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IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 21, 2023
Contact: (212) 839-4850, press@dot.nyc.gov

NYC DOT Celebrates Year of Record Achievements, Initiatives to Reimagine the Use of Public Space

NYC DOT leading the nation in safe street infrastructure, including pedestrianizing a record amount of space, expanding bike infrastructure – including the first wider bike lanes, and completion of critical projects that have helped reduce pedestrian deaths to historic lows

Agency repaved more than 1,000 lane miles of streets, reduced completion time for pothole requests to 1.8 days

NEW YORK – New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez today celebrated a year of record achievements and initiatives to reimagine the use of public space. NYC DOT properties, including streets, account for roughly 25% of all land in New York City and the Adams administration has prioritized its use for greater safety, growing the city's economy, and better accommodating all road users. The agency announced that it pedestrianized a record amount of space through new public plazas, pedestrian islands, wider sidewalks, Open Streets, and more. This year, NYC DOT expanded bike infrastructure, a completed critical safety projects that have helped reduce pedestrian deaths to historic lows. The agency also laid the groundwork to better manage the city's freight deliveries, paving the way for more deliveries by cargo bikes and via waterways.

"It has been a record year of accomplishment for the New York City Department of Transportation, and I am grateful for the hard work of our nearly 6,000 dedicated employees who serve their fellow New Yorkers each and every day," said NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. "Thanks to the work of our employees, we achieved incredible milestones this year and reimagined how our streets can better serve all New Yorkers. We completed major projects that made our streets safer, including converting a record amount of space for pedestrian use, installing a record number of protected bike lane miles, and reducing speeding across the five boroughs. We also invested in infrastructure, making critical repairs to the aging Brooklyn Queens Expressway, repaving over 1,000 street lane miles, and filling potholes faster – in just two days on average. Under the leadership of Mayor Adams, we are also taking major steps to adapt our streets to modern realities, having more deliveries made by cleaner and safer modes of transportation like cargo bikes, expanding the number of on-street loading zones to prevent hazardous double parking, and recognizing that curb space is valuable and that it can be used for more than just parking."

REIMAGINING OUR STREETS

NYC DOT expects to finish the year with more than 588,000 square feet of newly pedestrianized space, an all-time record. This includes new pedestrian plazas, curb and sidewalk extensions, pedestrian safety islands, and traffic triangles. NYC DOT complimented and beautified this work with the installation of 11 asphalt art murals—the most installed in any year.

The agency also continued to grow its programs to deliver more welcoming streets for people, expanding Summer Streets to all five boroughs for the first time in the program's 15 years and continued to grow Open Streets, with more than 40 new locations joining the program for a total of more than 200 locations across the five boroughs. Open Streets included 67 locations outside of schools, creating safe spaces for kids to play during recess and for parents to pick up and drop off their children from class. Open Streets programs have shown to be a vital piece of the city's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, with multiple reports illustrating that when the city creates more space for people, local businesses thrive.

NYC DOT also announced Dining Out NYC, the nation's largest permanent outdoor dining program. The program allows for year-round sidewalk dining and seasonal roadway dining setups. NYC DOT is finalizing program rules that will keep what worked best during the temporary program while addressing sanitation and quality of life issues.

With a rapid rollout of new cycling infrastructure, NYC DOT has recorded record-high bike ridership in the city. For the first time ever, more than 610,000 cycling trips are made in the five boroughs each day. The agency documented record ridership in and out of midtown Manhattan and over the East River Bridges. More than 25,900 trips were recorded over East River bridges during an average in-season weekday, a 14.6% increase over the last five years. And more than 39,000 cycling trips were counted during an average 12-hour window across Manhattan avenues at 50th Street, a 22% increase over the last five years.

In support of safe, sustainable transportation, NYC DOT this year made commutes faster and more reliable for more than 290,000 daily bus riders, with new or enhanced bus lanes.

Working with Citi Bike partners at Lyft, NYC DOT has overseen a system expansion deeper into the outer boroughs that has doubled the number of stations from 1,000 in August 2020 to 2,000 in September 2023. In August 2023, the system set a monthly record with over 4 million rides, up 63 percent from 2019. A record-breaking 161,422 Citi Bike rides took place on October 28, 2023, representing approximately one-quarter of the total estimated cycling trips on an average day in New York City.

