Bikes and Pedestrians

Making Our Streets Safe and Accessible

The City’s Department of Transportation has completed close to 1,000 Street Improvement Projects since 2009. DOT has also made accessibility improvements to approximately 900 bus stops, primarily through pedestrian ramps adjacent to bus stops. To reduce speeding, a major contributor to crashes, NYC reduced the citywide speed limit to 25 mph in 2014 and reduced the speed limit on 70 miles of major streets that had been exempt from the new limit. DOT operates 2,000 active speed cameras in 750 school zones citywide. These life-saving cameras reduce speeding by over 70% on average and injuries by 14%. A state law that was passed in 2022 with support from the City now allows speed cameras to operate 24 hours per day, seven days a week. Nearly one-third of on-street traffic fatalities occur in camera zones at times when cameras were previously not permitted to operate.

Bike Lanes

In 2021, the City announced plans to convert vehicle traffic lanes on the Brooklyn and Queensborough bridges into bike lanes. In September 2021, the City launched a two-way bike lane on the Brooklyn Bridge, which in the following month showed nearly a doubling of daily average bike ridership over the same period the previous year.

Transforming Our Streets During COVID and Beyond

New York City’s Open Streets program transforms streets into public space open to all, unlocking public space for recreation and commuting by closing city streets to vehicle traffic. These transformations allow for a range of activities that promote economic development, support schools, and provide new ways for New Yorkers to enjoy cultural programming and build community. The Department of Transportation (DOT) works with community-based organizations, educational institutions, and groups of businesses to execute Open Streets citywide. In 2020, in response to New Yorkers’ needs for safe outdoor space as a result of the COVID-19 health crisis, the City created 83 miles of Open Streets, the most in the United States. In May 2021, the City passed a law making Open Streets a permanent part of New York City’s urban landscape.

The City also launched the Open Restaurants program in 2020, allowing businesses to add naturally ventilated seating on sidewalks, in curbside parking spaces, as well as along select car-free Open Streets and pedestrian plazas on weekends. In its first three months, Open Restaurants served 10,000 establishments, saving an estimated 90,000 jobs across the five boroughs. Building on the success and lessons learned from the emergency Open Restaurants program during COVID-19, New York City is working to create a permanent Open Restaurants program.

Greenways

The City continues to expand and improve our Greenways, including by developing a new Manhattan Greenway Harlem River Park project and enhancing existing greenways with the Destination: Greenways initiative in Brooklyn and Queens.