Crossroads of the World...
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It all started 8 months ago in New York City's Times Square and now, a pilot program designed to transform traffic lanes into pedestrian plazas has been made permanent. "The results of our study are very encouraging," said NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg, citing a positive response from merchants, tourists, and office workers in the area—along with a large reduction in pedestrian and motorist injuries at the infamous "Crossroads of the World."
"Reducing traffic was not the only barometer of the experiment," explains Michael M. Grynbaum in The New York Times, "city officials had hoped to bolster business by expanding pedestrian access, and to make the area safer for drivers and pedestrians alike. Those goals, the mayor said, had been achieved: pedestrian injuries in the area fell by 35 percent, and there was a 63 percent reduction in injuries to motorists and passengers, according to the city. An extensive survey of local businesses found that more than two-thirds of the area's retail outfits wanted the project to become permanent."
WATCH VIDEO: Local Food at New York's Union Square
Creating lots more car-free spaces in the Big Apple has long been a goal of transportation activists. "A society so reliant on cars is already being revealed as destructive to the planet," says Ken Coughlin, a board member of Transportation Alternatives, "and it will soon become completely unsustainable."
The success of the Times Square study bodes well for further pedestrian power. "There are other parts of the city where we are getting lots of calls from merchants who want the same kind of thing," said Bloomberg.
Green Your Transportation
- Public Transportation: Who needs a car when you have buses and trains?
- Bicycling: Who needs a train when you have a bike?
- Walking: Who needs...well, you get the idea by now.
Car-Free Links
8 Reasons Why Cars Suck, Plus 12 Ways Cyclists Can Stay Safer in an Automobile Culture
6 Ways Cars Have Wrecked Our Culture and 9 Things You Can Do About It
