Mayor Survey: Mike Bloomberg

Political Party:

http://www.mikebloomberg.com

Candidate Submitted Biography:

Mayor of the City of New York, 2002-2009

Mayor Survey: Mike Bloomberg

Question 1:
What are New York City's most pressing transportation needs? As mayor, how would you address these needs?

The city will add a million people over the next 20 years, yet our mass transit system has neither expanded nor modernized over the past 50. This status quo will eventually be unsustainable. That’s why I recently released Moving NYC, my plan to improve, expand, reform and modernize our city’s transit system.

The plan includes a variety of service and performance improvements for rail, bus, and ferry riders. The proposal includes expanding Bus Rapid Transit to congested roads in all 5 boroughs, reinstituting F line express service, expanding CityTicket so Queens and Bronx residents can ride—not drive—to work, and creating new transportation alternatives, including light rail, ferries and commuter vans. It also calls for cost cutting and management reforms, such as improving ParaTransit and creating an accountability system that would let New Yorkers track the performance of their mass transit.

Over the past 7 years, we have worked hard to improve mass transit. The #7 line extension is being built on time and on budget, and the MTA agreed to take over private bus lines in Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx, dramatically improving commutes for nearly 370,000 New Yorkers. We are also boosting a cleaner, healthier form of transit –bicycling. For example, we have focused on creating safe bike connections to the 4 East River Bridges.

But, as you know, there is much more to be done.


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Question 2:
A growing number of studies find that passive exercise, through walking and biking, is associated with significant health benefits. Would your administration make increasing walking and biking a public health priority?

My administration has made walking and biking a public health priority, with a goal of making our city the most bike-friendly in the country. We recently completed an historic effort to build 200 bike-lane miles in all 5 boroughs in just 3 years, nearly doubling our bike network while reshaping streets to make them safer for everyone. The same period also saw unprecedented expansion and innovation of the overall network, including the installation of 20 sheltered bike parking structures and 3,100 bike racks, leading to a more than 45% growth in commuter cycling in that time.

In addition, by creating new pedestrian plazas in all 5 boroughs—including in Times Square—as well as expanding our Summer Streets program, we are finding creative ways to encourage walking, exercise, and other health and fitness activities. Our Broadway Boulevard program has provided new pedestrian spaces for a range of activities, including yoga and exercise classes. Summer Streets also encourages these activities. Last year, for three consecutive Saturdays in August, we temporarily closed Park Avenue to motor vehicles and opened it up to pedestrians and bicyclists. This year we are expanding Summer Streets citywide.

We will continue to foster walking and biking in order to boost healthy activity and healthy outcomes. These efforts mesh well with a major goal of our sustainability master plan, PlanNYC: to ensure all New Yorkers live within a 10 minute walk of a park.


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Question 3:
Each year, approximately 300 people are killed and thousands of people are injured by automobiles in New York City. What would your administration do to reduce these numbers? In particular, what role should the NYPD play as the primary agency charged with keeping New Yorkers safe?

I am committed to improving traffic safety as a core public health issue. The NYPD’s Traffic Control Division has been very successful - reducing traffic-related fatalities by 15% from 2007-2008, with fatalities down an additional 13% so far this year. Overall, we have reduced citywide traffic fatalities by nearly 100 fatalities annually.

But even one fatality is too many. That’s why we have pushed forward with new safety initiatives targeted at two vulnerable populations: children and seniors. Safe Routes to School puts new traffic signals, speed bumps, speed boards and crosswalks, and exclusive pedestrian crossing times at schools with high accident rates. Through Safe Streets for Seniors, we have made safety changes in 25 different areas, such as extending crossing times, shortening crossing distances, altering curbs and sidewalks, restricting vehicle turns, and narrowing roadways.

We also improved the safety of Queens Boulevard, morbidly known for years as “The Boulevard of Death” due to the high rates of accidents and fatalities. In 1997, there were 22 fatalities along this boulevard; last year, there were only 2. This 90% reduction is due to direct improvements to pedestrian safety including new pedestrian signals, crosswalks, and speed boards.

With these innovative programs and more, we will work hard to meet our ambitious goal of eventually cutting the annual number of traffic fatalities by at least 50% from 2007 to 2030.


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Question 4:
The Partnership for New York City estimates that traffic congestion is to blame for $13 billion a year in losses to the New York Metropolitan Region's economy. What relationship do you see between the regional economy and traffic congestion? Which, if any, policies do you support to mitigate traffic congestion throughout the five boroughs?

As you know, I was a vigorous proponent of congestion pricing. Congestion pricing would have reduced traffic, improved public health, generated billions of dollars for mass transit improvements and helped the city recoup some of the $13 billion in losses to the regional economy caused by congestion. But, though we tried valiantly, the State Legislature refused to bring the proposal to a vote.

