Part of the mission of the NYC DOT is to "enhance mobility," but does it always have to be via the motor vehicle? 8 million people in New York City, a constrained amount of land, and the densest built environment in the country -- and still a transit and pedestrian focus seems alien to the DOT.

Seems a few people have been noticing lately. The New York City Streets Renaissance group is trying to push a pretty good agenda. Gotham Gazette ran a good article by a former professor of mine at Hunter College on Livable Streets. The Tristate Transportation Campaign has been following the controversy over the new Yankee Stadium planning proposal and the extra parking that the city cannot prove that it needs. Recent patently false or completely misguided statements by officials at the DOT make one wonder what hidden agenda they are following or what drug is in the drinking water at the agency.

New York City Councilwoman Gale Brewer has introduced a bill to have the DOT's performance measured against real-world performance goals:

the bill would supplement these statistics with a set of measures whose aim will be to assess and reduce “the amount of traffic citywide and within each borough.” Specific aims of the new data would be to “reduce commute time citywide,” reduce household exposure to street emissions and reduce driving’s share of travel to central business districts while increasing those of mass transit, cycling and walking.

Sounds like a good piece of legislation, however unfortunate since the agency can't seem to get itself going and actually helping out all the people of the city.