Grrridlock

TRAFFIC, apparently, hits a nerve.

In the wake of Mayor Bloomberg’s proposal to calm Manhattan traffic through a plan called congestion pricing, the City section asked its readers to offer their own solutions for easing the borough’s traffic woes.

More than a hundred responded, proposing ideas ranging from the wonky to the off-the-wall. Ban cabs. Ban private cars. Close streets. Add lanes.

Here are 20 of their suggestions, with assessments by two local experts on traffic: Jeffrey Zupan, a senior fellow for transportation at the Regional Plan Association in New York, and John Falcocchio, a professor of transportation planning at Polytechnic University in Downtown Brooklyn.

Although Mr. Zupan’s group supports the mayor’s plan, and Dr. Falcocchio argues that congestion pricing should be used only as a last resort, both experts said they were impressed over all by the suggestions. “The readers did very well,” Mr. Zupan said. “They also generated some thinking on my part.”

The New York Times
September 30, 2006
More Players Are Taking the Train to the Game
By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT
An hour and a half after the Yankees beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays on a muggy night this season, three players stood sweating on the underground platform at the 161st Street and River Avenue subway station in the Bronx. They were waiting for the B train.