"Good morning and welcome to today's hearing of the City Council Transportation Committee. I am Ydanis Rodriguez, the Chair of this Committee. Before we proceed, I would like to remind you all of Car Free Day on Saturday, April 21st. We will be opening Broadway to pedestrians and cyclists from Union Square to Times Square, and St. Nicholas from 181st to 190th in Washington Heights. We officially announced the programming yesterday with Commissioner Trottenberg at Times Square. On Monday, April 16th at 8:30am the University Transportation Research Center at City College will hold an academic panel on going car free at the New York Institute of Technology.
"For this hearing, I am joined by my colleagues ...
"Today we will examine traffic congestion in New York City and, in particular, the Mayor's recently-implemented Congestion Action Plan. There is no doubt that congestion has gotten dramatically worse in our city in recent years. Traffic speeds in Midtown have dropped 27 percent since 2010. And things are not much better outside Midtown. We know there are many causes, from increased deliveries, especially with the rise of e-commerce, to increased construction, population and economic growth, a struggling subway system, and of course the dramatic rise of app-based for-hire vehicles such as Uber and Lyft. And we also know that the effects of this increased congestion are far-reaching and dire. Bus ridership is falling, particularly in Manhattan where we see some of the worst congestion. Businesses and consumers pay the costs when goods cannot get delivered on time. And our air quality suffers when more and more vehicles are stuck in traffic.
"There are of course many proposed solutions to the congestion problem, most prominently congestion pricing. This committee has been continuously examining all the issues related to traffic congestion, including at a comprehensive and informative hearing last June. Today we will focus in particular on how management of our curb space affects traffic congestion.
"The Administration has begun implementing a Congestion Action Plan with five components: Clear Lanes, Clear Curbs, Clear Intersections, Clear Zones, and Clear Highways. The most consequential aspect of these changes is the removal of parking and loading zones along certain streets in Midtown, Brooklyn, and Queens, with new "No Standing" regulations intended to create an additional travel lane and keep traffic moving. This of course has huge implications for businesses in these areas, in terms of the impacts on both customers and on deliveries. Although an important element of addressing congestion is encouraging off-hours deliveries, something DOT has been working on, there are also types of deliveries and other business activity that simply has to get done during the day. Today we are interested in finding out more about how the balance between getting traffic moving and the needs of residents and businesses is being achieved in the context of these new policies. We need to understand how the success of these programs will be measured, what metrics will be used, and how they will be evaluated. And we need to hear commitments from the Administration regarding transparency and communication. Residents and businesses in the affected communities need to have a seat at the table.
"The traffic congestion problem in our city is complicated and is, in some ways, a consequence of our city's vibrant economy. There is not going to be one magic solution. The Mayor's Congestion Action Plan is one approach to one element of the problem. We need to work together to ensure that it is effective while limiting any negative impact on residents, business activity, and communities. After all, our local businesses have just as much interest in addressing congestion as everyone else, as it affects them directly too. So we all need to work together on solutions that, as much as possible, work for everyone.
"Today we are also hearing Proposed Intro. 210-A, sponsored by Council Member Matteo, which would give property owners more time to make repairs when they receive sidewalk violations from DOT. While maintaining the sidewalk is an important responsibility of being a homeowner in New York City, it is also a costly and time-consuming responsibility. Giving homeowners more time to comply with orders from DOT to repair their sidewalks is a common sense change that will benefit New Yorkers throughout the city.
"I now invite Council Member Matteo to deliver an opening statement on this legislation..."
[CM Matteo statement.]
"Thank you, Council Member.
"I would like to welcome the representatives of the Administration who are here with us today. Thank you for being here. I now ask the Committee Counsel to administer the affirmation and then invite you to deliver your statement..."
