Thread by @dahvnyc

i'll be live-tweeting today's city council transportation committee hearing, which is being chairs by @ydanis and @NYCSpeakerCoJo.

On the agenda: CoJo's 5-year bike master plan & @cmenchaca's bike LPI bill.

The 5-year plan was exclusively reported by yours truly for Streetsblog last month. Johnson says he "love[s] New York City... but we can do better."

"It's about building the kind of city we want to live in."

nyc.streetsblog.org/2019/05/21/cor…

"We need to think seriously about how we share space on our city streets," he says. Cars cannot rule the roost.

"That means giving pedestrians, people riding bikes, and people with disabilities their fair share on our streets."

Plazas, bus lanes, bike lanes, sidewalk ramps are all addressed by Johnson's bill.

"This bill is ambitious, but I truly believe... that we will get there," he said.

Johnson called @Pollytrott "one of the best commissioners in the city of New York."

in his opening statement, @ydanis says he supports johnson's bill (not news, but i'm tweeting it because it's at least a little relevant).

Ydanis brings up @cmenchaca's bike LPI bill.

Recent study found that bicyclist would benefit, safety-wise, if the bill were to pass.

It's been three years since Menchaca first intro'd the bill: nyc.streetsblog.org/2016/02/09/wit…

The council is taking a different tack on this hearing. Advocates, not @NYC_DOT are the first to testify. First up: disability advocates.

Specifically, @CID_NY executive director Susan Dooha.

She's arguing that people w/ disabilities need safe streets. She was personally injured in a car crash.

"We believe this... will make an enormous difference in our daily lives."

Now up: @marco_conner of @transalt, which unsurprisingly supports the master plan bill.

"The data is overwhelmingly clear," Conner says of the positive impacts of the policies in the bill. "Countless New Yorkers want to bike or spend time in car-free plazas."

Now up to @bblytherss of @NYC_SafeStreets, who survived a bike crash a few years ago and is chastising the city for the slow pace of improvements.

"Our streets are designed for cars to go fast and not for people to walk or bike safely," she says. "This bill is ambitious... but it is just this kind of ambition and urgency we need to make streets safe."

"Parking places have a human cost."

Last on this panel of advocates: @AARPNY.

WAIT! There's one more! Danny Pearlstein of @RidersNY.

Pearlstein says the bill's requirement that the city build 150 miles of bus lanes within 5 years "would change the game for 2 million bus riders.”

“Our bus system is the slowest of any big city in the United States," he says.

Here we go: Trottenberg is testifying and, unsurprisingly, she says the five-year plan bill "would require a significantly refigured agency" and "necessitate significant additional funding."

The other issue: community boards.

The current process is consumes time and personnel. Trottenberg says enacting Johnson's five-year plan "would require a new, re-envisioned public engagement model with fewer mandated requires for work with [community groups."

Here's some news: Trottenberg has endorsed Menchaca's bike LPI bill, after DOT piloted it at 50 intersections. She says LPIs have kept pedestrians safe, and should do the same for cyclists.

On buses, Trottenberg points to the city's recently-announced efforts citywide and on 14th Street. nypost.com/2019/04/18/de-…

the rest of her testimony is basically the routine shpiel she gives every time she comes here: i get that you all want us to do more, but consider for a moment what we ALREADY do.

The growth of the city's bike, bus and pedestrian spaces "has meant [DOT is] straining to find the hiring capacity, management bandwidth, and facilities to handle our enlarged scale of operations."

This is notable because for YEARS, the council has pushed for more funding for DOT and Trottenberg has rebuffed. This is her clearest admission yet that what council members want requires not just more funding, but a new approach altogether.

"I do not want to complain about resources. This council, this mayor have given us a lot of resources... Money is not the only piece of the puzzle. Money can't always be applied in a linear fashion."

"I absolutely think we can be more aggressive... I often hear from... stakeholders... that they want more engagement, more meetings, more time spent" on evaluating projects.

Says other cities have less outreach.

"Our process now can be very long & involved."

Trottenberg says the pace of bike lane installation is moving "rapidly" in transit-heavy parts of the city.

This map of Brooklyn's protected bike lanes REALLY contradicts that

https://twitter.com/bikenewyork/status/1138480908825219074

CoJo: "Do you think we have enough free personal parking in New York City?"

[audience laughs]

Polly: "There is no question that our curb is very under-priced." Says the city has removed a lot of parking for bike lanes.

"To encourage people to get out of cars, we do have to offer them alternatives."

Johnson presses on whether there's too much free parking.

"We have too much free parking in New York City." Says the city estimates it has 3 million free parking spots.

Johnson asks why road fatalities are up. Trottenberg points to:

- not a lot of snow this winter, meaning more people driving
- people are moving away from sedans to SUVs

"When you have collisions with SUVs, unfortunately, they tend to be more fatal."

my former colleague @schmangee has covered this extensively usa.streetsblog.org/2018/05/09/stu…

"Without a comprehensive conversation, people can't begin to understand the importance of the project," Johnson says RE: community engagement.

"Have you considered a Vision Zero campaign to communicate to NYers how every benefits from" bike lanes & street redesigns?

Trottenberg says the Vision Zero branding has helped: "When you framed it in a whole new way, that it was going to be about saving lives, it resonated powerfully with people across the whole city."

Johnson tells Trottenberg, "I'm really sad to see you leaving the MTA board." Says she's been "one of the best" people "on a board where the city is outnumbered significantly."

Johnson now goes back to community planning. Asks if there are any other changes to the process she would recommend?

Trottenberg lobs it back. "The council has put a lot on us in terms of reporting and other things." She's referring to this bill: nyc.streetsblog.org/2011/09/26/cit…

Johnson: "Do you think we're in a mass transit crisis?"

Polly: "I think the city was facing a crisis in the not-so-distant past," but Byford is making "real progress."

"Together, the two agencies have a lot of work to do," Trottenberg says of the bus action plan. "I've never seen a bus project in where there weren't a lot of [public] concerns to work through."

"You can get there, but it takes some work to move people along."

Trottenberg is now pitching a bill up in Albany to expand the number of bus routes with bus lane camera enforcement.

"NYPD is stepping up their enforcement," she says, but they can't be everywhere at every moment.

Johnson presses Trottenberg on this issue. nyc.streetsblog.org/2018/12/20/fac…

"If you were a cyclist, would you feel safe in a 'protected' lane that's not a parking-protected lane?" Johnson asks.

DOT official Sean Quinn says "it definitely feel different," but argues that there are sufficient buffers on non-parking-protected 'protected' bike lanes.

"All bike infrastructure improves safety on streets," Trottenberg says.

Johnson retorts: "Definitely -- but people are dying."

Johnson continues to harp on this issue, and is now quoting this story nyc.streetsblog.org/2018/12/20/fac…

Johnson's now talking about the difficulties faced by people with physical or visible disabilities, including seniors, in getting around the city. Says city has a "moral responsibility" to make its sidewalks & intersections "fully accessible" for all New Yorkers.

Johnson's [VERY LONG!] questioning is now over.

"Keep pushing farther. Keep going deeper," he urges Trottenberg.

**but he didn't go so far to call her out for opposing his bill**

Now up: @ydanis.

OK, back after a hiatus: now testifying, advocates from @bikenewyork, @streetspac & @chekpeds