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“Sustainable Systems” is a required course for all Parsons students. This course provides an introduction to the systems inherent in adaptive, resilient design practices. The curriculum is structured around four major themes; Climate Change, Materials, Energy, and Water. These interrelated themes frame students’ observations as they study real conditions and develop creative works that support diversity and adaptability in the face of ever changing conditions for a more socially, environmentally, and economically resilient future. Inspired by the TransAlt design competition “L-ternative Visions”, 14 students chose to craft solutions for the temporary shutdown of NYC’s L-train subway line which carries 400,000 New Yorkers every weekday. In 2012, superstorm Sandy’s storm surge flooded the 100-year-old Canarsie Tunnel under the East River with millions of gallons of salt water causing irreparable damage. In response, the MTA announced it would need to shut down the L-train between Manhattan and Brooklyn for 18 months beginning as early as January 2019 so that it can make critical repairs. This book compiles our interviews with L-train stakeholders, our topical research papers, and our creative design solutions for short and long-term improvements in public transportation.
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Research Student Bios Cristina Amy Kevin Zhihong Evelin Ping Eugenia Tingting Xiaoshu
5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5
Rachel Sabrina Xia Abby Iris
6 6 6 6 6 6 Skateholders Interviews Christopher Lisa Lamont James Michael John Pierce Grant Isabella Kelloggs Anonymous Francesco Ian Nic Ben Fred James Luc Dereck Joe Lisa
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 20 21 21
Hurricane Sandy Impacts on NYC Infrastructure
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NYC’s Plan to Respond to Climate Change
24-25
Renewable Energy for NYC
25-26
Human Health Impacts From Different Transportation Systems
26-27
History of The Electric Vehicle
27-28
Case Study: Effective Bus Transportation Around The World
28-29
Case Study: Innovative Boat Transport Around The World
29-31
History and Issues of Bicycling In NYC
31-32
How Buses and Bikes Impact The Economy
33
How E-commerce led to a new kind of Sharing Economy
34
Human Health Benefits from Public Gardens
34-36
Why doesn’t NYC subway system have public Rrestrooms
36-37
NYC’s Plan for Improving Transportation
37-38
Design Solutions The Cable Car I
41-44
Cable Car 2
45-46
Cable Car System
47-50
The CIty Bikes
51-54
New Ferry System in NYC
55-58
Innovative Bus App For Brookyn and Manhattan Commuters
59-62
L-Train Bracelet Map
63-65
L-Train Alternative Bus Stop
66-68
The funway
69-72 73-76
BIOS
Parsons Sustainable Systems Class 14 students in Jenifer Wightman’s “Sustainable Systems” Class Fall 2016, decided to design solutions to address the Impending L-train Shutdown to repair damage from Superstorm Sandy. We are from all over the world with different perspectives on transportation systems, good design and quality living.
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CRISTINA
Cristina Cepeda is a sophomore at Parsons studying Communications Design. She is originally from Barranquilla, Colombia and loves the beach. She is interested in designing sustainable solutions in a creative visual form. Her interests, work and projects can be found at https://portfolio.newschool.edu/cepec421
AMY
Amy Chen is a sophomore at Parsons studying strategic design and management. She is originally from Hong Kong and she is a food lover. Amy is interested in illustration and sketching with the inspirations from the surroundings.
KEVIN
Kevin is a sophomore at Parsons who majors in strategic design and management. He is from Shanghai, China. He likes cooking and sports. His favorite food is sushi and his favorite sport team is FC Barcelona. Kevin is good at observing changes of his surroundings and always think deeply.
ZHIHONG
Zhihong Fu majors in fashion design at Parsons in New York City. She is originally from Chengdu, a peaceful and pleasant city in China. She loves travel and enjoys serendipity in life. She loves classic style and is interested in creating minimal clothes with delicate craft and qualified fabrics.
EVELIN
Evelin is a freshmen at Parsons currently doing her foundation year but will major in Communication Design. She is from Costa Rica but has a strong Chinese heritage as her grandparents migrated from China and Hong Kong to Costa Rica years ago. She is interested in looking for ways to integrate both of her cultures into her work and enjoys doodling and painting while listening to upbeat music.
PING
Ping is a sophomore at Parsons the New School of Design, majoring in Fashion Design. She is from Shenzhen, China. She is passionate about how fashion can carry out the internal style and charm of people. As a design student, she hopes to achieve her ideal about fashion by designing and making clothes.
EUGENIA
Eugenia is a sophomore at Parsons the New School of Design, majoring in Strategic Design and Management. She is from Managua, Nicaragua and very passionate about the environment. As a design student, she hopes to influence others and help change the world through powerful, creative, sustainable solutions.
TINGTING
Tingting is a sophomore at Parsons studying fashion design. She is originally from Ningbo. She loves British indie rock music in 90s and painting. She likes reading and wanted to be a writer when she was young.
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XIAOSHU
Xiaoshu a sophomore at Parsons studying fashion design. She is originally from Hangzhou and loves drawing. She is interested in exploring museums and finding something peaceful.
RACHEL
Rachel is a sophomore at Parsons studying photography. She is originally from Beijing and loves listen music. She is interested in traveling.
SABRINA
Sabrina is a sophomore at Parsons majoring in Strategic Design and Management. She is originally from El Salvador, San Salvador. She is very passionate about food and nutrition but also loves sustainable design. Her goal in Parsons is to use both her passions and skills in order to create sustainable designs.
XIA
Xia is a sophomore at Parsons majoring in Illustration. She is from Beijing, China. She is very passionate about fashion illustration. Her goal in Parsons is to set up a fashion illustration studio and to spread the passion to those who loves fashion back to China Beijing.
ABBY
Abby is a sophomore at Parsons School of Design,majored in strategic design and management. She is a bilingual city girl who is at the moment enjoying New York City and pursing her passion for fashion.
IRIS
Iris is a sophomore at Parsons and is majoring in strategic design and management. She is originally from Taipei, Taiwan. Started studying abroad since high school in Boston. She likes to keep people around her happy, so she likes to help people out.
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STAKEHOLDERS L-train shutdown On November 10, 2016, we joined the Transportation Alternatives meeting and interviewed the stakeholders.
How does the stakeholder think they can contribute to the L-train shutdown? Finding an alternative plan.
Interviewer: Kevin Stakeholder: Christopher
What does the stakeholder hope to gain by participating in this meeting? He hopes to get some creative ideas from fellow members. What are some of the stakeholder concerns? Safety and efficiency. What are some of the solutions they have for L-train shutdown? Using bike route instead of subway. What are some of the hopes the stakeholder has for the Future of the NYC transportation systems? He hopes government can upgrade infrastructure of subway system. Is the stakeholder here as an affected community member, non-profit organization, or government etc? Affected community member
What are some issues the stakeholder is concerned about future storm impacts on NYC? More damage to public transportation infrastructure from superstorm. We need additional emergency transport options.
Where does the stakeholder live? Bronx
What is the stakeholder’s most used transportation in NYC? Bike, becuase bike is fuel free and also good for training my stamina.
Where does the stakeholder work? Trade center What is the Stakeholders primary method of moving around the city (subway, walking, etc)? Subway and bike How does the stakeholder think they will affected by the L-train shutdown? He won’t be affected too much but he feels he can help.
