizens.

April 9th (evening): Short Talks, Big Ideas: Transportation Innovations - Join the NYU Rudin Center for this high-energy series of short talks about how we’re using, improving and thinking about the future of transportation.

POSTPONED UNTIL FALL April 10th: Climate-Proofing Connectivity: The Future of New York’s Links to the Northeast Corridor – This symposium will convene experts on climate change, next-generation aviation, and high-speed rail planning to explore how New York’s external transportation connections can adapt to climate change in the coming decades to provide secure, resilient and sustainable economic lifelines in the face of an uncertain future.

April 20th: Rethinking Regulation Design Challenge – This challenge is about bringing stakeholders to the table to develop innovative, realistic, and implementable solutions to help address the problems government regulators face when monitoring illegal apartment conversions in NYC, and non-compliant “Chinatown” motorcoach companies. (with NYU Wagner and OpenPlans)

All events are free and open to the public. Click on the event titles to register. See you in April!

It’s now available for pre-order on Amazon.