MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG, DOITT COMMISSIONER GINO P. MENCHINI AND DOT COMMISSIONER IRIS WEINSHALL ANNOUNCE THE LAUNCH OF MORNING DRIVE LIVE ON CROSSWALKS TELEVISION

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT) Commissioner Gino P. Menchini and Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Iris Weinshall announced the launch of Morning Drive Live on Crosswalks Television.  Starting Monday, November 18, 2002, Crosswalks NYC Channel 74 will feature real-time traffic cameras every weekday morning from 6:30-9:00 am.  Morning Drive Live is an interagency initiative produced by DoITT and DOT.  The new show features 22 real-time City and State DOT traffic cameras live from the five boroughs of New York City.  Drivers will now be able to tune in during the morning rush hour and see which routes are best for travel before they leave home.  Morning Drive Live’s camera ordering is route-based, meaning that the camera feeds appear in a pattern that matches typical morning routes into Manhattan and across the boroughs.  In addition to the live cameras, Morning Drive Live also includes DOT's weekly and monthly travel advisories.

“In addition to providing an innovative way to get real-time traffic reports live on television, Morning Drive Live was created using existing resources and at no additional cost to taxpayers.  It’s an excellent example of what can be achieved when City agencies work together,” said Mayor Bloomberg.

“Morning Drive Live is just one example of the new types of programming that we’re featuring on Crosswalks.  The show is part of a new direction in programming on the network that’s designed to provide local content that is informative, useful and to make government more accessible to New Yorkers,” said DoITT Commissioner Gino Menchini.

“We are delighted to be teaming up with the DoITT to offer this new service to the people of New York City,” Commissioner Weinshall said.  “City commuters will be able to make choices by looking at our live cameras.  For example, a Queens commuter might choose the Queens Midtown Tunnel over the Queensboro Bridge, or vice versa, depending upon driving conditions that they will see on television that particular morning.  It is a great use of technology to help the public, and we are pleased that our DOT cameras will be used to provide timely information.”

Morning Drive Live can be seen from 6:30am – 9:00am every weekday morning on the following cable systems:
· Time Warner Cable – Channel 74
· Cablevision – Channel 74
· RCN subscribers need to check their local listings.
· These traffic cameras can also be viewed at www.nyc.gov/calldot

The Crosswalks NYC Television Network is the official cable channel group of the City of New York.  Crosswalks’ channels are available on basic cable in over 1.8 million households, and reach a potential audience of more than 4 million people, across the five boroughs of New York City. Administered by DoITT, Crosswalks NYC consists of five channels designated to bring New Yorkers closer to their government. The network was launched in 1992 to improve the delivery of government services, to serve as a focal point for public participation in city affairs, and to provide education and skills training to New Yorkers through the medium of television.  Crosswalks NYC is the largest municipal cable network in the nation.