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How will the L-train shutdown affect the stakeholder? She is not greatly affected by L-train shutdown actually, because her living area is far from the area of L-train.
Interviewer: XIA Name of Stakeholder: Lisa
What does the stakeholder hope to gain by participating in this meeting? She hopes for more efficient methods of transportation especially for those who need the transfers. What are some of the stakeholder’s concerns? Her concern is the traffic jam. What are some of the solutions the stakeholder has for L-train shutdown? To inform people to use those stations near to L train. What are some of the stakeholder’s hopes for NYC transportation systems? She wishes the traffic to be less crowded. What are some issues that the stakeholder has about future storm impacts on NYC? She is worried about the storm because it will cause damage to the transport system.
Is the stakeholder here as an affected community member, non-profit organization, or government etc? An affected community member. Where does the stakeholder live? Union Square What is the stakeholder’s job? School on 14th street What are the stakeholder’s primary methods of moving around the city (subway, walking, etc)? She usually moves around the city by subway. How does the stakeholder think you can contribute to the L-train shutdown? She thinks she can ask her colleagues in school to generate some solutions and to inform students in school to tell their parents about the situation happened to Ltrain.
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Interviewer: CRISTINA Name of Stakeholder: Lamont James Is the stakeholder here as an affected community member, non-profit organization, or government etc? Community Member Where does the stakeholder live? Hell’s kitchen Where does the stakeholder work? Canal and Broadway What is the Stakeholders primary method of moving around the city (subway, walking, etc)? Subway, walking and cycling How does the stakeholder think they will by affected by the L-train shut down? An inconvenience - less incentive to commute to Brooklyn. How does the stakeholder think they can contribute to the L-train shutdown? To be honest, not sure. What does the stakeholder hope to gain by participating in this meeting? More information about ramifications of L-train shutdown and how I can contribute. What are some of the stakeholder concerns? Decreased recreational commuting between Manhattan and Brooklyn. What are some of the solutions they have for 12 L-train shutdown? More cycling acces and more frequent buses.
What are some of the hopes the stakeholder has for the Future of the NYC transportation systems? More convenient to use on weekends. What are some issues the stakeholder is concerned about future storm impacts on NYC? Knocking out significant transit systems.
Interviewer: AMY Name of Stakeholder: Michael-John Pierce
press buses that only go to major stops. What are some of the hopes the stakeholder has for the Future of the NYC transportation systems? Faster Service, less congestion and crime in subways. Fewer people falling onto subway tracks.
Is the stakeholder here as an affected community member, non-profit organization, or government etc? Community member Where does the stakeholder live? West 15th St
What are some issues the stakeholder is concerned about future storm impacts on NYC?
Where does the stakeholder work? East 42th St
Flooding of tunnels.
What is the Stakeholders primary method of moving around the city (subway, walking, etc)? Walking, Subway, Bus, Uber/Taxi/. How does the stakeholder think they will be affected by the L-train shutdown? More difficult to get to Williamsburg and Bushwick to visit friends. More car and bus traffic on 14 th St and 15 th Street. There will be very noisy near my place. How does the stakeholder think they can contribute to the L-train shutdown? Plan for busses and bikes on 14th St and 23th St. What does the stakeholder hope to gain by participating in this meeting? Have input on the plans for 14 th St. Encourage the city to offer mass transit options as our needs. What are some of the stakeholder concerns? Increased car traffic on 14 th St and the negative externalities caused by the shutdown to this area. People will be suffered from the slow travel across 14th St. What are some of the solutions they have for L-train shutdown? More busses on 14 &23 th S. There should be Ex-
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Interviewer: ZHIHONG Name of Stakeholder: Grant
up with solutions which can help the L-train shutdown. How does the stakeholder think they can contribute to the L-train shutdown? He will have fewer trips to Brooklyn. What does the stakeholder hope to gain by participating in this meeting? He wants to share ideas with people and know what others are thinking about. What are some of the stakeholder concerns? Difficulties of crossing Manhattan; traffic around 14th street; unsafe bike riding. What are some of the solutions they have for L-train shutdown? More citi-bikes and bus lanes. What are some of the hopes the stakeholder has for the Future of the NYC transportation systems? Light rail across Manhattan on 14th street. Congestion pricing - toll needs to be paid when someone wants to drive in midtown to downtown Manhattan.
Is the stakeholder here as an affected community member, non-profit organization, or government etc? He is a community member. Where does the stakeholder live? He lives downtown, south of Fulton Auditorium.
What are some issues the stakeholder is concerned about future storm impacts on NYC? Flushed streets.
Where does the stakeholder work? It depends. Now he works in New Jersey. What is the Stakeholders primary method of moving around the city (subway, walking, etc)? Subway. How does the stakeholder think they will affected by the L-train shutdown? He thinks he can participate in more meetings like this Transportation Alternatives meeting, and come
Why does the stakeholder join this meeting? He is interested in urban design.
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What are some issues that you havInterviewer: EVELIN Name of Stakeholder: Isabella Kelloggs
York City, especially Manhattan is not a bike friendly city. How do you think you can contribute to the L-train shutdown? She believes that she can contribute through her knowledge and experience, as this shutdown of a line is not a new thing. She experienced in the early 90s when 14th Street was closed and there was a lot of traffic due to busses transiting at 15th street. She just expects all of this to happen and she hopes it doesn’t. How will the L-train shut down affect you? She really isn’t affected by L-train shutdown as she doesn’t use it, as it is not in her range of places that she has to visit. But she believes that she will be affected by traffic jams and noise pollution around her home.
What are some of your hopes for NYC transportation systems? She believes that the city already has a great system and that they are doing a good job, she just hopes that everything just continues to move smoothly. Is the stakeholder here as an affected community member, non-profit organization, or government etc? An affected community member. Where do you live? 155 W 15th Street What is your job? Has a marketing and Public Relationship company. What are your primary methods of moving around the city (subway, walking, etc)? She primarily walks around the city and from time to time the subway. She hates biking and thinks that New
What do you hope to gain by participating in this meeting? She hopes that by hearing what ideas come to the table she will have a better idea for the future and she also hopes for more efficient methods of transportation especially for those around 14th Street, those who need the transfers. What are some of your concerns? Her biggest concern is in the increase in car traffic and how people would be generally frustrated by the bus system. What are some of the solutions you have for L-train shutdown? To increase the bus service, have ferry service through the East River and to eliminate parking in the surrounding of 14th Street. What are some issues the stakeholder is concerned about future storm impacts on NYC? She doesn’t have any issues anymore, as she is certain that the officials are more aware of this phenomenons and they have plans and strategies to combat the consequences of future storms.
He thinks L-train shut down is not the real problem. Government should think about the long term benefit for the city.
Interviewer: PING Name of Stakeholder you are interviewing: He likes to remain anonymous.
What are some of the hopes the stakeholder has for NYC transportation systems? Government can pay more attention and give more funding to MTA. One train in summer is hot and unbearable.
Is the stakeholder here as an affected community member, non-profit organization, or government etc? He was affected community member.
What are some issues the stakeholder is concerned about future storm impacts on NYC?
Where does the stakeholder live? She lives East Village. Stuyvesant Town.
