COMMUNITY BOARD 6
TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE MEETING
MAY 4, 2015
NYU College of Dentistry, 345 E. 24th St., Room 611, New York, NY 10016
The meeting was called to order by Chairperson Molly Hollister.
Speakers: Marcus Book, Community Liaison for Metropolitan Transportation Authority; Margaret
Forgione, Manhattan Borough Commissioner of NYC Department of Transportation (“DOT”); Patrick
Kennedy, DOT Bicycle Program Project Manager, and Hayes Lord, DOT Bike Program; and Sargent
Holzman, 17th Pct. traffic safety officer.
MTA:
Marcus Book met with the Transportation Committee several months ago, and returned to answer
members’ questions, and field new ones.
SBS Bus Lights: In lieu of the MTA’s obtaining authorizing legislation from Albany sanctioning its use of
colored lights to identify its SBS-branded buses, NYC Transit – beginning with the M15-SBS bus route –
will introduce by sometime this summer a flashing bus route/destination sign LED lighting scheme. It
could utilize various colors, instead of flashing blue LEDs, to set apart SBS buses from other traffic. One
committee member stated that the lighting display could not legally flash more frequently than three
times a second.
Mr. Book stated that, again, the MTA had not provided him a video depicting how the lighting worked
for the committee to see. So, another committee member asked how far away the flashing sign could
be seen – as compared to the flashing blue lights. Mr. Book did not know, so he was asked to inquire
about conducting a simple side-by-side comparison and report the two distances to the Chairperson.
Bus Bulb at 1st Ave. & E. 28th St.: Progress is being made, but there were delays due to contractor and
utility issues, and completion is still approximately four weeks away. Pavers need to be matched and
installed (2 weeks), and then signage and fare machines will be installed (2 weeks).
1 Ave. Subway Station ADA entrance (at Ave. A): Design is 5% complete.
Use of GPS and Bus Bunching: Mr. Book claimed that since buses are dispatched from their terminals
on time, the only problem they have is that they get caught in traffic. Then, dispatchers sometimes
shorten runs en route and turn buses back in order to achieve the agency’s goal of “even spacing” of
buses, which the MTA believes is more important than keeping buses on schedule.
One committee member advised that she was having problems trusting the accuracy of Bus Time on her
smartphone, and stated her belief that certain bus drivers might be manually turning off the GPS bus
tracking device. Mr. Book indicated he really did not think this was so, but the MTA was continuing to
perfect its system, and he suggested any problems were relatively minor.
Another committee member mentioned he had recently heard on the radio that the NYC Comptroller’s
office reported between 30% and 40% of buses audited did not leave their terminals “on time”. Mr.
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Book had not heard of this, and he requested a copy of the report which the Chairperson is forwarding
to Mr. Book.
L Line Electrical Substation: Another committee member described test borings being taken along the
route of the L line in connection with construction a new electrical substation at E. 14th St. and Ave. B.
and asked Mr. Book how many additional trains it might be possible to run with the additional power
provided.
Other Bus Stop Issues: A guest requested greater supervision of buses at the E. 36th, E. 37th and E. 38th
Street bus stops along Third Ave., because buses were not pulling into the curb.
A committee member noted that he has repeatedly made a similar complaint about M15 buses not
pulling in to the curb at the relocated NYU Langone Hospital bus stop at First Avenue & E. 31st St.,
leaving handicapped riders out in the street. In addition to pointing out to Sargent Holzman the need
for aggressive NYPD enforcement that extends over more hours of the day, he observed that even
without the problem of illegal parking, the bus stop might also be too short. Commissioner Forgione
promised to look into that.
New York City Department of Transportation
First Avenue Parking-protected Bike Path extension (from 49th to 59th streets), Pedestrian Crossing
Safety Improvements, and Other Traffic Calming Measures
Mr. Kennedy, DOT’s project manager, presented the Transportation Committee a customized “complete
streets” design proposal, including a protected bike path and pedestrian refuge islands, for these 10
blocks.
Over the course of 2010 and 2011 DOT introduced Select Bus Service to First Ave. and gave First Avenue
between Houston Street and 125th St. a “complete streets” makeover, including a protected bike path,
vehicular turning lanes, and pedestrian islands. But, for the 10-block segment between E. 49th St. and E.
59th St. DOT made minimal changes to the existing traffic patterns and street use, creating an ersatz
“enhanced shared bike lane” that sort of closed the gap in the bike route, and it added no protection for
pedestrians attempting to cross the busy, wide street.
