In the aftermath of recent pedestrian fatalities, a lot of attention has been placed on lowering speed limits across New York City to improve safety. But the city's former traffic commissioner argues that other approaches would be more effective.
"Today, there’s an outcry to lower speed limits to combat pedestrian fatalities," writes Sam Schwartz in an op-ed for the New York Daily News. "Wouldn’t it be great if just putting up signs worked? But it probably won’t."
Schwartz casts doubt on the effectiveness of reducing speeds across the city, and suggests seven tactics to improve street safety (including targeted 20-mph speed limits):
- Targeted [speed] reductions
- Speed cameras
- Crunching the numbers
- Analyze every crash
- Step up DUI enforcement
- Focus on the true culprits
- Design, design, design
FULL STORY: 7 simple steps to safer city streets
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City of Bothell
Town of San Anselmo
Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency (TPA)
HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research
Harvard Graduate School of Design Executive Education
Harvard Graduate School of Design Executive Education
City of Apache Junction
City of Helena
Gallatin County, Montana
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Hand Drawing Master Plans
This course aims to provide an introduction into Urban Design Sketching focused on how to hand draw master plans using a mix of colored markers.
