L-train shutdown coalition building
The Regional Plan Association was granted $20,000 for advocacy work around the closure of the L-train, set to happen in 2019. The NYC subway line, which serves 225,000 every weekday between Manhattan and Brooklyn, needs to be closed in order for repairs to the tunnels under the East River, damaged by Superstorm Sandy. The MTA has decided it will fully close the line between Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn and 8th Avenue in Manhattan for a period of 18-months to undertake these repairs. The closure is a crisis and will be very difficult on L-train riders, but it provides a rare opportunity for transit advocates to win reforms that they have been seeking for decades. These includes ambitious bus rapid transit and street configuration/traffic calming projects.
L-Train Organizing
Transportation Alternatives (TransAlt) was granted a $20,000 Dispatch Grant to spring into action in response to the unexpected L train shutdown, which will close the Canarsie tunnel connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn completely for one and a half years or partially for three years starting in 2019. Although the physical shutdown looms a few years away, it is imperative that TransAlt start mobilizing its grassroots networks in Lower Manhattan and North Brooklyn now. It will take a multi-year effort to organize citizens, coalition partners and elected officials to advocate for innovative transit solutions that will not only help mitigate the short-term L train crisis but also seize a rare opportunity to significantly influence the future trajectory of transportation in two critical New York City regions.
New York City’s Transit Advocacy Gap: Engaging Employers and Workers for Systemic Change
$100,000 to produce and disseminate an analysis on transit challenges of New York City’s healthcare workers and engage healthcare sector leaders in transit advocacy.
Transforming Transit Data into Knowledge
$67,710 to produce a series of online learning modules to teach advocates, citizens and agency staff how to make meaningful use of open transit data.
L Train Improvements Outreach
Transportation Alternatives is organizing citizens, stakeholder groups, and elected officials to direct transportation solutions to the coming shutdown of the L-train
Developing Leadership for Transit Streets
Series of training seminars for local officials and transit agency staff to apply the soon-to-be-released NACTO Design Guidelines for Transit Streets (also commissioned in part by TransitCenter) to improve streets for transit vehicles and riders.
Intelligent Paratransit
Effort to improve the information technology, costs and service quality for transit service for the elderly and citizens living with disabilities in New York City.
Streetfilms Series: How Transit Agencies are Addressing Challenges
Set of short films documenting interesting projects and programs at various transit agencies around the country.