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Brooklyn's Progress
March 2002 A special presentation for the Economic Development/Ports and Transportation and the Government Affairs Committees was convened on March 6 to learn about transportation opportunities to further development in Brooklyn. The presentation was made by Community Consulting Services (CCS), a nonprofit transportation and environmental technical assistance group serving community leaders and officials in Brooklyn and beyond. Carolyn Konheim, chair of the CCS board, and Brian Ketcham, Executive Director, presented their progress with a variety of Brooklyn transportation initiatives, and proposed strategies for achieving a transportation system that will allow Brooklyn to be competitive and advance as an economically-healthy and environmentally-sustainable borough in the region. Although Brooklyn has the third largest CBD in the New York metropolitan area, it has the lowest amount of job growth forecast in the region compared with other counties. A substantial amount of new development in Downtown Brooklyn, combined with redevelopment of the waterfront and other business growth initiatives, will help to reverse these trends. However, the availability of cost-efficient, sustainable transportation options in Brooklyn will be crucial to maintain the existing job base and allow for future growth of Brooklyn and the regional economy. CCS presented several recommendations for improving transportation options, as well as creating tools that Brooklyn can use to effectively coordinate project planning and economic development with transportation: BETTER TRANSIT FOR BROOKLYN – CCS developed a draft borough-wide transit plan at the behest of several city and state officials in September 2001 and has obtained comments and recommendations from nearly all the Community Boards in Brooklyn, as well as the Transit Riders Council. With the highest per capita transit ridership in the metropolitan region (22percent of total MTA ridership), Brooklyn receives the lowest per capita investment. Several short-term measures would enable NYC Transit to effectively address some primary desires of passengers with minimal expenditures. Specific measures are proposed to add more trains on the most crowded lines, institute MetroCard transfers between nearby lines, restore service on unused express tracks, expand express bus service, make station access and transfers more convenient, and better utilize the LIRR. Longer-term increases in capacity are also recommended to serve both Manhattan-bound riders and the development goals of Downtown Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan. CCS will revise the draft plan for a borough-wide forum of community boards, civic and business leaders and elected officials to arrive at a consensus on a final plan for elected officials to submit to NYC Transit and the MTA. CCS would monitor implementation. All project reports are available on www.communityconsulting.org. BROOKLYN PROJECTS NETWORK – Over $25 million worth of publicly-funded planning research and review is being conducted for a variety of development projects, major investment studies, community plans (197-a), regional plans, etc. Public agencies, community groups, and private developers are working independently in many cases and without a coordinated strategy or means of communication. In an age of increasing connectivity and information sharing, Brooklyn needs an Internet-accessible, map-based project network that will allow for coordination of planning efforts through the sharing of data, plans, projects, and proposed developments. The technology for this network is already in widespread use: Geographic Information System (GIS) software is now commonly used by agencies such as the NYSDOT, who put together an in-house project tracking system at a very low cost. The on-line GIS module at the Brooklyn Chamber’s website, www.ibrooklyn.com, is another example of the usefulness of GIS technology. If a shared resource agreement among the public and private sectors can be achieved, a borough-wide project tracking system for Brooklyn is feasible and will save millions of dollars annually in avoiding duplication of efforts and lost time due to lack of information and conflicting projects and construction schedules. CCS is ready to provide assistance in creating this network. TRANSPORTATION MODELING TOOLS FOR BROOKLYN AND DOWNTOWN – Using models that simulate real world conditions to analyze the effect of development strategies on traffic flow would be an invaluable asset to the Brooklyn community, especially for further development of Downtown. A borough-wide transportation model, extracted from a new regional model developed by NYMTC could be used to test strategies that affect travel choices and see which combinations work best to meet goals for jobs, housing, and neighborhood growth. Applied at the local level, the model could also be used to assess changes in future traffic patterns, provide input for a local area-wide operations model, and provide guidance on localized issues such as traffic calming and optimizing road capacity for vehicles generated by further development. These recommendations can be achieved at a relatively low cost and in a manner that would benefit the further growth and development of Brooklyn. |
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