[URBAN NOTE] "Five lessons Toronto could learn from New York’s transportation shift"

[rfmcdonald]

Oliver Moore at The Globe and Mail wrote about a visiting New Yorker who offered Toronto some advice.

It’s often called the biggest transformation in how New Yorkers move in a half-century. From 2007 to 2013, under mayor Michael Bloomberg, transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan oversaw the addition of hundreds of kilometres of bike lanes, hectares of new pedestrian plazas and concerted efforts to calm driving. Safety improved but vehicle congestion didn’t spike. Now a principal at Bloomberg Associates, the consultancy set up by her boss when he left the mayoralty, she is part of a team that works to share the lessons they learned in New York.

Ms. Sadik-Khan came to Toronto this week in a visit hosted by the Metcalf Foundation, a philanthropic organization dedicated to sustainability and equity. She met privately with Mayor John Tory and spoke at an event co-headlined by chief planner Jennifer Keesmaat. Some takeaways from her remarks:

Cars don’t shop, people do

If the 20th century was the heyday of the car – though Ms. Sadik-Khan says it seemed more like a forced marriage than a love affair – 21st-century cities are recognizing that the goal is not simply moving vehicles as fast as possible. Think mobility of people, not movement of cars. And remember that taking space from cars – whether to offer safe routes for cyclists or to serve as plazas – can boost the fortunes of area businesses. After pedestrianization, Times Square became one of the 10 hottest retail areas in the world.

More there.