A tale of two curb bills

  

NY Post

City Council members Tuesday overwhelmingly approved a slew of measures designed to reduce traffic chaos caused by trucks delivering goods purchased online.

One of the moves aims to siphon off dedicated curb space for the likes of Amazon and UPS.

The legislation requires the city Department of Transportation to institute loading-only parking spots in each neighborhood and develop “micro-distribution centers.” The distribution centers would serve to transfer parcels from large trucks to smaller transit vehicles such as cargo e-bikes.

The DOT will have to install five dedicated loading zones per neighborhood per year for a total of 1,500 over three years, according to the legislation.

“We have to recognize the dynamics of our streets and how things have changed, especially when it comes to how people receive their goods — which is mostly through packages and so forth,” said Council Member Antonio Reynoso (D-Brooklyn), the bill’s sponsor.

A few days later...

Is the Clear Curbs initiative helping or hurting?

From NBC:

A program designed to curb congestion by banning delivery trucks and cars from parking on certain streets during rush hour is making the problem worse, some say. Lori Bordonaro reports.

Traffic not Uber's fault

From the Daily News:

New York’s traffic troubles aren’t Uber’s fault.

Instead, Mayor de Blasio's long-awaited $2 million congestion study puts the blame on deliveries, construction and New Yorkers themselves.

“Population and job growth, increased construction activity, growth in the number of deliveries, and record levels of tourism have all contributed to the reductions in vehicle speeds,” the report on Uber and the growing for-hire vehicle industry found.

The popularity of car service apps like Uber was only a “contributor to overall congestion,” not a driver of heavy traffic in the city’s central business district, the report said.

De Blasio’s long-awaited traffic congestion study put the blame on “population and job growth, increased construction activity, growth in the number of deliveries, and record levels of tourism.”
The study also found that the total number of miles traveled by all vehicles in the city stayed flat between 2014 and 2015 — so trips in Uber and Lyft appear to be making up the decline in yellow taxi pick ups.

The conclusions in the report fly in the face of Mayor de Blasio's suggestion last summer that Uber’s explosive growth was slowing down traffic in Manhattan.

Nighttime deliveries proposed to reduce truck traffic

From the Huffington Post:

Researchers say they have found a way to get trucks off clogged New York City streets during the busiest parts of the day, and they are hoping to use the same approach soon in other U.S. cities.

A two-year experiment that paid customers, such as shops and restaurants, to receive their supplies at night worked better at changing truck delivery times than previous attempts to discourage daytime deliveries by raising tolls during peak hours, said lead researcher, Jose Holguin-Veras, a professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

For city residents, a widespread shift in delivery times could make a huge impact on traffic. There are 7,000 restaurants in the city, Holguin-Veras said, each receiving several shipments a day. Moving those to nighttime would be equivalent to moving all of the traffic generated by the city’s ports. Better-flowing traffic reduces air pollution, too.

The professor hopes that the program’s success in New York — regarded as the most difficult destination for trucks in the U.S. — shows it can work elsewhere, too. The federal government is promoting research in other U.S. cities, and the work has attracted international attention, too.

In the New York program, the incentives for businesses went beyond money, Holguin-Veras said. Night deliveries are more dependable than daytime deliveries, for instance. That allows receivers to order less, because they do not have to stock up in case the next delivery truck comes late.

Truck drivers are less likely to get stuck in traffic, pay less money in tickets and tolls and complete their routes faster. Night stops are typically only 30 minutes long, compared to two hours in the daytime.

Sounds like a logical, low-cost way to take care of this problem.

Daily News deliverers getting canned

Dear Community,

I usually try to avoid getting up on a soapbox but in this instance I'm going to make an exception. There are times when the worst thing we can do is stay silent.

I learned today that the people who deliver the New York Daily News to our homes will soon be losing their jobs because the company plans to change its distribution system.

My carrier, like many of the people bringing the news to our front doors, is a dedicated, hard working individual struggling to provide for his family which includes 2 young children. Everyday, rain, shine, snow and even during tropical storms, the Daily News arrives at my home by 6 am. Richard (yes he does have a name) has notified his customers that in order to support his family he will be starting a house/office cleaning service.

In nothing more than an attempt to improve their bottom line the New York Daily News is implementing a policy that can only be described as contemptible. This corporate giant is targeting the most vulnerable among their employees. I eagerly await the next Daily News editorial concerning the plight of New York's middle class.

Without doubt my words will be mostly met with silence by politicians seeking a Daily News endorsement of their campaigns but I just had to get this off my chest. Let me know if you are looking for paper to wrap your fish.

Sincerely,
Warren Schreiber

New rules of the road for delivery bikes in effect

From NY1:

Delivery cyclists are facing new rules of the road today.

The City Council has updated the laws for commercial bicyclists in an effort to make the streets safer.

Under the new rules, commercial cyclists must wear reflective vests and bicycle helmets.

They must also carry a business ID card at all times.

Business owners must supply all of these items.

They must also make sure bikes are equipped with a bell, lights, brakes, reflectors and a sign showing the business name and bike ID number.

Violators face fines from $100 to $250.

For more on the city's bicycle laws, visit nyc.gov/bikes.

Queens is out of gas!

From the Queens Courier:

With millions of New Yorkers heading back to work and limited subway service, many residents hopped in their cars only to find no place to fill up.

“Gas is in short supply,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg confirmed at the daily press conference updating New Yorkers on the city’s response to Hurricane Sandy.

Long lines litter the gas stations throughout the borough that still have gas, with drivers waiting more than hour.

There have been refineries or distribution sites that have had issues post-Sandy causing them to shut down and those problems have cascaded through the system, the mayor said.

One gas station owner in Fresh Meadows said it may be days before the shortage is over.

“The terminals that supply fuel to the gas stations are out of order, so it will probably take a few days. I own a gas station. We as gas station owners were told that we will not see any gas for 3 days (and that was yesterday). The terminals are out of power,” he said.

Other stations are still without electricity, preventing them from pumping gas.