5,000 Reckless Drivers Could Lose Their Cars

Would that make our streets safer? [View this email in your browser]( What If The City's 5,000 Most Reckless Drivers Risked Losing Their Cars? Plus: The city is holding a public contest to redesign the crowded Brooklyn Bridge pedestrian path. The MTA had a delightfully weird MetroCard mascot for a brief moment in the 90s. And WQXR put together a sexy soundtrack for your Valentine's Day commute. By [James Ramsay](mailto:james@wnyc.org?subject=We%20the%20Commuters) [Two workers hold a newly-made "Speed Limit 25" sign] Kate Hinds/WNYC Under a new bill passed by the City Council this week, cars that rack up five red light tickets or 15 school speed zone violations within a one year period would be confiscated if the owner doesn't agree to attend a 90-minute safe driving course. The owner could get their car back after they complete the class. City Councilmember Brad Lander, who sponsored the Dangerous Vehicle Abatement Law, acknowledged on [The Brian Lehrer Show]( this morning that the vehicle could be a ZipCar, or a cab that's driven by multiple people. "If you own that vehicle, you have a responsibility for how it's operated," Lander said. "If you have a fleet, and you're the owner of that fleet, then you have a responsibility to make sure that the drivers who drive your cars do it responsibly." But he contended that most of these cars are being driven recklessly by the people who own them. About 5,000 drivers are currently violating the bill, which Mayor Bill de Blasio said he'd sign into law. The mayor opposed a previous version, which would've covered roughly 26,000 vehicles. "You have to be a pretty insanely reckless driver to get 15 speed camera violations," he said. "Isn't someone who gets ten speed camera violations reckless? The answer is yes, they are. "We want to show that this program works, though. So we're going to start with the 5,000 most reckless vehicles," Lander added. "We're going to gather a lot of data, and prove that it works. And then we can expand it further." The would-be-mandated safety course is modeled after one that's already being used in Red Hook, Brooklyn. And drivers who've taken that course are 40 percent less likely to receive violations for driving recklessly than their counterparts who didn't take the class, according to the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives. Most drivers are not considered reckless, according the Department of Transportation. Roughly 80 percent of the people who receive a speed camera violation don't get a second ticket within three years. But there are also peculiar disparities between who's dangerous and who receives moving violations. Last year, [more tickets went to cyclists]( than truck drivers, even though the latter group was responsible for 43 road deaths in 2019. As We The Commuters [reported last summer]( there's still no mandatory training for drivers on how to operate their vehicles safely around cyclists. Advocates also face hurdles when it comes to safer street design. A neighborhood meeting last fall [descended into a chaotic fight]( over protected bike lanes and pedestrian islands that were installed at the intersection of 5th Avenue and 9th Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn. These changes were made after a driver ran a red light and hit four people in the crosswalk, killing two children and severely injuring a pregnant woman, who later lost the baby. The driver in that case, Dorothy Bruns, had received 12 traffic violations in the previous two years. That tragedy was the impetus for Lander to write this bill. "As we learned about her history of camera violations in the hours after that crash," [Lander told Gothamist]( this week, "we figured out that we could’ve seen that she was likely to crash and intervened." The Brooklyn Bridge Walkway Is Infamously Overcrowded. The City Wants Your Ideas To Redesign It [tourists clog the pedestrian path on the Brooklyn Bridge]( InSapphoWeTrust/Flickr On average, 16,500 pedestrians crossed the Brooklyn Bridge every day last year. Many were tourists from around the globe, taking in a sunset or snapping a selfie. But many were commuters, trying to get to or from work via a bridge that's arguably been New York City's most iconic structure since its opening in 1883. Anyone who's been in the latter camp knows there really isn't room for both groups. And that's before you factor in the 3,000 cyclists trying to cross each day. In an effort to make the bridge's bike and pedestrian path work for all parties, the city announced a contest on Tuesday for both "professionals" over 22 and young adults 21 or under to submit ideas for redesigning the walkway. The contest, co-run by the City Council and the Van Alen Institute, will judge submissions based on safety and accessibility, but also "magic" and "new ideas that surprise, delight, and fascinate." [The deadline to submit is April 5th](. The Department of Transportation says it's simultaneously conducting its own engineering inspection to assess possible changes to the pedestrian promenade. This Week's News From Gothamist And WNYC [Mayor de Blasio shakes hands with Victor Calise, his nominee to the MTA's board] Mayor de Blasio's Flickr The MTA could soon get its first ever disabled board member. Mayor de Blasio on Monday nominated Victor Calise, who currently serves as commissioner of the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities, to serve on the MTA's board. If approved, Calise would not only be [the first wheelchair-user ever to serve on the board]( — he'd also join the minority of members who aren't millionaires who live outside the city. The 1st Avenue L train station has a new entrance at Avenue A on the 8th Avenue-bound side. "Before these stairs were open, if you were here at rush hour, it was actually kind of scary, it was really packed, hundreds and hundreds of people