Between 2011 and 2015 there were four traffic fatalities on these ten blocks, according to NYPD
statistics. That is compared to four traffic fatalities on the one hundred fifteen other blocks of First
Avenue that received the full “complete streets” treatment.
Now, because of “Vision Zero”, a multi-agency effort to reduce traffic fatalities in New York City, First
Avenue has been identified as a “Priority Corridor” in Manhattan and DOT has taken another look at its
original traffic engineering treatment of these ten blocks and developed this action plan.
Why this approach? NYPD has collected and compiled these data for three years about the safety
benefits of six protected bicycle paths:
Crashes with Injuries: down 17%
Motor Vehicle Occupant Injuries: down 25%
Pedestrian Injuries: down 22%
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Cyclist Injuries: down 2% (but the total number of cyclists has greatly increased)
Total Injuries: down 20%
The most unique feature of this re-design is how DOT’s responded to CB 6’s continuing concern over the
configuration of the unsafe intersection at 1st Ave. and E. 49th St. This is where 1st Ave. tunnel traffic
emerges from the portal and abruptly merges with surface traffic coming around from both sides. The
proposal removes one of the two traffic lanes exiting the eastern tunnel portal. The re-alignment
straightens and lengthens the vehicular merges and hopes to reduce reduces the instances of vehicles
cutting each other off – in particular buses traveling in the bus lane. On the western side, a steep hill
slows bikes nearly to a stop right as they are forced out into traffic where shared bike lane begins. With
the proposed improvement, cyclists will continue slowly up their painted path alongside the curb, as
traffic is gradually directed away from them to the opposite side of a floating parking lane. Committee
members also suggested that reflective delineator(s) be installed there to more definitively mark the
transition point.
One out of five through lanes of traffic (in addition to the dedicated bus lane) will be eliminated north of
49th St.: the problematic, conflicted “enhanced” shared bicycle lane with its often-ignored overhead
signs that warn drivers not to attempt to pass cyclists in the lane, and vehicles stopping short in the lane
before turning left. This has led to reports of many harrowing “close calls”.
DOT agreed to pause its installation at 55th St. and assess the impacts of its work thus far to that point
(e.g., traffic counts) and return in September to discuss them with the committee and the public before
taking the project to completion.
Among the expected impacts: curbside parking access will be retained for 70% of this corridor with a
repurposing of only 52 parking space equivalents: 36 for turn lanes/bike mixing zones, 10 for pedestrian
islands, and 6 for lane transition parking buffers.
In regard to the majority of left turns, cyclists and motorists will have a “mixing zone” that eliminates
visual obstructions (i.e., by parked cars) at the corner and provides an angled, gradual approach to the
cyclists’ path, reducing for cyclists the risk of a “hook” turn. Also, having a left turn lane takes the
vehicle out of the traffic stream, and eliminates the “back pressure” on following traffic.
At the two intersections (E. 57th St. & E. 59th St.) where an existing traffic signal already includes a left
turn protected phase cyclists will have their own “bicycle” signal which holds them at curbside while
vehicles turn left. Cyclists may proceed through the intersection with the through traffic while left turns
are held. Board members reminded DOT of its previous resolution requesting that delineator posts
being installed between the lanes for straight and turning lanes at 57th St. along both First and Second
Avenues. DOT’s representative advised that DOT will look into that. He also mentioned in response to a
question that the agency is also re-evaluating the “Enhanced” bike lane on Second Ave. and considering
unspecified safety improvements for that corridor, too.
The committee unanimously supported the DOT’s plan, including DOT’s agreed-to pause at 55th St., and
adopted a resolution to that effect by a vote of 12-0-0.
Sgt. Holzman: Sgt. Holzman indicated his appreciation of the identification of traffic enforcement
issues by committee members and members of the public, and he reiterated his determination to try to
stay on top of them. The 17th Precinct’s traffic enforcement efforts along First Ave. which were
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described as insufficient are: (1) in regard to preventing vehicles turning left onto E. 57th St. from the
third lane over, (2) in stopping vehicles from speeding when coming out of the tunnel at E. 49th St., and
(3) in getting vehicles to stop at the E. 48th St. stop sign.
Finally, all those present, collectively, expressed sympathy to Sgt. Holzman for his loss of a fellow NYPD
officer, P.O. Brian Moore, who was recently shot and killed in the line of duty.
The meeting was then adjourned.
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