VISION ZERO

While one pedestrian fatality is too many, 2023 will be one of the safest years for pedestrian years in 114 years of recorded data. This life-saving progress is thanks to NYC DOT's data-driven approach to Vision Zero. These positive results buck an alarming national trend of rapidly rising pedestrian fatalities.

While work remains ongoing until the end of the year, NYC DOT is on pace to install a record number of protected bike lane miles in 2023 — the first time the agency will surpass 30 miles in a calendar year.

As part of the administration's commitment to equity, 2023's totals also include a record number of protected bike lanes in the Bronx. The agency expects to finish the year with more than 10 miles of new protected bike lanes in the borough—a 66 percent increase over the city's next highest annual mileage in the Bronx.

In addition to more pedestrianized space, NYC DOT is investing in pedestrian safety by daylighting a record 300 intersections. Daylighting is the process of limiting parking nearest the intersection to improve visibility between pedestrians and drivers. The city this month announced it will dramatically expand the use of this treatment to 1,000 intersections in 2024.

NYC DOT also installed more than 3,250 publicly accessible bike racks, among the most ever in a single year. Through public events across the five boroughs, the agency also distributed nearly 22,000 bicycle helmets and nearly 9,000 bicycle lights.

Fulfilled the Adams Administration's commitment to harden a total of 20 miles of existing protected bike lanes in 2022 and 2023.

This year, NYC DOT announced that the first year of its 24-hour speed camera program led to a reduction in speeding, injuries, and fatalities during nights and weekends.

REIMAGINING HOW DELIVERIES ARE MADE

This was a historic year for the future of how deliveries are made in New York City. Key initiatives announced this year include:

A new microhubs pilot program. Microhubs will provide centralized locations for larger delivery trucks to unload and transfer packages onto cargo bikes and other smaller and greener delivery methods for the final delivery. This will have significant safety and environmental benefits.

The agency announced that it will legalize larger pedal-assist electric cargo bikes to incentivize the use of e-cargo bikes and make package deliveries more efficient.

NYC DOT announced the LockerNYC pilot program. Under the program, New Yorkers will have the option of having package deliveries from select carriers delivered to secure on-sidewalk lockers. The lockers will not only help cut down on package thefts, but also have safety and environmental benefits through centralized drop-off locations instead of deliveries to individual homes.

NYC DOT published its Curb Management Action Plan to reimagine how our streets' curb lanes are used. This includes using space for more than just private vehicle storage and allowing more space for vehicle loading zones., The agency unveiled a novel plan to launch a Smart Curbs pilot on the Upper West Side, where it will take a blank-slate approach to how curb space is managed.

The agency also announced new efforts to engage the private sector in support of Blue Highways, the city's initiative to reactivate our waterway for freight deliveries, moving more packages off large trucks and onto cargo ferries.

IMPROVING OUR INFRASTRUCTURE

NYC DOT launched the nation's first automated enforcement of weight limits on the Brooklyn Queens Expressway (BQE). Overweight vehicles cause wear and tear that requires costly maintenance and reduces the lifespan of our roads and bridges. The program uses roadway sensors to weigh vehicle as the drive across the bridge and uses cameras to issue violations. The technology has successfully reduced the number of overweight vehicles on the city-owned portion of the BQE and will extend the lifespan of the BQE's triple cantilever as the city develops a long-term fix for the highway between Atlantic Avenue and Sands Street.

NYC DOT repaved more than 1,000 lane miles of streets in 2023, and through faster pothole response times, dropped the average response to pothole-filling requests to 1.8 days, from an average of two days.

This October, NYC DOT began the first in a series of interim repairs to fortify the city' owned section of the BQE as the long-term fix is developed.

In the Bronx, NYC DOT launched the community engagement process to develop a vision with Bronxites that will reimagine the Cross Bronx Expressway and reconnect communities throughout the Bronx corridor. In an effort to more deeply engage with communities along the expressway, the agency identified 11 community organization to serve as community partners to advise on, and enhance, the public outreach process. NYC DOT also launched the public outreach process for the city’s next generation of greenways, starting in the Bronx, to develop a new greenway along the Harlem River.