1. Lessons from 100 years of urban experience with the automobile.

2. The 20th century was the century of the automobile.

3. Our country, our city, and our streets have been
transformed by the automobile
Our country, our city, and our streets have been transformed by the automobile.
Streets have shifted from being oriented towards people, to being oriented towards cars.
Images: Park Avenue 1922 (left), Park Avenue 1996 (right)
Credit: Transportation Alternatives Photo Archive

4. Our transportation policies have been designed to
move as many cars as possible.  
Queens Boulevard; 1973
Our transportation policies have been designed to move as many cars as possible.
The same design principles that were applied to Queens Boulevard have been applied to every street in New York City.  
Standard NYC street design is very hostile to people.
Image: Queens Boulevard, 1973
Credit: Unknown

5. Sidewalks have been narrowed all across the city.
Image: Lexington Ave, 1913 and 2005
Credit: Aaron Donovan

6. We have turned our streets into roads.

7. The Fundamental Incompatibility of People and Cars

8. The Fundamental Incompatibility of People and Cars

9. During the 20th Century, the impact of traffic on the human environment was an afterthought. 

10. the human living environment.
Traffic damages
the human living environment. 

11. "You can have a city that is friendly to cars
or friendly to people,
you cannot have both."
- Enrique Penalosa

12. Traffic has undermined street life.

13. We have made our world a nasty mechanized place.

14. Our society has mistakenly chosen traffic over life.

15. Traffic cripples the living environment for our children.

16. The automobile has made life more difficult for parents.

17. Many senior citizens have difficulty
navigating their own world.

18. Traffic harms human relationships.

19. Traffic shrinks our home territory.

20. that has been misapplied to cities.
The automobile is a
rural technology
that has been misapplied to cities.

21. Automobiles are a spatially inappropriate
technology for a dense city.

22. The shift to the automobile has
destroyed transportation capacity.

23. Today, 370,000 fewer people enter the CBD
each weekday than in  
But 450,000 more cars enter the CBD each weekday than in 1948.

24. The automobile as a transportation technology in NYC is a mistake for
two classes of reasons:

25. 1) Traffic undermines the livability of the city.
2) The automobile does a poor job moving people in a dense urban environment.

26. Therefore:

27. The streets of NYC require a
total transformation.

28. The recent changes
are just the
tip of the iceberg.

29. But people are afraid of change.

30. Myth 1: Traffic is Inevitable
110,000 before
50,000 after
45,000 of the 60,000 trips just disappears
In a study of over 100 cases of road capacity reduction, on average for every 1000 cars of lost capacity, 610 cars just disappear from the system.

31. Myth 2: Driving is Necessary to Support the Economy
Zurich

32. Myth 3: Pedestrianization is bad for business
Times Square
Kalverstraat
Hass-Klau study
75% improvement in retail business vs. control group

33. Myth 4: Bicycling is a fringe activity.

34. Myth 4: Bicycling is a fringe activity.

35. So what do we do?

36. Compress traffic by space and by time.
We want to maximize the break we get for ourselves from the hostile traffic.

37. Protect neighborhoods from traffic.

38. Concentrate traffic onto main streets to get huge
livability gains with only a small loss of road capacity.
City of Berkeley
Traffic Engineering
Average Daily
Traffic Volume

39. Traffic Cells
Groningen, The Netherlands
Traffic Cell
Urban Design

40. Timed street closings: block parties, summer streets, play streets
timed street closures, provide an excellent opportunity to experiment with the significant traffic changes we are proposing.
The phase shift.  

41. Smart Transportation Policies

42. Parking Reform
Our current parking policies try to do the physically impossible and as a result they produce great disfunction.

43. Congestion Pricing

44. Improved Transit

45. Car Sharing / Ride Sharing

46. Comprehensive Bicycle Network

47. And many more...
How to be a transportation policy expert in 12 seconds.

48. huge livability benefits and a better transportation system.
We can have 
huge livability benefits 
and a
better transportation system. 

49. Great Plazas  

50. Great public spaces everywhere (big and small)

51. Stickball commonplace - kids can play in the street

52. Comprehensive pedestrian network

53. Great Boulevards

54. Faster Commutes

55. Very good vehicle access to all streets

56. Vibrant neighborhoods

57. The choice is ours.