By Stephen Duffy 1/23/12 1:19pm

Hail yes

Rudins_StVincents

Crosstown Traffic: New Cabs Predicted to Have Bad Implications For Manhattan Traffic

Just when you think you’ve solved one problem, along comes some whizz with a computer to give you another.

Before the holidays, Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Cuomo finally reached agreement on the long drawn saga of the new taxi bill. As part of the bill, 2,000 new yellow cab licenses for Manhattan will be sold, raising a ‘one shot’ billion dollar cash injection for the city’s coffers. In addition, each cab will also be wheelchair accessible.

So, what’s the catch? Well, traffic, that’s what. And it’s taken a month for someone to it point out. Read More

By Matt Chaban 9/09/11 10:55am

Road Rage

Feel the pain! (IBM)

Honk! Honk! New York Drivers Have It Better Than L.A., New Delhi, Mexico City—Commutes Are Getting Better But Making Us Angrier

The four outer-boroughs suffer the worst commutes in the country, according to the 2010 Census. No wonder drivers get so worked up about Transportation Czarina Janette Sadik-Khan. Even if the city’s D.O.T. is improving the roads for drivers, any efforts even perceived to be undermining cars, like bike lanes and pedestrian plazas, is seen as a threat, regardless of whether or not it improves transportation not only for drivers but bus riders, bicyclists and pedestrians, too.

Besides, whether or not Ms. Sadik-Khan can take all, or even any, of the credit (as some readers have argued to us, these programs have been in the works for years—still, all the experts we talked to applauded), a new report by IBM shows that New York’s commutes are better than many in the world and are getting better. Read More