at a time, and now there will be continuous flows," City Councilmember Carlina Rivera said at the opening on Monday. The MTA said it [expects to open new elevators at the station in June](. Outgoing NYC Transit President Andy Byford showed up yesterday for the final ride of the R-42 subway cars. [The silver cars with blue-gray bench seating]( entered the system in 1969, and were the first to be entirely air-conditioned. "What might just seem to be a lump of metal and glass, I think it becomes a part of your life," Byford said. The R-32s — the oldest cars in the system — are still running. The Pennsy food hall is shutting down at the end of March. The food court, which provided people with time to kill before their trains a place to eat and drink [that also has windows]( opened in 2015. Vornado Realty Trust, which own the space, is tearing it down as part of a broader "modernization" of the area around Penn Station. What Else We're Reading A dedicated busway could be coming to Ridgewood, Queens. The MTA is proposing a half-mile busway to run under the elevated M train tracks between Palmetto Street and Fresh Pond Road. However, the agency said this car-free busway won't become a reality any time soon, as it's not being added to the 2020-2024 capital plan. ([Streetsblog]( President Trump's proposed budget would cut Amtrak funding by over 50%. Trump has pitched similar cuts in past budget proposals, and they've been shot down by the time the budget passes. The president also called for an increase in highway funding, and the elimination of a clean vehicle loan program. ([AM New York]( NJ Transit said yesterday that it's on track to get a mandatory new safety system in place by the end of the year. The $500 million system known as Positive Train Control uses computers and transponders on the tracks to monitor a train's speed, and can be used to slow a train down and prevent a crash. If PTC isn't ready to go by December 31st, rail service could shut down. ([NJ.com]( Meet The Cardvaark, The MTA's Short-Lived Mascot For The MetroCard [an illustration of the Cardvaark, a short-lived mascot to promote the MTA's MetroCard] MTA During the research process for our [subway mascot contest]( we discovered that [mascots aren't new to the MTA](. There was [Etti-Cat]( who appeared briefly in train ads in 1962, reminding riders to give up their seats for seniors. And there's [Metro Man]( a kid friendly robot created in 1983 that still exists to this day. But by far the most intriguing mascot was the Cardvaark, who was introduced to the public via a Newsday column in 1993 that referred to this harmless MetroCard evangelist as "a dumb-looking, snout-nosed, big-eared, bug-eyed, round-cheeked, pot-bellied, card-pitching mascot." Not nice! A week after the column came out, the MTA apparently scrapped its plans for the mascot, which included both loads of subway posters and a guy in a Cardvaark suit who would show up at events. Who knows — the Cardvaark could've aided riders who [still have issues with the MetroCard]( to this day, even as it phases out of use. Looking to the future, we asked illustrator Matt Lubchansky to revive the 'vaark for the subway's newest payment system: OMNY. [an illustration of a new mascot we created to promote the OMNY tap payment system] Matt Lubchansky [the logo for WQXR's Classical Commute playlist, which consists of an image of Mozart in a subway conductor's booth] Commuting home to a special someone this Valentine's Day? Set the mood with "Air on a G String" by Johan Sebastian Bach, and the rest of our more-romantic-than-usual Classical Commute playlist. [Stream it for free on Spotify](. Weekend Service Changes: Night of February 14th – Early Morning on February 18th This is a partial list of major service disruptions scheduled for the weekend. For a complete list of the MTA's Weekender updates, [check here](. train Service between Dyckman St and 137 St in Manhattan will be replaced by and trains and free shuttle buses. trains will replace trains in Brooklyn. train service between Bowling Green, Manhattan and Utica Av/New Lots Av, Brooklyn will be replaced by and trains. Saturday morning through Monday night, train service between 111 St and Main St in Queens will be replaced by free shuttle buses. Saturday and Sunday, train service between Beach 67 St and Mott Av in Queens will be replaced by free shuttle buses. trains will run via the line in both directions between 21 St-Queensbridge, Queens and W 4 St, Manhattan. train service between Broadway Junction and Lorimer St in Brooklyn will be replaced by free shuttle buses. Saturday and Sunday, train service between Brighton Beach and Stillwell Av in Brooklyn will be replaced by free shuttle buses. Saturday and Sunday, downtown trains will skip 49 St, 28 St, 23 St, 8 St and Prince St in Manhattan. [Check here]( for complete details about the Long Island Rail Road. For NJ Transit, [check here]( for the latest service advisories. Upcoming Meetings and Events Thursday, February 13th Queens Bus Network Redesign Workshop Queens Community Board 1 - Transportation Committee — 6:30 p.m. [Check here]( for more information on all the Queens Bus Network Redesign meetings, including details on the other meeting tonight in Queens Village, and the three meetings scheduled for next week. Monday, February 24th Joint Metro-North & LIRR Committee Meeting — 8:30 a.m. NYC Transit / MTA Bus Committee Meeting — 10:00 a.m. Wednesday, February 26th MTA Board Meeting — 9:00 a.m. Registration for two-minute public speaking slots opens 15 minutes before the start time for official MTA committee meetings. To speak before an MTA board meeting, you must register 30 minutes early. All meetings are held in the MTA's Board Room at 2 Broadway, on the 20th Floor. James Ramsay wore the mascot suit for his middle school (the Falcons). Just a fun fact. 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