Is NYC ready for the next storm? Where does the stakeholder work? He works at Financial District. What is the Stakeholders primary methods of moving around the city (subway, walking, etc)? He prefers Subway. How does the stakeholder think they can contribute to the L-train shutdown? Engage in public design sessions like this one. How does the stakeholder think they will affected by the L-train shut down? He is affected but not a lot. What does the stakeholder hope to gain by participating in this meeting? To see what every stakeholders’ concerns. What are some of their concerns? Williamsburg Bridge is going to be really crowded. Don’t just design the people way for just 16 months, but for a longer future. What are some of the solutions they have for L-train shutdown?
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Interviewer: EUGENIA Name of Stakeholder: Francesco
More traffic How does the stakeholder think they can contribute to the L-train shutdown? Helps convincing people to use bikes or walk What does the stakeholder hope to gain by participating in this meeting? New ways to facilitate the process What are some of the stakeholder concerns? Traffic What are some of the solutions they have for L-train shutdown? Bus lanes, bike lanes and sidewalks What are some of the hopes the stakeholder has for the Future of the NYC transportation systems? Clean and sustainable public transportation
Is the stakeholder here as an affected community member, non-profit organization, or government etc? No
What are some issues the stakeholder is concerned about future storm impacts on NYC? Overcrowded city.
Where does the stakeholder live? Below 14th street Where does the stakeholder work? Student at Parsons, Senior What is the Stakeholders primary method of moving around the city (subway, walking, etc)? Walking How does the stakeholder think they will by affected by the L-train shut down?
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What are some of the solutions they have for L-train shutdown? To have express buses.
Interviewer: ABBY Name of Stakeholder: Ian Where does the stakeholder live? Park Slope, Brooklyn
What are some of the hopes the stakeholder has for the Future of the NYC transportation systems? To have mass transit soon in NYC.
Where does the stakeholder work? Park Slope, Brooklyn
What are some issues the stakeholder is concerned about future storm impacts on NYC?
What is the Stakeholders primary method of moving around the city (subway, walking, etc)? Subway How does the stakeholder think they will by affected by the L-train shut down? ALE trains will be over crowded. How does the stakeholder think they can contribute to the L-train shutdown? Attending different meetings. What does the stakeholder hope to gain by participating in this meeting? Have a better understanding of other citizens’ concerns. What are some of the stakeholder concerns? There is no doable solution at the moment to solve the crisis. It will cause enormous amount of money to solve the problem. Will this affect the stakeholder’s choice of neighborhood to live in? No
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Interviewer: TINGTING Name of Stakeholder: Nic
What do you think of people participating in social problems like we did today? It was a great way to help contribute to the community and encouraging to more people
Is the stakeholder here as an affected community member, non-profit organization, or government etc? He is an affected community member
What does the stakeholder hope to gain by participating in this meeting? More ideas and help contribute to the People Way
Where does the stakeholder live? Queens Where does the stakeholder work? Financial district
What are some of the stakeholder concerns? More G or M trains is not ideal since there are already many people on the train
What is the Stakeholders primary method of moving around the city (subway, walking, etc)? Subway
What are some of the solutions they have for L-train shutdown? No turn off between Williamsburg Bridge and Bowery for personal issues
How does the stakeholder think they will by affected by the L-train shut down? Traffic problems( streets will be more crowded, safety issues) How does the stakeholder think they can contribute to the L-train shutdown? Make plans and redesign the traffic on Williamsburg bridge
What are some of the hopes the stakeholder has for the Future of the NYC transportation systems? It can be adjusted to any problems easily by natural disasters What are some issues the stakeholder is concerned about future storm impacts on NYC? Another damage in NYC transit system
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How does the stakeholder think they can contribute to the L-train shutdown? They think they could redesign the city transportation plan, to make the bike and car a better way. Might they can have more free buses on 16th street which has less business than the 14th street. Or they can have more places for setting their vehicles. They think there could have a revised services to connect L-train stops to other subway lines. Or have shuttles between Brooklyn bridge and Manhattan, then drop people at the location other than 14th street, which could reduce the whole load of 14th street.
Interviewer: XIAOSHU Name of Stakeholder:Ben Is the stakeholder here as an affected community member, non-profit organization, or government etc? Yes. Where does the stakeholder live? 14th Street
What does the stakeholder hope to gain by participating in this meeting? More solutions from others and some new ways to get to certain places.
Where does the stakeholder work? Lower Manhattan What is the Stakeholders primary method of moving around the city (subway, walking, etc)? Subway and Bike
What are some issues the stakeholder is concerned about future storm impacts on NYC? There might have a big mass traffic on the bridge between Brooklyn bridge and Manhattan.
How does the stakeholder think they will by affected by the L-train shut down? The deliver work would be delayed seriously, cannot get to certain places that only L-train could easily getting through. What are some of the stakeholder concerns? There was no bike lanes. The red light has only on/ off. What are some of the solutions they have for L-train shutdown? Make bike more useful for people to get out. Parking tickets for cars which makes the car drivers more convenient to park their cars. What are some of the hopes the stakeholder has for the Future of the NYC transportation systems? If there could have a specific schedule to limit the certain kinds of cars. Like there have certain time there could only have buses on the road.
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How does the stakeholder think they will affected by the L-train shutdown? He won’t be affected because he does not use the subway, his primary method of transportation are bikes.
Interviewer: SABRINA Name of Stakeholder you are interviewing: Fred James Is the stakeholder here as an affected community member, non-profit organization, or government etc? No, he is just a bike rider
What does the stakeholder hope to gain by participating in this meeting? As a biker, he wants to represent other bikers so that people way improves the biking system
Where does the stakeholder live? Lives on E39 between 2nd and 3rd ave
What are some of their concerns? Pollution, climate change, traffic jams, commuting time
Where does the stakeholder work? He works all over Manhattan and Brooklyn because he is in the Film Industry.
What are some of the solutions they have for L-train shutdown? He thinks that moving to bikes is the solution. Making NYC car free as possible. Hyperloop. Elevated bike highways or special bike highways
What is the Stakeholders primary methods of moving around the city (subway, walking, etc)? Bike. He bikes everywhere How does the stakeholder think they can contribute to the L-train shutdown? He wants to improve biking system in the city What are some of the hopes the stakeholder has for NYC transportation systems? He hopes that New York City becomes the most carefree possible. Showcase the world that the bike system is the least expensive, less harmful to the environment. Negative emissions What are some issues the stakeholder is concerned about future storm impacts on NYC? He is concerned that we are losing the arctic due to climate change and that there can be a major shift in climate change in less than 2 years. It is happening extremely fast and he is afraid that we can even lose Manhattan.
