Dozens of New Yorkers gathered on the steps of City Hall in Lower Manhattan on Monday to urge the city to implement a type of parking that they said would increase road safety at NYC intersections.
Organizers, including advocates from OpenPlans and Transportation Alternatives, called on the NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) to implement universal “daylighting,” a form of street parking that increases visibility by forcing cars to park away from street corners and crosswalks.
During the rally, which took place before an April 21 NYC Council Committee hearing on transportation, advocates urged the council to pass a bill called Intro. 1138. The legislation would require the DOT to daylight every intersection in the city.
Intro. 1138 is co-sponsored by 24 NYC Council members and the Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. With 68% of collisions in NYC occurring at intersections, according to OpenPlans, a public space advocacy group, legislation, they say, is needed now more than ever.
“We’re here today because neighborhoods across the city, via community board resolutions, letters of support and community-based organizations have said that they want daylighting throughout NYC,” said Jackson Chabot, director of advocacy and organizing at OpenPlans. “We’ve really been the organizing body to connect all of these different folks from across the city together that we need safer intersections. And we need it through hardened infrastructure in addition to removing the cars at intersections for more visibility.”
Chabot described the “hardened infrastructure” that includes the placement of physical barriers, such as planters or bike racks, that would prevent cars from parking. Basic signage is another form of daylighting, too.
Intro. 1138, if passed into law, would bring universal daylighting to the five boroughs and install physical barriers at 1,000 intersections a year to ensure the daylit areas remain clear. Vehicles would have to park within 20 feet of a crosswalk at an intersection. Although universal daylighting would eliminate approximately 300,000 currently available parking spaces citywide, advocates said it has been successful in nearby cities, including Hoboken, NJ, where daylit intersections reduced pedestrian injuries by 30%.
The rally followed a DOT report released on Jan. 17 showing that daylighting only works in specific situations under certain parameters.
“The study found that while daylighting is a useful tool when used properly, it is not a one-size-fits-all solution, and that indiscriminate daylighting could actually have negative effects on safety,” said Eric Beaton, deputy commissioner of transportation planning and management at DOT. “The study also found that hardened daylighting – with physical infrastructure installed to prevent vehicles from occupying that space – does enhance safety, but that other safety interventions can also have equal or greater safety improvements.”
Although DOT officials said during the April 21 city council hearing that they do not support the universal mandate for daylighting, they understand and share the same concerns about road safety for all, including pedestrians, in particular.
