An additional benefit of the 14th Street Busway project in Manhattan has emerged: greatly reduced traffic collision rates.
Gersh Kuntzman writes: "The car-free 14th Street Busway is a real lifesaver. No, literally."
The benefits of the city’s transit-priority pilot program between Third and Ninth avenues in Manhattan are well documented: buses are moving much faster and ridership is up as a result of the improved service.
But the project is having a much greater, and much-less-heralded, safety impact.
The article includes data comparing the period from the busway's opening in October 2019 to January 2020 with the same period from the previous year. The difference is drastic.
"In the four months since the busway began in October, total crashes are down 53 percent and injuries are down 63 percent compared to the same four-month period a year earlier," according to Kuntzman. The article concludes with an appeal to deliver the same kind of safety benefits to additional congested, dangerous corridors around the city.
FULL STORY: The ‘Busway’ Proves Another Benefit of Car-Free Streets: Safety
Depopulation Patterns Get Weird
A recent ranking of “declining” cities heavily features some of the most expensive cities in the country — including New York City and a half-dozen in the San Francisco Bay Area.
California Exodus: Population Drops Below 39 Million
Never mind the 40 million that demographers predicted the Golden State would reach by 2018. The state's population dipped below 39 million to 38.965 million last July, according to Census data released in March, the lowest since 2015.
Chicago to Turn High-Rise Offices into Housing
Four commercial buildings in the Chicago Loop have been approved for redevelopment into housing in a bid to revitalize the city’s downtown post-pandemic.
Chicago Awarded $2M Reconnecting Communities Grant
Community advocates say the city’s plan may not do enough to reverse the negative impacts of a major expressway.
New Park Opens in the Santa Clarita Valley
The City of Santa Clarita just celebrated the grand opening of its 38th park, the 10.5-acre Skyline Ranch Park.
U.S. Supreme Court: California's Impact Fees May Violate Takings Clause
A California property owner took El Dorado County to state court after paying a traffic impact fee he felt was exorbitant. He lost in trial court, appellate court, and the California Supreme Court denied review. Then the U.S. Supreme Court acted.
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