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Interviewer: RACHEL Name of Stakeholder: Luc
Interviewer: RACHEL Name of Stakeholder: Dereck
Is the stakeholder here as an affected community member, non-profit organization, or government etc? Small business owner
Is the stakeholder here as an affected community member, non-profit organization, or government etc? Community member
Where does the stakeholder live? 14th street
Where does the stakeholder live? 14th street, 1st Avenue
Where does the stakeholder work? 15th street
Where does the stakeholder work? Didn’t want to tell
What is the Stakeholders primary method of moving around the city (subway, walking, etc)? Private car
What is the Stakeholders primary method of moving around the city (subway, walking, etc)? Subway
How does the stakeholder think they will be affected by the L-train shutdown? Traffic/Pollution
How does the stakeholder think they will be affected by the L-train shutdown? Time consuming
How does the stakeholder think they can contribute to the L-train shutdown? Ideas and solutions
How does the stakeholder think they can contribute to the L-train shutdown? Ideas and solutions
What does the stakeholder hope to gain by participating in this meeting? knowledge on what to do in the future
What does the stakeholder hope to gain by participating in this meeting? Simply want to contribute ideas
What are some of the stakeholder concerns? Double parking/ Traffic
What are some of the stakeholder concerns? Bus conjunctions
What are some of the solutions they have for L-train shutdown? Bus only lanes
What are some of the solutions they have for L-train shutdown? Bus only lanes/ add ferry services
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Interviewer: RACHEL Name of Stakeholder: Joe
Interviewer: RACHEL Name of Stakeholder: Lisa
Is the stakeholder here as an affected community member, non-profit organization, or government etc? TA at an university
Is the stakeholder here as an affected community member, non-profit organization, or government etc? Architecture student
Where does the stakeholder live? 14th street
Where does the stakeholder live? Brooklyn
Where does the stakeholder work? Fordham
What is the Stakeholders primary method of moving around the city (subway, walking, etc)? Biking
What is the Stakeholders primary method of moving around the city (subway, walking, etc)? Subway
How does the stakeholder think they will be affected by the L-train shutdown? Safty
How does the stakeholder think they will be affected by the L-train shutdown? Traffic
How does the stakeholder think they can contribute to the L-train shutdown? New architecture inspiration
How does the stakeholder think they can contribute to the L-train shutdown? Ideas and solutions
What does the stakeholder hope to gain by participating in this meeting? Want to know others ideas
What does the stakeholder hope to gain by participating in this meeting? Current situations and plans
What are some of the stakeholder concerns? No bike lanes
What are some of the stakeholder concerns? Pedestrian traffic/What happens after the L-train is fixed
What are some of the solutions they have for L-train shutdown? Alternative stops
What are some of the solutions they have for L-train shutdown? Free buses/ local lines and express lines
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RESEARCH Background Info We Each researched different relevant topics that might inform our individual and collective projects.
Hurricane Sandy Impacts on New York City Infrastructure By Zhihong Fu
L-train will be shut down for a year and a half, starting in January 2019. This is an unfortunate news for all the New York City citizens who need to live in both Manhattan and Brooklyn, traveling across the East River. But L-train needs to be repaired because of the damage caused by hurricane Sandy. On October 29th, 2012, hurricane Sandy, also called superstorm Sandy, hit New York City and caused significant damages, disturbing the city for a long period. A hurricane is a type of tropical cyclone, which is a general term for a low-pressure system with activities like thunder and lightning that develops in the tropics or subtropics, between about 30 degrees north and 30 degrees south latitude. A hurricane is a natural phenomenon, but there might 1be a connection between it and the climate change. Scientists had controversial arguments about whether climate change is the reason for more destructive hurricanes over the past decades. Recent data suggests that warm weather was accompanied with more intense hurricanes. “We simply counted how many extreme cyclones with storm surges there were in warm years compared with cold years and we could see that there was a tendency for more cyclones in warmer years,” Dr. Aslak Grinsted of the Niels Bohr Institute at Copenhagen University said. 2Studies also show that, because of the global warming, hurricanes in the future are likely to have higher rainfall rates. The Center for Climate and Energy Solutions also claims that “it’s unclear 3whether climate change will increase or decrease the number of hurricanes, but warmer ocean surface temperatures and higher sea levels are expected to intensify their impacts.” 4 Hurricane Sandy caused deadly flood and fire in New York City in 2012. According to Geology.com, hurricane Sandy is the second-costliest hurricane to hit the United States, causing $71.4 billion in damage and 286 dead. New York City, as one of the hardest-hit areas, experienced significant impacts on various infrastructures such as transportations, buildings, and utility services. New York City subway tunnels flooded and the subways were shut for several days. New York Times reported that “seven tunnels beneath the East River flooded. Entire platforms were submerged. Underground equipment, some of it decades old, was destroyed.” Besides the 6 subways, ground vehicles were also damaged. In Brooklyn, “the flood yanked cars out of parking places and a Range Rover lay diagonally on the sidewalk.” 7However, transportation is not the only sector that was influenced by the hurricane Sandy. Another serious damage is to buildings. It is hard to imagine the scene that many people lose their homes, but the horrible disaster really happened when Sandy came to New York City. In his 8article, Flegenheimer says “at least 80 homes were destroyed by fire” in Queens. A report published by Furman Center of New York University also writes “the storm surge fr.... Reference: 1 “Hurricanes,” Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, accessed November 04, 2016, http://www.c2es.org/science-impacts/extreme-weather/hurricanes. 2 Steve Connor, “Global Warming Is ‘causing More Hurricanes,’” The Independent, October 15, 2012, accessed November 04, 2016, http://www.independent. co.uk/environment/climate-change/global-warming-is-causing-more-hurricanes-8212584.html. 3 “Global Warming and Hurricanes,” Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory, accessed November 4, 2016, https://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/global-warming-and-hurricanes/. 4 “Hurricanes,” Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, accessed November 04, 2016, http://www.c2es.org/science-impacts/extreme-weather/hurricanes. 5 “The Largest and Deadliest Hurricane to Hit the United States,” The Largest and Deadliest Hurricane to Hit the United States, accessed November 05, 2016, http://geology.com/hurricanes/largest-hurricane/. 6 Matt Flegenheimer, “Subway Repairs Border ‘on the Edge of Magic’,” (East Coast), https://login.libproxy.newschool.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest. com/docview/1143810243?accountid=12261. 7 Mike Esterl, Anton Troianovski, and Heather Haddon, “Superstorm Sandy: Sandy Rips Infrastructure Along Coast --- Millions Go without Power and Public Transportation Systems Remain Shut as Storm Barrels through Cities,” Wall Street Journal, Oct 31, 2012, Europe, https://login.libproxy.newschool.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1121768363?accountid=12261. 8 Matt Flegenheimer, “Subway Repairs Border ‘on the Edge of Magic’,” New York Times,Nov 09, 2012, Late Edition (East Coast), https://login.libproxy.newschool.edu/login?url=http://search.proquest.com/docview/1143810243?accountid=12261. 9 “FACT BRIEF Sandy’s Effects on Housing in New York City,” accessed October 31, 2016, http://furmancenter.org/files/publications/SandysEffectsOnHousingInNYC.pdf. 10 “FACT BRIEF Sandy’s Effects on Housing in New York City,” accessed October 31, 2016, http://furmancenter.org/files/publications/SandysEffectsOn-
HousingInNYC.pdf. 11 Yessenia Funes, “Four Years Later, How NYC Public Housing Survived Hurricane Sandy,” Colorlines, October 28, 2016, accessed November 2, 2016, https://www.colorlines.com/articles/four-years-later-how-nyc-public-housing-survived-hurricane-sandy.
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12 Matt Sledge, Tom Zeller Jr., and Joy Resmovits, “Hurricane Sandy Deals Infrastructure A Blow, Highlights Need For Investment,” The Huffington Post, October 30, 2012, accessed November 04, 2016, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/30/hurricane-sandy-infrastructure_n_2045860.html. 13 Rosanne Salvatore and Kathryn Kattalia, “Hurricane Sandy Floods Lower Manhattan - Photos - A Look Back at Hurricane Sandy Four Years Later,” NY Daily News, 2016, accessed November 05, 2016, http://www.nydailynews.com/news/hurricane-sandy-strikeseast-coast-gallery-1.1194577?pmSlide=1.1991204.
