The work of a transportation commissioner isn't just about stop signs and traffic signals. It involves the design of cities and the design of city streets. Streets are some of the most valuable resources that a city has, and yet it's an asset that's largely hidden in plain sight. And the lesson from New York over the past six years is that you can update this asset. You can remake your streets quickly, inexpensively, it can provide immediate benefits, and it can be quite popular. You just need to look at them a little differently.
O traballo dun comisionado de transporte non trata só de sinais de stop e de tráfico Tamén implica o deseño de cidades e o deseño de rúas da cidade. As rúas son uns dos recursos máis valiosos que ten unha cidade, e aínda así é un activo que, a simple vista, parece oculto. E a lección que nos deu Nova York durante os pasados seis anos é que se pode actualizar este activo. Podemos refacer as rúas rapidamente, de maneira barata, producindo beneficios inmediatos, e con grande aceptación. Só hai que miralas de maneira un pouco diferente.
This is important because we live in an urban age. For the first time in history, most people live in cities, and the U.N. estimates that over the next 40 years, the population is going to double on the planet. So the design of cities is a key issue for our future. Mayor Bloomberg recognized this when he launched PlaNYC in 2007. The plan recognized that cities are in a global marketplace, and that if we're going to continue to grow and thrive and to attract the million more people that are expected to move here, we need to focus on the quality of life and the efficiency of our infrastructure.
Isto é importante porque vivimos nunha era urbana. Por primeira vez na historia, a maioría das persoas viven en cidades, e a ONU estima que nos vindeiros 40 anos a poboación do planeta vaise dobrar. Por iso, o deseño das cidades é un tema chave para o noso futuro. O alcalde Bloomberg recoñeceuno cando lanzou o PlaNYC no 2007. O plan recoñecía que as cidades están nun mercado global e que, se seguimos a crecer e prosperar e se atraemos o millón máis de persoas que se espera que se muden aquí, precisamos centrarnos na calidade de vida e na eficiencia das nosas infraestruturas.
For many cities, our streets have been in a kind of suspended animation for generations. This is a picture of Times Square in the '50s, and despite all of the technological innovation, cultural changes, political changes, this is Times Square in 2008. Not much has changed in those 50 years. So we worked hard to refocus our agenda, to maximize efficient mobility, providing more room for buses, more room for bikes, more room for people to enjoy the city, and to make our streets as safe as they can be for everybody that uses them.
En moitas cidades, as rúas estiveron nunha especie de animación suspendida durante xeracións. Esta é unha foto de Times Square nos anos 50, e a pesar de toda a innovación tecnolóxica, dos cambios culturais, dos cambios políticos, esta é Times Square no 2008. Non houbo moitos cambios neses 50 anos. Así que traballamos duro para cambiar o foco da nosa axenda, para maximizar a mobilidade eficiente, proporcionando máis espazo para buses, para bicis, máis espazo para que a xente gozase da cidade, e para facer as nosas rúas o máis seguras posible para todos os que as usan.
We set out a clear action plan with goals and benchmarks. Having goals is important, because if you want to change and steer the ship of a big city in a new direction, you need to know where you're going and why.
Implantamos un plan de acción claro con obxectivos e referencias. Fixar obxectivos é importante, porque se desexas cambiar o rumbo do barco dunha gran cidade cara a unha nova dirección, tes que saber a onde te dirixes e por que.
The design of a street can tell you everything about what's expected on it. In this case, it's expected that you shelter in place. The design of this street is really to maximize the movement of cars moving as quickly as possible from point A to point B, and it misses all the other ways that a street is used.
O deseño dunha rúa pode dicirche todo o que se espera dela. Neste caso, espérase que te refuxies no lugar. O deseño desta rúa destínase a maximizar o movemento de coches movéndose o máis rápido posible dende o punto A ata o punto B, e desaproveita todas as outras maneiras nas que se utiliza unha rúa.
When we started out, we did some early surveys about how our streets were used, and we found that New York City was largely a city without seats. Pictures like this, people perched on a fire hydrant, not the mark of a world-class city. (Laughter) It's not great for parents with kids. It's not great for seniors. It's not great for retailers. It's probably not good for the fire hydrants. Certainly not good for the police department.
