AGENCY TESTIMONY
Traffic and urban landscape changes affecting response times
0:25:10
·
56 sec
Chief Fields discusses how changes in New York City's urban landscape and traffic patterns are impacting EMS response times. He highlights several factors that are making it more challenging for ambulances to navigate the city quickly.
- Increased traffic and congestion on city streets
- New urban features like permanent bike lane barriers and outdoor dining structures limiting ambulance maneuverability
- Lower speed limits implemented by the previous administration
- Hospital closures resulting in longer transport distances for patients
- Combined effect: ambulances are transporting more patients, over longer distances, at slower speeds
Michael Fields
0:25:10
Another factor that leads to high response, Tom, is the changing nature of traffic in the city.
0:25:15
It's not easy to per to precisely quantify each effort, but there's more traffic and congestion on the streets.
0:25:23
There are also more impediments in the streetscape such as permanent bike lane barriers and outdoor dining structures.
0:25:32
While these serve other public safety purposes, one indirect effect of these efforts is that there are fewer places for traffic to move when trying to make way for ambulances and other emergency response vehicles.
0:25:45
Speed limit decrease under the previous administration with each hospital closure EMS responders are forced to transport patients longer distance to reach a hospital.
0:25:56
Looking at the changing landscape of the last several years, ambulance crews are transporting more patients, longer distances, and they are doing so at slow speeds.
