New Report by Regional Plan Association recommends building green infrastructure to collect stormwater; expanding bike lanes, busways, and loading zones; phasing out free parking; repositioning NYC DOT to oversee citywide public space policy, and more
NEW YORK, NY – Amid increasing traffic congestion, deadly flooding from Hurricane Ida, the post-pandemic economic recovery, and the deadliest year for traffic deaths since Vision Zero was announced in 2014, a new report by Regional Plan Association (RPA) calls for a wholesale transformation of city streets to support storm preparedness, economic and community development, and better transportation alternatives and goods movement.
The report, entitled Re-Envisioning the Right-of-Way, re-imagines the public right-of-way as a network of three interconnected systems that can work together to improve quality of life for all New Yorkers. These include transportation systems such as busways and bike lanes that support mobility and goods movement; social systems such as open streets and outdoor dining that provide gathering places and economic opportunities; and natural systems such as bioswales and community gardens that manage water, reduce heat, and prepare communities for climate change.
“The next mayor of New York City and the new City Council have a unique opportunity to reimagine streets and public space,” said Rob Freudenberg, Vice President for Energy and Environment, Regional Plan Association. “If we see the city’s 32,000 acres of roadway as one interconnected network of public space that can be improved, streets become a greater asset. We can leverage them to address our greatest challenges and improve resilience, mobility, and economic opportunity.”
Key recommendations from RPA’s report include:
Reorient the NYC DOT to become the NYC Department of Transportation & Public Space. No other agency knows the City’s streets better or has the capacity to undertake the transformations recommended. Repositioning the agency to be a better steward of the public right-of-way will require mission and staffing changes, as well as a greater degree of collaboration with other agencies.
Phase out free parking on city streets and dedicate revenue to right-of-way transformations. With over three million parking spaces on the public right-of-way of City streets, the NYC Department Of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner should establish meter zones throughout the city. The funds collected from street meters - along with fines from violations - can be used to support transportation, social, and natural initiatives on streets.
Significantly expand green infrastructure in streets to collect stormwater. NYC should design streets to collect, not just drain, stormwater; update stormwater maps; bolster the NYC Department of Environmental Protection’s Green Infrastructure Program; and convene a task force to study the creation of Water Streets, which could include daylighting (restoring to the surface) streams.
Reduce the amount of space in the public right-of-way dedicated solely to autos. RPA’s report supports the recommendation made by Transportation Alternatives which calls for the conversion of 25% of space for cars in the right-of-way into space for people by 2025.
Expand dedicated bus lanes and busways. As the success of the 14th Street Busway has demonstrated, dedicating the street right-of-way to surface transit is a highly effective way to provide better service to more people while reducing traffic congestion.
Build the Five Borough Bikeway. NYC should embrace the concept and recommendations in RPA’s 2020 Five Borough Bikeway report. Achieving this vision will require changes in decision-making and governance around bike lanes and should include both near- and long-term actions.
Explore ways to expand community gardens into the streets. NYC DOT should work closely with NYC Parks and GrowNYC to consider how street and public plaza space might support additional community gardens. Pilot projects could be carried out in communities with limited access to open space and/or food security issues. Rulemaking or legislative changes would likely be required to clarify zoning, local laws, and design guidelines.
“The challenges of our age increasingly play out on our streets, whether in intense storm flooding, in the demand for neighborhood open space during the pandemic or in the dire need for safer streets as traffic deaths rise,” said Janette Sadik-Khan, Principal with Bloomberg Associates and an RPA board member. “This plan lays our new standards for streets that can endure and flourish amid changing climatic, social and economic realities.”
“Our streets are one of New York City’s greatest assets,” said Danny Harris, Executive Director, Transportation Alternatives. “It’s time to reimagine how 6,300 miles of roadway and 3 million free parking spaces best serve the people of New York City. From building a network of fully-connected protected bike lanes to ensuring all New Yorkers are within walking distance of a high-quality Open Street, reclaiming space for people — central to Transportation Alternatives’ NYC 25x25 vision — is key in RPA’s Re-Envisioning the Right-of-Way report. Our streets are a pathway to New York City’s recovery, and our next mayor must treat them as such.”
“Regional Plan Association is once more doing what they do best: putting daylight on where NYC’s future needs to go,” said Paul Gertner, CEO, Starborn Industries, and Michael Drinkard, cycling and safe streets advocate. “Recommendations that might have seemed radical even a few years ago are approaching the obvious given our recent experiences with the pandemic, climate change and traffic fatalities. Our sincere hope is that the coming new leadership at City Hall will also see the events of the recent past as a mandate for these types of bold new actions now.”
“New York is a city in chains,” said Eric W. Sanderson, Senior Conservation Ecologist, Wildlife Conservation Society. “Roads and highways are the shackles; our collective dependency on the automobile, the lock. This report provides the keys to set us free. As the authors so clearly articulate, the ‘right-of-way’ has to work for the rights and ways of all us, people and nature, for the city to thrive.”
“The Natural Areas Conservancy is excited for the release of Re-envisioning the Right-of-Way,” said Sarah Charlop-Powers, Executive Director and Co-founder, Natural Areas Conservancy. “This important report showcases the opportunity to reimagine our city’s streets. We are especially excited for the focus on opportunities to connect our city’s streets to our greenway and nature trail systems, and the focus on using streets to restore nature in our communities.”
“Streetscapes in New York City present a tremendous opportunity to improve the lives of New Yorkers,” said Emily Nobel Maxwell, New York Cities Director for The Nature Conservancy. “Reimagining our right of way to expand nature in our neighborhoods - including trees, green infrastructure, and community gardens - is essential to a healthy, just, and resilient future. Our right of way holds the potential to help our city achieve bold goals, including 30% urban forest canopy cover by 2035, to address climate change.”
