FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Release #14-064
Scott Gastel/Nicole Garcia, (212) 839-4850
NYC DOT Encourages New Yorkers to Submit Their Comments to the Vision Zero Interactive Web Portal By July 31
Interactive portal has drawn more than 7,500 comments on locations in all five boroughs
Deadline for online feedback approaching quickly, with input shaping borough-specific Vision Zero safety projects and initiatives.
The New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) today encouraged all New Yorkers to add their feedback, including intersection-specific safety concerns, to the Vision Zero online portal before the comment period closes on Thursday, July 31. Input is vital, especially from those familiar with local traffic conditions and people’s behavior. The comments will be used to shape robust borough-specific traffic safety plans that will guide future work as part of Mayor de Blasio’s goal to eliminate traffic fatalities.
The online portal—http://www.nyc.gov/html/visionzero/pages/dialogue/map.html—already includes more than 7,500 comments and 5,900 suggestions on locations in all five boroughs. Visitors to the site can add their feedback directly to a map by zooming into specific intersections and noting their observations. The site now features “streetview,” which lets users see the locations they’re giving feedback on. It also features a menu of options that allows users to quickly and easily cite traffic safety concerns. These include dangerous driver behavior such as red-light running, speeding and failure to yield to pedestrians as well as long crossing distances for pedestrians, poor visibility or other challenges. The site also gives users the opportunity to elaborate on their observations and add comments on the feedback left by others. Visitors may also view every entries made to the site since it launched in April.
The site will continue to be made available for viewing purposes online following the July 31 deadline; however, visitors will no longer be able to add comments. DOT will be using this direct input for insights into neighborhood concerns and possible locations for planning Vision Zero projects and initiatives over the next several years.
The online portal builds on the City’s unprecedented outreach to communities citywide on traffic safety planning and related Vision Zero efforts. DOT, in collaboration with the New York City Police Department, the Taxi & Limousine Commission and others, recently finished hosting nine Vision Zero workshops in all five boroughs. The agencies also continue to participate in town halls held in coordination with the City Council and other stakeholders. To date, DOT officials and its Vision Zero partners, have attended 19 town halls.
Although the portal’s comment section is closing, DOT has and will continue accepting input from community boards, elected officials, individual members of the public and other stakeholders from its Web site at http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/contact/contact.shtml, 311 and other sources. For more information about the agency, visit www.nyc.gov/dot. For DOT and the City’s Vision Zero efforts, visit and www.nyc.gov/visionzero.
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