New York City’s Plan to Respond to Climate Change By Evelin Fung Zhong
Climate Change is a wicked problem that we all have to face, but each city/country has to plan different actions to decrease its effects. In 2011, New York City released a plan stating methods and goals necessary to accomplish climate resiliency in the future. NYC policy makers is aware that they must create various strategies and ideas in order to reduce the city’s quantity of Green House Gas (GHG) emissions and the negative consequences. Therefore, they created six categories to pursue a better future for the city’s current and forthcoming citizens. 1) Record and reduce GHGs. In NYC, 75% of GHGs are related to buildings (the energy that is needed to heat, cool, power, and light). Another 20% of the gases emitted are related to transportation. Therefore the initial step is to decrease the amount of GHGs in the city by promoting and using more efficient and less carbon derived electricity supply. In addition, an initiative to create annual inventories in regards to the amount of emissions being released and the trends that are created throughout the year has been introduced. This reports will be recorded by both city officials and other companies/individuals from the city. There would also be collaborations with neighboring cities to exchange information and in improvements of ways to collect GHG emissions. This relates to the next initiative which is to reduce gas emissions by 80% by 2050. This could be done by increasing the efficiency of collecting information of these gases. 2) Assess vulnerabilities of citizens. Institutionalizing the New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC) establishes an entity that will keep track of climate change impacts on communities. For example: renewing flood maps to improve the resilience of the city against future floods that could be caused by the future rise of sea levels or through natural disasters like a super storm. The final action is to have a better idea of how the climate exposure will affect the city and how the development of these models and flood maps they will create an awareness for the future and will help most of the individuals and groups of the city in planning ahead. 3) Build resilient infrastructure. New York City is home to 10 million people, 700 miles of subway tracks, 2000 bridges and tunnels, and many more infrastructure built in a territory that has 520 miles coastline. Therefore, there is a great need to have updated regulations to increase the resilience of the infrastructure. One way for this to happen is by having a flood plan for new buildings to follow, this would be created by studying NYC’s urban design and then redesigning the city to create a resilient yet attractive city. Another mechanism stated is to protect “the metropolis’ infrastructure, this was started back in 2008 with a Task Force created by 40 public and private stakeholders to help measure how the infrastructure would be affected by climate change and how to increase its resilience. Another method to ensure that the coastal structures will be protected or that there would be a plan to counteract the sea levels rise and the damage to coastal areas is the creation for both traditional and innovative techniques to avoid erosion, flooding and reduction of wave and tidal action. This way the city would have an inventory of options that could be used in the future. 4) Manage urban heat island effect. With climate change there are several problems that involve our infrastructure, but the biggest consequences will be impacts on human beings, the increase in the “urban heat island effect” and the general impoverishment of public health. Some solutions include increasing the vegetated surface, as this helps to cool areas, this is done by planting more
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trees and incentivizing the usage of green roofs on buildings. Another example of this is to have white or cool color rooftops, as this will reflect the sun’s energy and will in consequence reduce the air temperatures throughout the building and will reduce the usage of air conditioning. 5) Preparedness and 6) Resilience building. The final two initiatives that this plan has are related to the preparedness and resilience of the the city’s community by creating strategies that include all future possibilities of damage. To produce and manage all these procedures the idea is to develop various plans that will complement already existing ones, such as the Heat Emergency Plan, Power Disruption Plan and many others. By incorporating climate change issues into these existing plans, the resilience and alertness of the urban area will increase. It is a fact that the population in the city is very dense, thus the last initiative is to develop the information about GHG emissions and climate change, and have it available to anyone. This way the population will be aware of the risks and how they can aid to reduce these risks. In conclusion, New York City is already one of the most energy-efficient cities but there is still lots of progress and changes that can be made to increase resiliency and reduce the risks and vulnerability of the city through the stated plans. Yet, something that everyone should be aware of is that one policy or strategy will not be adequate. There needs to be several methods and ways to fight the issues but these also need to be flexible, in order to adapt to the actual needs of the city. This plan is dependent on many variables that cannot be foreseen and the idea that they have covered all issues related with climate change. Still, until the day something predicted or not happens, we will not be able to know the actual effects on the city and measure how resilient the city actually is. Reference: The City of New York. Planyc. 2011. Accessed 5 Nov. 2016
Renewable Energy for NYC (current infrastructure and future plans) By Tingting Luo
Electricity can be generated by renewable methods such as solar energy instead of by fossil fuels which are nonrenewable. In the past two years, the amount of solar power installed across New York City has tripled since the beginning of 2014. 1Solar energy is an important source for New York City. Although it seems like solar energy has nothing to do with our daily life, it is actually pretty relative to us. It helps New York residents save money on their electricity bills at the same time it increases the value of their properties. It will also cut greenhouse gas emissions in New York to slow global warming. However, compared to Germany, the world’s leader of photovoltaic, it is hard for New York City to spread solar energy system faster because of its bureaucratic process of application. To apply for the installation of a solar energy system, one needs to first apply for NYSERDA incentive then apply for Con Edison Interconnection Application and Department of buildings ALT-2 Application. Then it has to be approved by FDNY. After getting FDNY letter of No Objection, you have to apply for DOB construction work permit and electric work permit. You can not start installing the system until you receive Edison Interconnection contract, DOB construction and electrical permits. This is only the application process which can already take months. Aso, the fire code limit the typical row house to about 16 roof panels. “The city’s stringent fire codes are the reason the solar market hasn’t gotten bigger here,” Mr. Mandler said. It is a slow struggling process, but because of the reduction of the solar panel installation cost by government officials, more and more townhouse owners in Brooklyn are getting on board as well as owners of apartment buildings in the Bronx and Queens.
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According to the city’s Economic Development Corporation, five solar installers were operating in the five boroughs in 2005, but by 2015, the number hads increased to about 55 companies, employing about 2700 workers. It saves even more money when solar panels actually works because the electricity 3provided by Con Ed will be significantly reduced. More and more families who own property are joining the solar boom in New York City. It is a great resource for long-term owners. The fire code really slows down the solar movement but there are people who came up with systems that allow solar panels to be get installed above each other to make a second “roof” on each building so that more panels can be installed without breaking the fire code. There are other clean sources that have great potential to help ease the global warming problem. New York City steam system, which is the largest in the world, is an example of how energy can be used efficiently. New York City steam system is a district heating system which takes steam produced by steam generating station and carries it under the streets of Manhattan to heatr, cool, or supply power to high rise buildings and businesses.It produced 55 percent of the city’s steam which means this steam system reduces significantly the emission of pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide. At the same time, an offshore wind farm isare being planned in Long Island. Offshore wind has been slower to advance in the U.S. than in Europe partly because of its higher costs and the prevalence of open land for cheaper sites onshore. “This is the first step to developing the tremendous offshore wind resource off Long Island,” Nathan (last name?) said in an interview Thursday. “It will be Long Island’s contribution to meeting Governor Cuomo’s ambitious plan to reach 50 percent renewable energy by 2030.” More than 90 percent of the world’s offshore wind 4capacity is installed in northern Europe and the results including the in reduction ofing energy imports, reducing air pollution, and greenhouse gases is encouraging. It requires a larger space which is hard to accomplish to my design but wind can be a really useful and strong power. The Hydropower in New York is another efficient use of natural clean energy. New York is the largest hydroelectric power producer east of the Rocky Mountains and is fourth in the nation in the generation of electricity from hydropower. More than 300 hydroelectric generating stations connect to New York’s electric grid. The hydropower system is not as promisingoting as solar source 5in New York, but it has a long history and still have great potential. Reference: 1”Mayor De Blasio Announces Launch of Citywide Solarize NYC Program.” The Official Website of the City of New York. 2016. Accessed November 06, 2016. http://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/378-16/onenyc-nyc-solar-capacity-tripled-since-2014mayor-de-blasio-launch-citywide. 2LeadVision, “Solar Power In New York.” Residential Solar Panels. Accessed November 06, 22016. http://www.123solarpower.net/ blog/solar-power-in-new-york/. 3 Ibid 4”Largest U.S. Offshore Wind Farm Planned in New York Waters.” Bloomberg.com. Accessed November 06, 2016. http://www. bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-14/largest-u-s-offshore-wind-farm-to-be-built-off-long-island. 5”Department of Environmental Conservation.” Hydropower in New York. Accessed November 06, 2016. http://www.dec.ny.gov/energy/43242.html.
