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MOBILITYLooking AheadDemand is growing for the changes outlined in this chapter.Communities all over the city are clamoring for bike share, busimprovement projects, and safer and more expansive walkingroutes. A changing climate and continued population andeconomic growth will create an even greater sense of urgencyfor these projects going forward. Future leaders will haveto respond.This will challenge government to accelerate the pace ofimplementation and expand the breadth and scope of mobilityprojects. Bike share systems will need to be deployed in newneighborhoods and the blossoming bike lane network willneed to extend to all reaches of the city, including easternsections of Queens and southern Brooklyn. The secondphase of Select Bus Service projects, such as those alongWoodhaven Boulevard in Queens, through central Brooklynand across Manhattan, will need to be completed. Eventually,transportation officials will have to experiment with newstreet designs that are part of bus rapid transit in other cities,such as physically separated bus lanes and transit–only ways.A variety of treatments should also come to large state–managed highways to provide additional express bus routes.A faster pace of project implementation will require boldideas and new approaches. Expansion of programs at atime of dwindling city, state, and federal resources meansthat new revenue will be needed, and discussions aboutcongestion pricing or East River tolls are certain to be partof the conversation. In 2008, a congestion pricing plan tocharge vehicles entering the central business district wonpopular and City Council support in the New York City butdied at the hands of the State Legislature. The proposalwould have raised hundreds of millions annually for the transitsystem and bridge and road repair, resources desperatelyneeded to expand mobility options in the city. A year later,a similar proposal to toll the East River Bridges again diedat the hands of the State. The MTA’s next multi–billion dollarconstruction program provides the legislature with anopportunity to change its stance on the proposal. City leadersmay also decide to pursue other new financing ideas, such astaxing large development projects or creating broad districtswhere zoning bonuses result in transit and public realmenhancements.Additional attention to resiliency post Hurricane Sandymay bring a new perspective to revenue discussions. Thestorm was wake–up call that the region needs to protectits transportation assets, and build a stronger, moreresilient network. Such fortification will require a significantinvestment both at the city and state levels.Specific zones for the city are also ripe for courageous ideas.The pedestrian environment near Penn Station is abysmal, andis only likely to get worse as the Hudson Yards developmentincreases the number of people who frequent the area. Closureof certain streets for pedestrians or creating designatedtransit ways (along 33rd or 31st street, for example) could helpaccommodate an influx of residents and visitors.The city’s waterfront will also have to be transformedand given additional resources. The Brooklyn WaterfrontGreenway and Manhattan’s East Side greenway will need to becompleted, and planning for better use of Queens waterfrontfor bike mobility will have to begin.Technology will also provide new opportunities to enhancemobility. Paying for parking meters and tracking parking spaceavailability on smart phones, changing signals in real timein response to fluctuating traffic patterns, and automatingsignals on bus routes to speed buses are other opportunitiesthat will bring substantial benefits. Using technology andsensors to better enforce against overweight trucks andhelp keep trucks on designated routes could also producemobility gains.Sustainable Streets: 2013 Sustainable and Beyond Streets: 2013 and Beyond113