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Q&A
Council Member Joseph questions DOT on daylighting implementation challenges and strategies
0:58:22
·
4 min
Council Member Rita C. Joseph engages in a Q&A session with Eric Beaton from the Department of Transportation regarding the implementation of daylighting across New York City. The discussion covers barriers to implementation, identification of dangerous intersections, timelines for treatments, and learning from other cities' practices.
- Beaton cites staff and funding as primary challenges for widespread daylighting implementation.
- DOT focuses on treating the most dangerous intersections first, matching appropriate interventions to specific locations.
- Joseph expresses urgency due to personal experiences with traffic fatalities in her district.
- The conversation touches on NYC's progress in reducing fatalities compared to peer cities and the importance of learning from successful models elsewhere.
Rita C. Joseph
0:58:22
Thank you chair.
0:58:24
Earlier we talked about what are the barriers to implementing more daylight spots across our city.
0:58:30
Are they primarily safe staff related, funded related or something else?
Eric Beaton
0:58:37
Thanks, that's a good question.
0:58:40
I think the challenge is, particularly as we think about hardened daylighting, is it's both staff and money.
0:58:45
We need money to be able to buy whether it's concrete blocks or bike racks or other things that we put in the space, And then we need staff that goes out and installs them and maintains them over time as things get moved or damaged.
0:58:58
So at an individual location it's not extraordinarily expensive.
0:59:02
But as we try to scale it up, we start to need those additional resources and need to make sure that we maintain the space over time.
0:59:11
And then you pass a threshold.
0:59:13
Then at some point you need not just more people but more locker space and buildings for them to muster.
0:59:19
And you need more vehicles, you know, trucks to bring the granite blocks out.
0:59:23
So you know, I think we do as much as we can with what we have and we also try to balance which treatment is the right level of treatment at different locations within the budget we have each year.
Rita C. Joseph
0:59:35
Is there a comprehensive plan to look at daylighting universally across the city?
Eric Beaton
0:59:41
So we start from the other direction, which is what are the most dangerous intersections in the city?
Rita C. Joseph
0:59:45
And how do we identify them?
Eric Beaton
0:59:47
And when we have identified them, and then we go to each of them and we say what is the right treatment here?
0:59:52
And sometimes it's daylighting, hardened daylighting.
0:59:55
Sometimes it's something else.
0:59:57
It's a road diet or something else.
0:59:59
But we try to make sure that we match the right treatment to the right location that we're receiving the crashes.
Rita C. Joseph
1:00:04
And what's the timeline on when you do identify those locations to provide the proper treatment?
Eric Beaton
1:00:09
So it varies.
1:00:11
We, every few years we put out a new Vision Zero Action Plan that identifies both the corridors and intersections where the most injuries, serious injuries happen to pedestrians.
1:00:24
And then we work through them over the course of a few years.
1:00:27
So sometimes something happens and we, you know, if it wasn't on our list we might have to respond very quickly.
1:00:33
Sometimes a project involves more construction and we might have to spend more time doing the design and getting it lined up, but the idea is to match the level of intervention to what the intersection really needs.
Rita C. Joseph
1:00:43
I have a street in my district on Dolchester Avenue where a lot of older adults and children go to school and we've been calling for daylighting on that corner for since I've been in office almost four years.
1:00:55
There's no study, I'm still waiting, and this work as again I've mentioned several times, this is personal.
1:01:02
I've lost two students to traffic violence.
1:01:04
These are students I should be celebrating their graduations, that should be celebrating any other thing, but not burying them, right?
1:01:11
So, this is personal work for me.
1:01:14
When we talked about Hoboken, they haven't had an accident in eight years.
1:01:17
Are you looking at other cities to see their models and what's working and what's not working, and how can we apply some of that to New York City?
Eric Beaton
1:01:23
Yes, absolutely.
1:01:25
We look both at nearby cities like Hoboken and others, but we also look at the other, you know, large urbanized areas, you know, Bostons and Philadelphias and Washington, D.
1:01:36
C.
1:01:36
Any takeaways?
1:01:37
So first, we are doing much better.
1:01:42
New York City has seen a reduction in fatalities and serious injuries that has been outpacing our peer cities around the country.
1:01:51
So we feel very good about that even if, as you say, there's much more to be done.
Rita C. Joseph
1:01:55
A whole lot more.
Eric Beaton
1:01:56
I think that there are innovations that have happened in other cities around things like materials that are more durable.
1:02:04
I think we've picked up some things about intersection design from other cities that we've incorporated into our work because it's a very good community of you know, we shouldn't be jealous of what other people do if they've figured something out.
Rita C. Joseph
1:02:16
Not jealous, but learn, right?
1:02:17
Best practices, that's what we do.
1:02:19
We learn from other cities and apply those methods.
1:02:23
How long does it take
Selvena N. Brooks-Powers
1:02:24
Sorry councilmember, this could be your last question.
Rita C. Joseph
1:02:27
Oh yes, sorry.
1:02:29
When you say that a certain number of intersections have been daylight, does that mean just one space or that means an entire section and how long does it take for an entire section to get done?
1:02:37
And I'll come on the second round.
1:02:39
Thank you chair.
Eric Beaton
1:02:39
Sure.
1:02:40
That that locate that number is the number of individual locations.
1:02:44
Often at an intersection, it does not make sense to daylight all corners because it depends on the direction of traffic and where the crosswalks are located.
1:02:53
So we you know, when we do daylighting, we do it at the places where we think it's most impactful.