Cando comezamos, fixemos algúns estudos sobre como se usaban as nosas rúas, e atopamos que Nova York era maiormente unha cidade sen sentadoiros. Fotos coma esta, xente sentada nunha boca de incendios, non é o típico dunha cidade de primeira categoría. (Risas) Non é bo para os pais con nenos. Non é bo para os anciáns. Non é bo para os comerciantes. Probablemente non sexa bo para as bocas de incendio. De seguro non é bo para a policía.
So we worked hard to change that balance, and probably the best example of our new approach is in Times Square. Three hundred and fifty thousand people a day walk through Times Square, and people had tried for years to make changes. They changed signals, they changed lanes, everything they could do to make Times Square work better. It was dangerous, hard to cross the street. It was chaotic. And so, none of those approaches worked, so we took a different approach, a bigger approach, looked at our street differently. And so we did a six-month pilot. We closed Broadway from 42nd Street to 47th Street and created two and a half acres of new pedestrian space. And the temporary materials are an important part of the program, because we were able to show how it worked. And I work for a data-driven mayor, as you probably know. So it was all about the data. So if it worked better for traffic, if it was better for mobility, if it was safer, better for business, we would keep it, and if it didn't work, no harm, no foul, we could put it back the way that it was, because these were temporary materials. And that was a very big part of the buy-in, much less anxiety when you think that something can be put back. But the results were overwhelming. Traffic moved better. It was much safer. Five new flagship stores opened. It's been a total home run. Times Square is now one of the top 10 retail locations on the planet. And this is an important lesson, because it doesn't need to be a zero-sum game between moving traffic and creating public space.
Daquela, traballamos moito para cambiar esta distribución, e probablemente o mellor exemplo deste novo enfoque estea en Times Square. 350 mil persoas pasan cada día por Times Square, e xa se tentaran facer cambios durante anos. Cambiáronse sinais, cambiáronse vías, todo o que se puido para que Times Square funcionase mellor. Cruzar a rúa era perigoso, difícil. Era un caos. Ningún deses enfoques funcionou, así que probamos outro, un máis amplo, miramos as nosas rúas doutro xeito. E fixemos unha proba piloto de seis meses. Pechamos Broadway dende a rúa 42 ata a 47 e creamos máis dunha hectárea de espazo peonil novo. Os materiais temporais foron unha parte importante do programa, porque puidemos mostrar como funcionaba. Traballo para un alcalde que se guía por datos, como saberedes. Así que todo tiña que ver cos datos. Se funciona mellor para o tráfico, se é mellor para a mobilidade, se é máis seguro, mellor para os negocios, mantémolo, e se non funciona, non hai problema, poñémolo todo tal como estaba antes, porque eran materiais temporais. Isto foi unha parte moi importante para lanzar o proxecto, sen ansiedade, porque sabes que sempre se pode poñer todo coma antes. E os resultados foron abraiantes. O tráfico ía mellor, era moito más seguro. Abriron cinco novas tendas insignia. Foi un grande acerto. Times Square é, hoxe en día, un dos 10 mellores puntos para o comercio do planeta. Esta é unha lección importante porque ninguén ten que saír perdendo cando fas o tráfico máis fluído e creas espazos públicos.
Every project has its surprises, and one of the big surprises with Times Square was how quickly people flocked to the space. We put out the orange barrels, and people just materialized immediately into the street. It was like a Star Trek episode, you know? They weren't there before, and then zzzzzt! All the people arrived. Where they'd been, I don't know, but they were there. And this actually posed an immediate challenge for us, because the street furniture had not yet arrived. So we went to a hardware store and bought hundreds of lawn chairs, and we put those lawn chairs out on the street. And the lawn chairs became the talk of the town. It wasn't about that we'd closed Broadway to cars. It was about those lawn chairs. "What did you think about the lawn chairs?" "Do you like the color of the lawn chairs?" So if you've got a big, controversial project, think about lawn chairs. (Laughter)
Todos os proxectos teñen sorpresas e unha das grandes sorpresas con Times Square foi o rápido que a xente ocupou o espazo. Sacamos os cilindros laranxa, e a xente apareceu de súpeto na rúa. Foi como un episodio de Star Trek, sabedes? Antes non había ninguén aló, e, de súpeto, zas! Chegaron todos. Onde estiveran antes non sei, pero agora alí estaban. E isto automaticamente presentounos un novo reto, porque o mobiliario urbano aínda non chegara. Entón fomos ata un almacén e mercamos centos de cadeiras de xardín e puxémolas fóra, na rúa. E todo o mundo comezou a falar das cadeiras. Non falaban de que pecharamos Broadway para os autos. Senón das cadeiras de xardín. 'Que che parecen as cadeiras?' 'Gústache a cor das cadeiras?' Así que se tedes un proxecto importante e controvertido pensade en usar cadeiras de xardín. (Risas)
This is the final design for Times Square, and it will create a level surface, sidewalk to sidewalk, beautiful pavers that have studs in them to reflect the light from the billboards, creating a great new energy on the street, and we think it's going to really create a great place, a new crossroads of the world that is worthy of its name. And we will be cutting the ribbon on this, the first phase, this December.
