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
Read the full story: 7 simple steps to safer city streets
‘Complete Streets’ Webpage Deleted in Federal Purge
Basic resources and information on building bike lanes and sidewalks, formerly housed on the government’s Complete Streets website, are now gone.
Building Secure Yet Welcoming Public Spaces
Strategies for securing public spaces from vehicle attacks and other acts of terrorism without sacrificing accessible, vibrant urban places.
NYC Congestion Pricing May Be Saving Lives
According to preliminary data, crashes and injuries dropped dramatically within the city’s new congestion relief zone.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge
A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.
Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity
Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.
Seattle passes record-breaking transit services expansion
Proposition 1 will double the city’s transit tax to add 95,000 more bus trips and preserve 180,000 bus trips annually.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority