Upper Green Side

Mobility For People

We believe cities should be designed around people, not cars. Sure, there will always be a need for long-distance family and industrial transport, and cars fill part of that niche. But no matter how energy efficient cars become, they will never be as efficient or convienent as bicycling and public transportation can be.

Consider the difficulty and cost of finding parking, the waste of space taken by disused cars lining every street and avenue, the congestion caused by frivolous driving when a bike, bus or train could have served just as well. Not to mention the often overlooked cost of car ownership.

For an overview these issues, and how our streets and transportation can be designed around people instead of cars, we highly recommend the documentary Contested Streets, which explores the history and culture of New York City streets from pre-automobile times to the present.

A city designed around people instead of cars would have a modern subway system. While that should include a new generation of efficient trains and stations, with real-time status information and other intelligent amenities, a simple first step would be to expand the system to meet additional need, helping alleviate crowding and congestion. For this reason, we’re keeping watch on the plans for the Second Avenue Subway.

As a complement to the subway, our neighborhood would also benefit from Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). A people-oriented city would dedicate space on wide streets for modern, almost train-like bus systems, with dedicated lanes, rider stations, and real-time passenger information. Upper Green Side supports full-fledged BRT through our neighborhood; for more information see Transportation Alternatives BRT info.

A bicycle-friendly city would round out the personal mobility options for getting around town. You can bike now, but you’re betting your life on our bike-unsafe streets. New York has a decade-old, 20% complete “bike master plan,” but it’s now outdated, and never included any timetable for completion, benchmarks for increasing cycling, or modern bike lane and path design standards — all hallmarks of exemplary plans recently put forth by cities like London and Chicago.

Upper Green Side believes the city must adopt an updated Bike Master Plan with a timetable, modern design and a plan for increasing cycling. In our own neighborhood, we would like to see real, buffered bike lanes. New York needs to stop giving cars space, stop taking space from pedestrians and cyclists, and instead design the city around people so that the need for cars is minimized, creating a more efficient, healthy and livable New York.