Aquí tedes o deseño final para Times Square que creará unha superficie nivelada de beirarrúa a beirarrúa, cun fermoso chan que ten uns remaches que reflicten a luz dos carteis luminosos e crean unha estupenda enerxía nova na rúa, así que nos parece que se vai crear un gran lugar, unha nova encrucillada do mundo que ben merece o seu nome. Inauguraremos isto, a primeira fase, este decembro.
With all of our projects, our public space projects, we work closely with local businesses and local merchant groups who maintain the spaces, move the furniture, take care of the plants. This is in front of Macy's, and they were a big supporter of this new approach, because they understood that more people on foot is better for business.
En todos os nosos proxectos de espazo público, traballamos moi de preto cos negocios locais e grupos de comerciantes locais que son os que manteñen os espazos, moven o mobiliario, coidan as plantas. Aquí estamos en fronte de Macy's, apoiaron moito este novo enfoque porque entendían que canta máis xente a pé mellor é para o negocio.
And we've done these projects all across the city in all kinds of neighborhoods. This is in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, and you can see the short leg that was there, used for cars, that's not really needed. So what we did is we painted over the street, put down epoxy gravel, and connected the triangle to the storefronts on Grand Avenue, created a great new public space, and it's been great for businesses along Grand Avenue. We did the same thing in DUMBO, in Brooklyn, and this is one of our first projects that we did, and we took an underutilized, pretty dingy-looking parking lot and used some paint and planters to transform it over a weekend. And in the three years since we've implemented the project, retail sales have increased 172 percent. And that's twice that of adjacent areas in the same neighborhood.
Implantamos estes proxectos por toda a cidade e en todo tipo de barrios. Aquí temos Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn, onde se pode ver o pequeno acceso que había, usado polos autos, non se precisaba moito. O que fixemos foi pintar a rúa, puxemos no chan pedrullo de resina e conectamos o triángulo coas tendas na Grand Avenue, creamos un marabilloso espazo público novo que está sendo moi bo para o comercio da Grand Avenue. Fixemos o mesmo en DUMBO, en Brooklyn, e este foi un dos primeiros proxectos que fixemos, collemos un aparcadoiro que se usaba pouco, bastante lúgubre, e usamos algunhas pinturas e plantas para transformalo nunha fin de semana. Nos tres anos que levamos dende que comezamos co proxecto, as vendas aumentaron un 172 %. Isto é dúas veces máis do que aumentaron nas zonas adxacentes do mesmo barrio.
We've moved very, very quickly with paint and temporary materials. Instead of waiting through years of planning studies and computer models to get something done, we've done it with paint and temporary materials. And the proof is not in a computer model. It is in the real-world performance of the street. You can have fun with paint.
Traballamos moi moi rápido con pintura e materiais provisionais. No canto de esperar durante anos estudos de planificación e modelos de computador para que se faga algo, fixémolo con pintura e materiais provisionais. E a proba non está nun modelo no computador. Está na forma na que funciona no mundo real da rúa. Podémolo pasar ben coa pintura.
All told, we've created over 50 pedestrian plazas in all five boroughs across the city. We've repurposed 26 acres of active car lanes and turned them into new pedestrian space.
En resumo, creamos máis de 50 prazas peonís nos 5 distritos da cidade. Reestruturamos máis de 10 hectáreas de vías activas para autos e convertémolas en novo espazo peonil.