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Human Health Impacts From Different Transportation Systems By Rachel Wang The transportation system has contributed 26% of the gGreenhouse gGas eEmissions in the U.S. and almost a quarter of the hydrocarbons emitted into the air. In addition, transportation safety issues is another factor that affects billions of lives each year. The activities of the transport industry release several million tons of gases each year into the atmosphere, including lead (Pb), nitrous oxide (N2O), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrogen oxides (NOx), benzene, heavy metals (zinc, chrome, copper and cadmium) and particulate matters (ash, dust). Theose toxins are chemicals that will affect the air quality and ultimately affect human health. According to Beijing Statistic Bureau, 38% of the air pollution is from car emissions. Whilst personal cars account for one-fifth of the pollution in the world, airplanes and marine vessels also produce a large portion of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Aircraft not only emit 12% of CO2 emissions from U.S. transportation sources, they also emit nitrogen oxides other than nitrous oxide, causing global warming when emitted at high elevations. And sShips, besides releasing almost 3 percent of the world’s CO2, are also a main source of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas. Air pollution by car gas emission can have serious health impacts. The immediate impact would be irritation of the eyes, nose and throat, coughing and shortness of breath pollution. Furthermore, it will add stress to heart and lungs, which means that those organs must work harder to supply the body with oxygen. In addition, the harmful particles also damage cells in the respiratory system which could cause respiratory illness. In the long term, exposureing to air pollution will decrease lung function and develop into diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, emphysema and possibly even shorten the life span of people. Furthermore, transportation safety is another concern for public health. Transportation accidents account for 31.9% of the accidental deaths reported in 2010. Motor vehicle accidents or highway fatalities are responsible for the largest share, accounting for 93% of transportation-related deaths. In addition, many accidents when driving personal vehicles are caused by distractionsed such as music and cellphones. According to the American Auto Association (AAA), distraction iplays a factor in 60% of moderate to serious teen car crashes. Specifically, passenger and cell phone interaction accounted for 27% of crashes, which becomes the leading cause of personal vehicle crash. In conclusion, while transportation is critical to a nation’s economic development, it is also a significant source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, impacting global climate, and emittings toxic chemicals that could lead to serious health issues. Moreover, there is also an increasing number of injury and death caused by different transportation systems. Therefore the challenge ahead is to promote and innovate healthy and sustainable transport alternatives to prevent the negative effects of transport systems on human health. Reference: Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990–2014.
History of the Electric Vehicle (EV) in the United States By Abby Wang
While of course cars can take people to wherever they need to be, given the environmental and health impacts from fossil fuel exhuast, more sustainable resolutions needed to be presented. Electric Vehicles (EV) are not just a recent trend started by Tesla cars on the street. In 1835 American, Thomas Davenport created
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“the first practical electric vehicle -- a small locomotive”. In late 1890s, sales of electric cars actually outnumbered the sales of gasoline cars. In the pastBack in the day, the most popular transportation was still horse,. Bbut more prosperous Americans could afford to explore different ways to get around in the city. Three vehicles were the most common around that time, steam cars, electric cars, and gasoline cars. At first, electric cars were most intriguing among these three choice. Steam cars sometimes could take around 45 mins to get ready in the cold weather and require a lot of water. Gasoline cars required a lot of changing gears and also the noise made them not very unpleasant for people. Electric cars on the other hand, were very quiet and caused significantly less pollution. They won over the women crowd instantly. But lLater on, the popularity of electric cars dropped down. There are a few factors that explainof why electric cars didn’t get spread out rather fast within the country. One of the reasons is that at the beginning of the invention of electric cars, they wereare hand made mostly. Compared to the way gasoline cars are produced, which is through massive manufactures, electric cars could not bring the most profit. Another reason that limited the expansions of electric cars is that electricity only could only be found in the city, causing inconvenience when there was need for people to travel outside of city. In the early 1900s, American inventors went back to studying electric cars again; although it didn’t help with development with electric cars at the moment. In 1908, Henry Ford’s T-model came out. With the price setting at $650, which is only half of the cost of an electric car, most of people went with the cheaper choice. Until around the 1990s, interest from the public on electric cars pretty much died. However, dDuring the 1990s, environmental concerns had appeared in public awareness. Government presented the passage of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendment and the 1992 Energy Policy Act, which caused electric cars to resurfaced back into peoples’ lives. With new technology, investors in the business tried to modify electric vehicles with speed performance closer to gasoline cars, but at the same time it is difficult for them to keep the vehicles at low costs. At that time, GM’s EV1 came out. This was one of the first electric vehicles that couldan “accelerate from 0 to 50 miles per hour in just seven seconds”. But the high cost of producing the cars didn’t make it last long on the markets. All these previous ups and downs on pushing electric vehicles to peoples’ awareness?horizon didn’t bring their true revival until around the beginning of twenty-first century. In 1997 in Japan, Toyota company released their Prius - the hybrid electric vehicle.The vehicles were a big success among the celebrities. In 2006, Tesla Motors announced that they would be producing a luxury electric sports car which had made the company one of the biggest auto suppliers worldwide. Their big success had set an pushing example for all other companies to work on their electric vehicles. It is hard to predict what the future holds for electric vehicles in the future. But with more conversations on sustaining the environment, it is for people to say with confidence that we will have more inventions that cause less harm on this planet and still are able to bring convenience into peoples’ lives. Reference: Robertson, Matt. “The History of the Electric Vehicle.” Car Insurance. Accessed November 06, 2016. https://www.lelandwest.com/history-of-the-electric-vehicle.cfm. Matulka, Rebecca. “The History of the Electric Car.” Energy.gov. U.S Department of Energy, 15 Sept. 2014. Web. 06 Nov. 2016. Unknown. “Timeline: History of the Electric Car.” PBS. PBS, 30 Oct. 2009. Web. 06 Nov. 2016. Unknown. “EV History - Electric Auto Association.” EV History - Electric Auto Association. Electric Auto Association, n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2016.
