We said months ago that private vehicles were not the main cause of congestion in Manhattan, but rather trucks, taxis and other commercial vehicles that block lanes and create backups. Streetsblog has proven this in a great pictorial regarding bus lanes.
11 comments:
Take 43rd Street between 5th & 6th Avenues for instance.
Between the Harvard Club,
the NYC Yacht Club, the Bryant Postal Station, 5 hotels, an FDNY firehouse yadda, yadda...who have allocated parking spots,
then add to that all the commercial
and official vehicular traffic
and you've got a nightmare!
Why should I have to pay a congestion pricing fee when driving a family member to the doctor's office for tests?
While the Harvard club gets a freebie spot, I have to pay through the nose for parking and maybe get a ticket if my car stalls out in a "no standing" zone!
Yeah, these pictures really "prove" that, right? The hell with actual studies! And it's "bus lanes", not "bike lanes".
So sorry about the bus lane mistake. I corrected it. The photos show what we say we've been seeing. It ain't people going to work during rush hour causing the problem. It's the people that are working that are doing it.
BRT lanes need to run down the middle of the street, not along the curbside. Problem solved.
GRRR GRRR.IT BUS LANES, NOt bike lanes AHHSHSSJJSKKALIWUIWM .Have a heart attack and save your screaming for something that includes helping someone.Toooo many people,tooo many cars trucks, buses, taxis, and lots of dicks fighting each other for laughable driving.Its all yours enjoy.
Too many taxis....period. They are the problem.
I guess now, after that last anonymous moronic comment, I need to weigh in.
The vehicles shown as impeding the bus lane are actually working--the taxi's working, the cop car is on duty, the trucks and other commercial vehicles cited are working. All of these are contributing directly in their immediate usage to the economic activity of the city (well, except the gendarmerie), which you can't say with 100% certainty about the private automobile.
The taxi comment is beyond stupid. A total of 13,000 vehicles--out of a reported one million that hit Manhattan's streets alone on a daily basis--transport an estimated one million people per day, or over 350 million a year. The nuts and bolts of it may not always be pretty, and I certainly don't defend my cabbie brethren as individual drivers--when they suck, they suck--but please tell me how that efficiency doesn't contribute directly in a major way to the city's economy and, yes, its quality of life. Imagine NYC's night life without taxis--it simply would not exist.
And keep in mind that the city NEVER lets the taxi drivers know which rule they're supposed to privilege at any given point. If someone wants to be dropped off on the side of an avenue or street where there's a bike lane, can I do it without a ticket? If someone hails me from the north side of 34th Street, can I pick them up or should I risk losing my license (and, of course, potential income) by refusing service?
Hey no one says those with commercial vehicles or cabs shouldn't be in Manhattan, make a living or contribute to the economy. But they are the cause of congestion most of the time, not Joe Schmo from St. Albans. How many of us have been behind a cab when it suddenly decides to stop to pick up or discharge a passenger in the middle of the street? Ditto for delivery trucks. Then you have everyone else screeching to a halt behind you.
Taxis move along quickly.
It's the trucks
that clog up the streets.
We should institute late night
commercial deliveries
like they do in Europe.
I disagree that taxis move along quickly. They cut across avenues from one side to the other, stop in the middle of the street to pick up passengers, and last but not least....there are too many of them on the streets.
Why not use the bus or train? Trucks need to deliver food and merchandise to stores. Taxis are just a luxury for the rich and lazy.
Here is a suggestion. How about doing what Chicago has done.... NO TRUCKS DURING THE DAY!!! only deliveries at night...
Also, take all the illegal cabs off the street. And People with the huge SUV's Cut them out as well too.. There is no need to have a Escalade or an Expedition while you are living in the city.. Plain and simple.
Also they should mark out parking spots.... that would also help with the A**HOLES that take up 3 spots with ONE car!
Just saying
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