Nevertheless, I remain committed to finding alternative solutions to our congestion problem. In addition to the successful midtown “Thru Streets” program, my administration launched the Citywide Congested Corridors Project, a study of busy roadways in all 5 boroughs that looks at ways to improve safety and mobility, clean our air, and cut travel times.

Strong support of mass transit is perhaps our most effective tool against traffic congestion, which is why I have been a vigorous supporter of transportation projects. My administration is funding the extension of the #7 line, a $2.1 billion project that will be the first subway expansion in decades.

Finally, my Moving NYC plan includes various initiatives to increase the access, appeal, and affordability of our mass transit and reduce traffic congestion around the city. I encourage you to read the full plan at www.mikebloomberg.com/bettertransit.


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Question 5:
The City recently released plans for Bus Rapid Transit and expressed interest in bringing a bike share program to New York City. As Mayor, would you promote the continuation and/or expansion of these public transit initiatives?

I fully support expanding Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service, which is a big part of Moving NYC. Indeed, it is largely due to our work with the MTA that this long-discussed idea is becoming a reality. Now, along Fordham Road, Select Bus Service (SBS) has increased bus speeds by 19%, ridership has increased by 5,000 riders a day, and 98% of riders were satisfied or very satisfied with the new service. BRT is one of the best ways to meet critical bus service needs – making buses faster, more reliable, and more customer-friendly. On top of that, BRT is cost-effective, generating savings by improving bus speeds and attracting more customers. We are currently planning to work with the MTA to implement BRT in all 5 boroughs, including along 1st and 2nd avenues in Manhattan, providing needed congestion-relief years before the long-awaited Second Avenue Subway makes its first run.

Similarly, we intend to continue exploring bike-share programs, as recommended by our “Bike-Share Opportunities in New York City” report released this year. Bike-share programs are ideal for densely populated cities like New York. Almost 50% of New York’s workforce lives within a reasonable bicycling distance of their place of work. Bike-shares also offer immediate transportation solutions, as they can be built, installed and open for business in months, not years. Bike-share programs offer options for economic growth and job creation, as well as providing considerable health and environmental benefits.


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Question 6:
In an effort to increase the safety, enjoyment and health of New Yorkers walking, running, skating or riding a bike in Central and Prospect Parks, car traffic has been gradually restricted on the loop drives within these parks. What do you think of these changes? Do you have an opinion on the idea of completely closing these loop drives (not crosstown transverses) to cars and reserving them strictly for recreational users? What effect do you think such an action would have on the people in surrounding neighborhoods?

In 2006, we launched our innovative car-free hours pilot program that extended existing car-free hours in Central and Prospect Parks. I am very satisfied with the policy thus far. Expanding the number of hours that our city residents can enjoy both Central and Prospect Park free of vehicular traffic is helping to keep park-goers safe.

For residents in the surrounding neighborhoods, car-free park hours provide perfect opportunities for children and families to enjoy our parks during weekdays, and they improve the quality of life and safety for all city residents and visitors to two of our most famous parks.

We have no plans to close these routes further, as they are already closed for most of the day. If we do consider such steps in the future, however, we will diligently weigh the impact it could have on the surrounding network in terms of safety and traffic flow.


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Question 7:
According to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles' most currently available data, in 2007 speeding was a contributing factor in over 3,000 motor vehicle crashes in New York City. Furthermore, the same data showed that the top human contributing factor to the 264 fatal crashes in New York City during 2007 was also speeding. Given these figures, what measures (eg. speed cameras, if any, do you support to redress this problem? Finally, do you believe that New York City's current speed limits are safe?

We are implementing a large number of safety improvements to reduce motorist crashes and pedestrian fatalities. In April, the State passed legislation permitting the installation of 50 more red light cameras – which automatically take photographs of vehicles that go through red lights, including close-ups of the license plates – bringing the total number of city cameras to 150. We will continue to seek authority to install more red light cameras, as well as use “dummy” cameras to encourage drivers not to speed through red lights.

In addition, we continue to increase the number of Speed Boards in the city. We installed 4 separate Speed Boards last year in Queens and Staten Island, are currently pursuing State legislation for speed cameras to expand automated safety enforcement. City DOT is also improving signal strategies by expanding tests of pedestrian countdown signals and implementing signal patterns to increase pedestrian crossing time and discourage speeding.

I believe our record on traffic safety shows that the current speed limits in New York City are safe, but our traffic safety programs are frequently making important improvements to rectify possible areas of danger. For example, we recently changed our evaluation criteria for speed reducers (speed bumps) to lower the speed threshold a street has to meet to be considered for speed reducers. We will constantly monitor and study traffic patterns and fatalities and reassess our speed limits and traffic laws.


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Submitted by bmahanna on Mon, 08/10/2009 - 10:59.
Submitted by bmahanna on Fri, 07/24/2009 - 08:46.
Submitted by bmahanna on Mon, 08/10/2009 - 10:59.