Case Study: Effective Bus Transportation Around the World By Cristina Cepeda us rapid transport systems (BRT) are systematically becoming the core drivers of economy and public mobility. For many years, it has been viewed as a conserve(right word?) of the few with the majority of city commuters favoring either the subway or taxi.
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However, the past seven years have witnessed an increase in demand for bus transport systems. In response, big cities across the globe have invested more funds in their BRT systems as demand for public bus service rises. Population increases and overuse of the train systems haves been pointed out as some of the reasons why BRT systems are gaining importance across the world. Based on recent trends, this paper explores the global BRT systems by highlighting the examples of the world’s leading BRT systems. The paper will further explain why these BRT systems are considered the best across the world. Brampton Transit (Canada, North America) Brampton transit is one of the most successful and efficiently run public bus networks in the world. Headquartered in Brampton, Canada, the bus networks operates hundreds of buses across the city of Brampton and the Toronto area. The system has been in operation since 2005 and continues to transform its grid patterns in sync with the rising population. Brampton transit is a unique efficiently run system with larger busses, more reliable schedules and numerous stations spreading into the innermost parts of Toronto. The bus networks provides for more than one million users everyday, making it one of the most efficient BRT systems in the world [1]. It is a low cost alternative to cabs, trains and private transport in the greater Toronto area. The Brampton BRTTR has a clear management structure led by a CEO. Furthermore, the efficiency of the system is underlined since it provides transport to areas that have been ignored by the rail and cab systems. Unlike most public transport systems, Brampton BRT is less congested and cheaper compared to other forms of transport. Its fare regime further makes the BRT one of the best in the world [2]. Northern Busway (Auckland, New Zealand) The Northern Busway is the only BRT system with dedicated lanes. Unlike many BRT systems across the world, Auckland’s Northern Busway has to dedicate lanes that connect the city to its outskirts. The lanes run from Onawa to Akoramga Station, one of the city’s busiest public service stations. Northern Busway is cheaper compared to other alternatives. The buses are larger compared to standard buses used in other cities across the world. The company runs super clean buses and also offers credit cards that can be used in the city’s convenient stores. Punctuality is also another core value of Northern Busway, making it one of the best BRT systems in the world. Curitiba Rapid Bus Transit System (Brazil, South America) Curitiba BRT is Brazil’s regional bus rapid transport system. Unlike other transport systems, Curitiba BRT is seen as the solution to Brazil’s ever growing population. It is the low cost alternative to the ever congested rail transit system. Since its inception, Curitiba BRT has transformed itself into a global phenomenon thanks to its low cost and reliability. Unlike most rail transit systems, Curitiba BRT is less congested and more effective. The system is efficient and clean. Curitiba’s increasing network of stations is a clear indicator of the rising prominence of the BRT system across the country. Other than being the low cost alternative to cabs, rail transit and personal or private transport, the Curitiba BRT has been known to solve urban traffic problems by necessitating mass transportation [3]. The Curitiba BRT has wider networks of buses thus reaching to greater masses compared to other forms of transport. O Bahn Busway (Adelide Austrlia) This is part of the greater Australian BRT that covers the cities of Adelaide and its surroundings. O Bahn has been widely acknowledged for its wonderful service and punctuality. Its large quantity of buses, ensures that commuters have a bus after every ten minutes. The bus system fully services the Adelaide area connecting the city’s suburbs to important areas like hospitals, airports and police stations. The city’s bus transit system offers credit cards that can also be used for normal financial transactions [4]. O Bahn coaches are clean, large and secure with no cases of accidents for the past nine years. This makes it one of the safest and most efficient bus systems across the globe. It is also low cost and boasts of a wider network compared to other public transport systems. [1] Levinson, Herbert S. 2001. “Bus transit in the twenty first century: some perspectives and prospects”. Transportation Research Record. (1760): 42-46. [2] National Research Council (U.S.). 2001. Transit: bus transit& maintenance, paratransit, and new technology. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press [3] International Conference on Urban Transport and the Environment, L. J. Sucharov, and C. A. Brebbia. 2001. Urban transport V: urban transport&the environment in the 21st century. Southampton: WIT Press. [4] Murray, Dónal. 2014. Bus rapid transit for the 21st century. [Scotts Valley, Calif.]: [CreateSpace].
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Case Study: Innovative Boat Transport around the World By Sabrina Rivera Throughout history, waterways have been essential for the transportation of people and goods around the world. Evidence shows that an effective waterway transportation system is vital to the economic development of a city or region. According to the Water Encyclopedia, iIn the United States, there are more than 25,000 inland waterways that are used for commercial transportation. More specifically, iIn New York City, there are eight major waterways used for commercial and cargo transportation, for example, tThe East River .1 The East River is a 16-mile navigable tidal strait separating Manhattan Island from Brooklyn and Queens.2 However, the only medium of public transportation that travels through the river is the East River Ferry that connects Manhattan with various destinations in Brooklyn, Queens, and Governors Island. Having said this, innovative and sustainable examples of boat transportations around the world, such as: Electrically-powered Ferries from Norway and futuristic boat transportation projects such as Waterway 365 in Stockholm, can be imitated and used in the East River of New York City to improve transportation flow and achieve sustainable water mobility. Electric Ferries in Norway run on Hydropower. Odd Moen, an engineer who is responsible for ship solution sales at Siemens Norway, has stated in the article, Setting a Course for Carbon-Ffree Sshipping, “For more than 100 years, there have been battery-powered submarines that run solely on electricity. That got us wondering why we couldn’t bring such a drive system concept to the surface, so to speak.” 3 The first example of one of the most innovative boat transportations in the world was created in Norway by Siemens together with Fjellstrand, a Norwegian shipyard. In partnership, they developed the world’s first electrically powered ferry with 0 carbon footprint. Moen states, “We pooled our expertise – Fjellstrand’s knowledge of energy-efficient shipbuilding and Siemens’ electric propulsion expertise. The result is a sophisticated concept that’s unparalleled anywhere in the world and unrivaled in terms of environmental compatibility.” 4 The ferry, which has a capacity of 360 passengers and 120 cars is 80 meters long and is driven by two electric motors powered by lithium-ion batteries that are recharged at each pier. Siemens and Fjellstrand engineers were experiencing technical problems with battery range. Hhowever., Tto address this problem, Moen explains, “Siemens’ installed one lithium-ion battery at each pier to serve as a buffer. The 260-kWh unit supplies electricity to the ferry while it waits. Afterward, the battery slowly recoups all of this energy from the grid until the ship comes back again to drop off passengers and recharge. The charging stations are housed in a small building about the size of a newsstand.” 5 The ferry travels 34 times across a six- kilometer crossing per day in only 20 minutes silently without burning fossil fuels nor producing any type of pollutants. 6 On the contrary, Siemens says that a conventional ferry traveling the same route, consumes around one million liters of diesel fuel and emits 2,680 tons of carbon dioxide and 37 tons of nitrogen oxide each year.7 To understand even further as to why this electrically powered ferry is a positive environmental form of transportation, Siemens makes it clear that “The electricity in this area is generated exclusively by hydroelectric plants. This makes the energy the ferry uses cheaper than diesel. It also means the ship doesn’t emit even one gram of carbon dioxide, directly or indirectly.” 