RPA congratulates Polly Trottenberg for groundbreaking accomplishments during her seven-year tenure as Commissioner of the New York City Department of Transportation.
Today is New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg’s last day on the job. While we are confident she will continue to serve the public and shape New York’s complex transportation infrastructure system, we wanted to take this opportunity to thank her for her extraordinary record of achievements over the past seven years.
Tasked with presiding over and managing Vision Zero - one of Mayor de Blasio’s signature campaign promises – Commissioner Trottenberg oversaw the implementation of this plan, which included:
- Spearheading the development of Green Wave, the City’s master plan for protected bike lanes and safer cycling,
- Designing safer streets at dangerous intersections,
- Introducing bus lanes that streamlined traffic and improved transit,
- Expanding CitiBike access across all five boroughs,
- Piloting electric-powered cargo bike delivery and electric scooter sharing,
- And managing record numbers of pedestrians and cyclists on major bridges across the five boroughs.
More recently, Commissioner Trottenberg has also overseen the expansion of open street dining, which has been crucial in helping businesses survive during the pandemic, and has helped the City navigate the challenges posed by COVID-19.
In addition to her duties running NYCDOT, she also served as one of four City appointed board members of the MTA for five critical years. Serving as a voice for New York City’s subway and bus riders, she advocated for a better system overall and worked with MTA leadership to put the system on a path of recovery. Under her watch, bus service was expanded as part of the Better Buses plan and more than 60 extra miles of dedicated bus lanes have been implemented - including the 14th Street busway, which has become a model example recognized around the world. She was also a staunch advocate of congestion pricing, which will bring much needed revenue to the MTA while reducing traffic congestion in the region’s core.
The entire team at RPA will always be grateful to Polly – for all she’s done to make this City safer and for her open and honest approach to tackling tough issues. She is always open to new perspectives and ideas. While she has a storied history of working in government, Polly doesn’t focus on politics or optics. Rather she concentrates on team work, innovating, and problem solving for the greater good. Her integrity, wit, intelligence and leadership has served this entire city and we are lucky to have had the experience of working with her at RPA.
For all these reasons, RPA is excited and privileged to be honoring Polly Trottenberg for her extraordinary service to New York City with the “Making It Happen” award at our upcoming Celebrate the Tri-State benefit.
