When I told people that I was going to New York to intern with the DOT, many asked why.  People imaging that the DOT’s job consists of running the subway and dealing with traffic complaints.  Once I explained that I was interested in alternative transportation and that the NYC DOT was a front-runner in this progressive urban transformation, people still doubted my decision. I was often told that no one bikes in NYC, it’s far too dangerous, the traffic problem in NYC is doomed, and that I will be very frustrated with the whole situation. On the contrary, I have been blown away by the hopeful attitude towards transportation in New York. Despite negative media coverage of the odd NIMBY complaint, most New Yorkers support the DOT’s efforts to change the streets. Much of this support comes from the safety message underlying all DOT projects. A sense of entitlement and fear haunt the NYC streets and the DOT is doing everything in their power to change this culture to one of respect for all street users.

Pedestrian commuters enjoy the new people-friendly Broadway corridor.

Much of my work at the DOT this month has involved safety, namely, how to keep people safe on the notoriouslychaotic New York City streets. Despite their perilous reputation, NYC streets have become some of the safest in the US.  2009 marked the safest year on record, posting an all-time low number of traffic fatalities. NYC is also ranked among some of the safest street cities internationally. In fact, NYC is ahead of prominent pedestrian cities like Copenhagen and San Francisco, and on par with others like Amsterdam and Portland Oregon. New York’s traffic fatality rate is about one-quarter of the national rate; it might be even safer to walk or bike on these streets than in downtown Middlebury.

Safety is absolutely paramount to every project at the DOT. It would be impossible to push a livable and sustainable agenda without addressing safety, as every mode of transportation requires people to feel comfortable on the streets. Whether walking, cycling, or taking public transportation, the commuter will come into contact with other vehicles and other people. Therefore, the DOT takes a comprehensive approach to street safety, aimed to enhance the safety of all street users, not just pedestrians and cyclists.  Targeted engineering solutions and neighborhood awareness groups, holistic street re-designs, and media campaigns are all tactics the DOT is employing to improve safety. I find the most interesting to be the comprehensive street re-designs that use pedestrian and cycling infrastructure as secondary street-calming devices. DOT studies have actually shown that streets with a bicycle lane have 40% fewer crashes involving injury or death. The theory is that when drivers have less space and more distractions on the road, they actually drive more safety as they are forced to pay more attention to their surroundings. Though counter-intuitive, reducing travel lanes and adding multi-modal features to a road will make it safer for everyone.

The transformation of Madion Square in the summer of 2010 illustrates how street changes to improve pedestrian and cycling quality can also help traffic safety. A bike lane (1), and travel lanes converted into public space (2,3,4) make the square safer for everyone.

This concept is one that, understandably, receives much skepticism in the media and even in neighborhoods where the designs occur. People feel that if there is less room for cars and more distractions, there will be more crashes, even though research has shown that this is not the case. Most of the re-designs have also not caused a significant increase in travel time, due to changes in stop-light timing and, in many cases, a reduction in the amount of traffic. Across New York, Community Board meetings (similar to town hall meetings in suburban or rural towns) are filled with the back and forth arguments over bike lanes, crossing refuge islands, and pedestrian walkways. Perhaps if the link between safety and the street re-designs was clearer, people would be more willing to accept the changes. Seeing this, the DOT is currently trying very hard to push the safety agenda and connect it to their new streets.

All of this makes me see the DOT in a new light. I, like many others, was unaware that street safety was part of the DOT jurisdiction. However, it makes sense to me that the agency that controls the streets would also be in charge of safety. This is also something that I, born and raised in semi-rural Maine, never considered to be the huge undertaking that it is in a city. I took for granted that it was one’s personal responsibility to look out for them-self on the street and that accidents happened because of carelessness that could not be prevented. I certainly did not know all the ways to improve safety through physical changes to the road. I looked at the whole street transformation process as helping people on a convenience and quality-of-life level, and helping the environment by reducing cars. Now I see, however, that it can be used as a vital safety tool, improving not just the quality of life, but very presence of life, on city streets.