Thread by @bradlander

We need to start planning seriously for what to do about transit & transportation in the very challenging coming months.

Our city & our region depend on it.

A few thoughts here, with props to @julehrm @jonorcutt @SamSchwartzEng @RidersAlliance @TransAlt @TransitCenter

Some starting points:

⚙️Many people will understandably fear & avoid subways & buses.
⚙️Many essential workers are taking subways & buses right now.
⚙️We need a wide range of options for the medium term.
⚙️We must save mass transit for the long term.

One thing all New Yorkers can agree on: We must have more federal emergency funding for the @MTA. MTA is 39% of US transit ridership, but only 14% of CARES transit funding.

Congressional delegation is pushing hard, but we need a stronger mass outcry.

reinventalbany.org/wp-content/upl…

Right now, almost all transit riders are essential workers (about 1 million trips/day). Per @NYCComptroller, essential workers rely heavily on mass transit. Many are bus riders.

Let's remember that during 7 pm cheering for them.

comptroller.nyc.gov/reports/new-yo…

Transit workers have paid a terrible price in COVID deaths.

PPE and sick leave have gotten better, and people are coming back to work.

We really need to protect, give hazard pay to, and ramp up the number of cleaners, some of the lowest-paid and now most important workers.

Some principles for getting people back on transit:

⚙️Manage crowding through ongoing telework, schedule shifting & management, and new well coordinated new rules.
⚙️Massively ramp up visible cleaning & sanitizing.
⚙️Bus system reliability (people may feel safer above ground).

Paris is setting the example we should follow. They are rapidly implementing emergency bus & bike lanes to give people more commuting options and reduce car congestion for the next phase of the crisis.

#coronapistes

leparisien.fr/amp/info-paris…

I know, I know. It's hard to imagine @NYCMayor would do anything so visionary, given retrograde opposition to even opening up a few streets to pedestrians.

How can we change this? Build a stronger coalition of essential workers who need mass transit + livable streets advocates.

One COVID irony: Bus service in NYC has never been better. When they're not stuck in car traffic, buses are a tremendously efficient form of mass transit (advocates like @RidersAlliance have asked for on-time performance numbers).

Let's remember this for the future.

Meanwhile, @SamSchwartzEng offers some good ideas here for how we can discourage solo car-driving in the short term.

And why we must move aggressively forward with congestion pricing.

nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-ope…

Air quality has improved measurably since car traffic has been reduced.

Since we know that (a) air-quality in nbhds is disproportionate by race, and (b) strong correlation w/risk of death from COVID-19, don't we have an obligation to keep it that way?

hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-t…

And those birds we're hearing every day, helping us feel more human, more grounded, like there's some hope?

Pretty simple: it's because less cars.

nepr.net/post/covid-19-…

Summary:

⚙️Emergency bus & bike lanes
⚙️Temporary & long-term congestion pricing
⚙️Well-planned staggered re-openings & transit management to reduce crowding
⚙️Lots of subway & bus cleaning (by well-protected and compensated workers)
⚙️Fight tooth & nail for federal dollars

We must prevent car congestion from rocketing up as NYC begins to open back up. And we can.

We owe it to the essential workers we clap for each night, to the communities hardest-hit by this crisis, and to the future of our city.