I think one of the successes is in its emulation. You're seeing this kind of approach, since we've painted Times Square, you've seen this approach in Boston, in Chicago, in San Francisco, in Mexico City, Buenos Aires, you name it. This is actually in Los Angeles, and they actually copied even the green dots that we had on the streets. But I can't underscore enough how much more quickly this enables you to move over traditional construction methods.
Penso que un dos éxitos está na imitación. Podedes ver este tipo de enfoque, dende que pintamos Times Square, vistes este enfoque en Boston, Chicago, en San Francisco, na Cidade de México, Buenos Aires, onde queirades. Este é en Los Ángeles, onde ata copiaron os lunares verdes que tiñamos nas rúas. Pero non podo deixar de insistir na maior rapidez coa que podemos actuar ao non usar os métodos de construción tradicional.
We also brought this quick-acting approach to our cycling program, and in six years turned cycling into a real transportation option in New York. I think it's fair to say -- (Applause) -- it used to be a fairly scary place to ride a bike, and now New York has become one of the cycling capitals in the United States.
Tamén aplicamos este enfoque rápido de actuación ao noso programa de bicicletas, e en seis anos tornamos a bici nunha opción de transporte posible en Nova York Penso que é xusto dicir... (Aplauso) que antes era unha cidade bastante perigosa para ir en bici e agora Nova York converteuse nunha das capitais 'ciclistas' dos EUA.
And we moved quickly to create an interconnected network of lanes. You can see the map in 2007. This is how it looked in 2013 after we built out 350 miles of on-street bike lanes. I love this because it looks so easy. You just click it, and they're there. We also brought new designs to the street. We created the first parking-protected bike lane in the United States.
Tamén nos movemos rápido para crear unha rede de carrís interconectados. Podedes ver o mapa do 2007. Aquí está o do 2013 despois de construír 563 km de carrís bici. Encántame isto porque parece tan fácil. Só hai que premer e aí están. Tamén trouxemos novos deseños para as rúas. Creamos o primeiro carril bici protexido de aparcamentos nos EUA.
(Applause)
(Aplauso)
We protected bikers by floating parking lanes, and it's been great. Bike volumes have spiked. Injuries to all users, pedestrians, cyclists, drivers, are all down 50 percent. And we've built 30 miles of these protected bike lanes, and now you're seeing them pop up all over the country. And you can see here that this strategy has worked. The blue line is the number of cyclists, soaring. The green line is the number of bike lanes. And the yellow line is the number of injuries, which has remained essentially flat. After this big expansion, you've seen no net increase in injuries, and so there is something to that axiom that there is safety in numbers.
Protexemos os ciclistas creando aparcadoiros flotantes, e funcionou estupendamente. O volume de bicis creceu arreo. Os accidentes, tanto de peóns, ciclistas, condutores, baixou un 50 %. Construímos 48 km destes carrís protexidos e agora vedes como crecen por todo o país. Vedes aquí como funcionou esta estratexia. A liña azul é o número de ciclistas, crecendo. A liña verde é a liña de carrís bici. E a liña amarela é o número de accidentes, que fica basicamente igual. Despois desta grande expansión, vedes que os accidentes non aumentaron polo que hai algo do axioma que di que hai seguridade nos números.
Not everybody liked the new bike lanes, and there was a lawsuit and somewhat of a media frenzy a couple years ago. One Brooklyn paper called this bike lane that we have on Prospect Park West "the most contested piece of land outside of the Gaza Strip."
Non a todos lles gustaron os novos carrís bici, e houbo unha demanda xudicial e un rebumbio na prensa hai un par de anos. Un xornal de Brooklyn chamoulle ao carril bici que temos en Prospect Park West 'o anaco de terra máis controvertido dende a Franxa de Gaza.'
(Laughter)
(Risas)
And this is what we had done. So if you dig below the headlines, though, you'll see that the people were far ahead of the press, far ahead of the politicians. In fact, I think most politicians would be happy to have those kind of poll numbers. Sixty-four percent of New Yorkers support these bike lanes.
Isto é o que fixemos. Entón, se ledes máis aló dos titulares veredes que as persoas ían ben por diante da prensa, ben por diante dos políticos. De feito, creo que moitos políticos aledaríanse se tivesen eses números nas enquisas. O 64 % dos neoiorquinos apoian os carrís.
