Transportation Alternatives

If you read this blog even semi-regularly, you know I kvetch regularly about the transportation problems in this city. (The flooding of the subways last year made me mental.) But ranting and raving is one thing, actually doing something about it is quite another. That's where Transportation Alternatives comes in: this city-wide advocacy group works hard to improve public transit, make New York City streets more pedestrian friendly, promote biking, and try to limit the stream of cars into our city.

Transportation Alternatives member and Queens Committee Chair Mike Heffron was kind enough to answer a few questions about this group, and about transportation problems in NYC in general and Queens in particular.

How long has Transportation Alternatives been around and what is its mission?

TA was founded in 1973 and it's mission is to reclaim New York City's streets from the automobile, and to advocate for bicycling, walking and public transit as the best transportation alternatives. The TA Queens Committee was formed in January 2007 to advocate for these same goals in Queens.

How did you get involved?

After a trip to Holland where I rented a bike for the week to get around I came back to NYC and bought my first bike since I was a teenager off of Craigslist to get around town. Internet research on riding in the city led me to become a member of TA and get the Streetbeats updates. When the Queens Committee was formed I joined and attended my first meeting in the living room of one of our founding members Cris and Rich Furlong.

What has Transportation Alternatives done to make NYC a more pedestrian and bike friendly place?

In Queens we created a community sign on letter that requested the DoT to re-evaluate the Vernon Blvd Greenway proposal, which the DoT eventually did and led to the new Vernon Blvd bike lane. We're currently putting together a traffic study on the intersections that lead to the Astoria Blvd stop and what is know as Columbus Square. We're hosting a block party in Sunnyside Queens on August 10th from 10a-3p to promote re-envisioning public streets for purposes other than driving and parking. June 8th was the first ever Tour de Queens and had 500 people on a 100 degree day.

What is Transportation Alternatives' position on the rent-a-bike idea that originated in Paris?

We're in favor of it and in fact helped plan some trial rent-a-bikes on Governor's Island and in Downtown Manhattan. A bike share like Velib goes a long way to promoting getting more people on bikes for short trips around the city.

What was Transportation Alternatives' position on congestion pricing and, since it has died for now, what else can be done to limit the flow of cars in our city?

We advocated hard to promote CP in Queens and in all the 5 boros. Charging a market price for street parking is a good way to reduce the amount of time drivers spend looking for parking and encouraging drivers to leave the car at home. Improving mass transit options where it is limited, like Eastern Queens, also gives people more options to get around without needing to drive. Bus Rapid Transit, or as the city calls it Select Bus Service, is key to getting mass transit to areas that are underserved now. Bus lane cameras are also good way to cheaply ticket for traffic infractions and to keep non-buses out of dedicated bus lanes, speeding up the time it takes to get from a to b on a bus, but often fail in committee upstate.

As the Queens Committee Chair, what are some of the specific transportation alternatives that this borough should pursue, and are Queens transportation problems different from the rest of the city?

Queens transportation issues revolved around our boro being the largest geographically and intersected by so many highways and wide avenues and blvds, which can make it dangerous at times to take the most direct route by bike. Eastern Queens is sorely underserved by mass transit. Inter-boro mass transit is also lacking, there is too much focus only on travel to and from Manhattan.

I my opinion Queens could use a few physically separated bike lanes along major thoroughfares like Queens Blvd to promote cycling to get around Queens and into Manhattan. BRT service connecting Queens to Brooklyn but also Eastern Queens to transit hubs in Central and Western Queens. BRT service should also go over the Triboro and Queensboro Bridge into Manhattan.

How can New Yorkers get involved with Transportation Alternatives and with making NYC a less car-dependent place?

New Yorkers can join Transportation Alternatives at www.transalt.org and/or sign up for updates to Streetbeat to keep up with all the doings and goings ons. Volunteers can join the Queens, Brooklyn or Bronx committees. Writing letters to your elected official and community boards, letting them know they should fund and extend mass transit and the bike network also helps get the word out. And finally New Yorkers can get themselves a bike or a Metrocard and get around town that way, nothing promotes something like doing it.

Thanks Mike!

You can also check out the Queens Committee Google group at http://groups.google.com/group/TAWQ