This summer, we launched Citi Bike, the largest bike share program in the United States, with 6,000 bikes and 330 stations located next to one another. Since we've launched the program, three million trips have been taken. People have ridden seven million miles. That's 280 times around the globe. And so with this little blue key, you can unlock the keys to the city and this brand new transportation option.
Este verán, lanzamos Citi Bike, o programa máis amplo de préstamo de bicis dos EUA, con 6000 bicis e 330 estacións postas unha preto da outra. Dende que lanzamos o programa, fixéronse 3 millóns de viaxes. A xente percorreu en bici máis de 11 millóns de km. Iso é a volta ao mundo 280 veces. Con esta pequena chave azul, podedes abrir as chaves da cidade e desta nova opción de transporte.
And daily usage just continues to soar. What has happened is the average daily ridership on the streets of New York is 36,000 people. The high that we've had so far is 44,000 in August. Yesterday, 40,000 people used Citi Bike in New York City. The bikes are being used six times a day. And I think you also see it in the kinds of riders that are on the streets. In the past, it looked like the guy on the left, ninja-clad bike messenger. And today, cyclists look like New York City looks. It's diverse -- young, old, black, white, women, kids, all getting on a bike. It's an affordable, safe, convenient way to get around. Quite radical.
O uso diario segue a medrar. O que sucedeu é que, de media, as persoas que van en bici diariamente en NY son 36 000. O máximo que tivemos ata agora é de 44 000 en agosto. Onte, 40 000 persoas usaron Citi Bike na cidade de NY. As bicis veñen a usarse 6 veces ao día. E penso que tamén podemos aprecialo no tipo de ciclistas que van pola rúa. Antes, eran coma o home da esquerda, unha especie de mensaxeiro ninja. Pero hoxe os ciclistas van coma calquera outra persoa de Nova York É diverso, novos, vellos, negros, brancos, mulleres, nenos, todos en bici. É unha forma de viaxar barata, segura e conveniente. Ben radical.
We've also brought this approach to our buses, and New York City has the largest bus fleet in North America, the slowest bus speeds. As everybody knows, you can walk across town faster than you can take the bus. And so we focused on the most congested areas of New York City, built out six bus rapid transit lines, 57 miles of new speedy bus lanes. You pay at a kiosk before you get on the bus. We've got dedicated lanes that keep cars out because they get ticketed by a camera if they use that lane, and it's been a huge success.
Tamén levamos este enfoque aos nosos buses, e NY ten a frota de buses máis grande de América do Norte, e a máis lenta. Todo o mundo o sabe, andando pódese cruzar a cidade máis rápido que indo en bus. Así pois centrámonos nas áreas máis saturadas da cidade de NY, construímos 6 vías rápidas de autobús, 92 km de vías rápidas novas para autobús. Pagas nun quiosco antes de subir ao bus. Temos vías asignadas que manteñen os autos fóra porque hai unha cámara e poñemos unha multa se usan o carril do bus, e foi un enorme triunfo.
I think one of my very favorite moments as transportation commissioner was the day that we launched Citi Bike, and I was riding Citi Bike up First Avenue in my protected bike lane, and I looked over and I saw pedestrians standing safely on the pedestrian islands, and the traffic was flowing, birds were singing -- (Laughter) -- the buses were speeding up their dedicated lanes. It was just fantastic.
Penso que un dos meus mellores momentos como comisionada de transporte foi o día que se lanzou Citi Bike, e eu ía en bici ata First Avenue no meu carril bici protexido, e botei unha ollada e vin os peóns de pé e seguros nas illas para viandantes, e o tráfico ía fluído, os paxaros cantaban... (Risas) os autobuses ían a boa velocidade nas súas vías. Foi fantástico.
And this is how it looked six years ago.
E así é como estaba hai 6 anos.
And so, I think that the lesson that we have from New York is that it's possible to change your streets quickly, it's not expensive, it can provide immediate benefits, and it can be quite popular. You just need to reimagine your streets. They're hidden in plain sight.
Entón, penso que a lección que aprendemos de NY é que é posible cambiar as rúas rápido, que non é caro, que pode ser beneficioso no momento e que pode ser moi popular. Só se necesita reimaxinar as rúas. A simple vista están ocultas.
Thank you.
Graciñas.
(Applause)
(Aplauso)