8 Without doubt, the electrically powered ferry is not only an example of creativity and innovation, but of sustainability; one that should be imitated and implemented around the world. Waterway 365 - Innovative boat buses: Another example of innovation and creativity that could be imitated in New York City, is Waterway 365, a research initiative started in 2013 by The Royal Institute of Technology with support from the Swedish Maritime Administration.9 The goal of this project, as stated in the KTH System Analysis: Waterway 365, is to create innovative transport systems and solutions for inland waterways in congested cities such as Stockholm, Copenhagen, and Gothenburg before 2020, in order to generate new city space, add transport capacity, offer new communication paths and improve transport flow in these cities and in cities around the world.10 In an article published by the KTH Urban Waterways Could Reduce Congestion, Karl Garme, a researcher at KTH Royal Institute of Technologies department of aeronautical and vehicle engineering states, “Water buses could reduce the load on land-based transit without doing harm to the environment.” 11A group of engineers and researchers presented
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different ideas, all of which could be redesigned into cities around the world as well as complement the land-based transport systems present and improve overall sustainability. The ideas presented varied from single person travelers up to large public transport systems. One of the ideas presented by Waterway 365 was “The City Boat”, an innovative maritime complement to trains, subways and buses.12 The City Boat will transport approximately 125 passengers, 50 of which will be able to be seated. This boat will be used for short distances of 5.5 kilometers which according to the researchers is similar to the distance between 3 bus stops or 1-3 underground stations and will take about 10 minutes in travel time. The KTH System Analysis states, “The short distances between terminals indicate that the efficiency of the journey is not only dependent of the speed at sea. Therefore, and considering the strong correlation between speed and energy consumption the City boat is given a design speed of 10 knots or 18.5 km/h. This is similar to the mean speed 17.6 km/h reported by Blomquist P (2013) for the city bus and tram service in Gothenburg. At the proposed design speed of around 10 knots, the energy consumption, estimated for 65% fullness is less than for buses, a fair estimate is to say, in the range between trains and busses at present state of technology.” 13 Evidence shows that The City boat is a more sustainable form of transportation compared to ferries and traditional ships due its low energy consumption and lightweight which not only saves material but also minimizes manufacturing costs at production. Waterway 365 serves as an example of change and modernization in boat transportation systems, that can also be imitated and implemented in New York City or in any other city around the world. Waterway 365 and the Electrically-powered ferry are only few examples of the most innovative and creative boat transportation systems around the world that have been, or will be implemented in cities. They serve as models of change and alteration in our present systems and as inspiration to new and upcoming engineers, designers and creatives to think beyond and implement sustainability when creating our future boat transportation systems. References 1 2020, By. “Water Encyclopedia.” Transportation. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2016. 2 “East River.” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2016. 3 Siemens. “Setting a Course for Carbon-Free Shipping.” Electric Mobility: Electric Ferries. N.p., 17 Mar. 2016. Web. 06 Nov. 2016. 4 Siemens. “Setting a Course for Carbon-Free Shipping.” Electric Mobility: Electric Ferries. N.p., 17 Mar. 2016. Web. 06 Nov. 2016. 5 Siemens. “Setting a Course for Carbon-Free Shipping.” Electric Mobility: Electric Ferries. N.p., 17 Mar. 2016. Web. 06 Nov. 2016. 6 Siemens. “Setting a Course for Carbon-Free Shipping.” Electric Mobility: Electric Ferries. N.p., 17 Mar. 2016. Web. 06 Nov. 2016. 7 Siemens. “Setting a Course for Carbon-Free Shipping.” Electric Mobility: Electric Ferries. N.p., 17 Mar. 2016. Web. 06 Nov. 2016. 8 Siemens. “Setting a Course for Carbon-Free Shipping.” Electric Mobility: Electric Ferries. N.p., 17 Mar. 2016. Web. 06 Nov. 2016. 9 “Vision: Sustainable, Attractive Cities, Where It Is Easy to Live and Travel - Waterway 365.” Waterway 365. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2016. 10 “Vision: Sustainable, Attractive Cities, Where It Is Easy to Live and Travel - Waterway 365.” Waterway 365. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Nov. 2016. 11 Transport, Urban. “Urban Waterways Could Reduce Congestion.” KTH. N.p., 12 May 2014. Web. 06 Nov. 2016. /.latest_citation_text 12 Stenius, Ivan, Karl Garme, Susanna Hall Kihl, and Magnus Burman. “System Analysis of Challenges in Increased Urban Mobility by Utilization of the Water Ways.” WATERWAY 365 (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 01 Nov. 2016. 13 Stenius, Ivan, Karl Garme, Susanna Hall Kihl, and Magnus Burman. “System Analysis of Challenges in Increased Urban Mobility by Utilization of the Water Ways.” WATERWAY 365 (n.d.): n. pag. Web. 01 Nov. 2016.
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History and Issues of Bicycling in NYC By Eugenia Lacayo Given the 2019 L-train subway shutdown in NYC, bBicycling is a great transit alternative to consider. Bicycling is a fun and affordable way to get around town; it gets you there faster, cheaper, and more sustainably than riding a taxi or an Uber. Bicycles have not always been popular in our fast moving city. “In 1881, three cyclists rode their bikes into Central Park near 110th Street and were promptly arrested.”1 This was considered a small act of disobedience, which seems ridiculous today.. However, cars were not yet invented and working class men used the bicycles as a form for transportation, their only way for commuting that was considered to be very unsafe. By the beginning of the 1900s, cars gained popularity and bikes were shifted towards becoming a children’s toy. Furthermore, as the years progressed and the hippie movement kicked in, a bicycle boom occurred, not only was cycling viewed as a sport but it was also viewed as making a statement. People cycled to go against the mainstream, to speak up about the environment or health conditions in an active way, in other words to protest. The combination of these civil acts and increases in oil prices led to the bike messengers and tour bicycles of the 1970s, 80s and 90s to emerge.2 As cycling gained popularity once again, parks began to close sections of parks to host bicycle events. Proposals for bikeways from citizens started to emerge and it wasn’t until 1978 that the city listened to civilians and proposed to spend $1.6 million for a bikeway program that strengthened lines of communication among civilians and the government that made the “first bike lanes possible: the southbound lane traveled on Broadway between Central Park South and 23rd Street, then Fifth Avenue to Washington Square (3 miles), and the northbound lane went up Sixth Avenue between 8th Street and Central Park South (2.5 miles).3” As the bicycle was used for leisure activities as well as a mode of transportation, cyclists began to demand for more. “In 1979, the Department of Transportation established a federally funded Bicycle Safety Coordinator position that raised awareness of the presence of bicycles on the city’s streets.4” It led to a boom in green areas and bike lanes around Manhattan. All around the city there are now lanes placed between the parking lane and traffic lane or are shared by vehicle lanes and only marked by signs. Although it is now safer to ride than before, pedestrians and cyclists still do not consider it safe enough. Over 500,000 New Yorkers are biking regularly, and this is not even close to the number that would start bicycling if they did not feel unsafe on the road with motorists and vehicles next to them.5 When New York developed, its roads were designed for cars, not to be shared. New York streets are very narrow; it is all an act of balancing and of placing priorities. Citizens must choose whether to give more space for cars to park, or whether to yield that space to cyclists. Even if the community votes to take up slightly more of the road to provide for bike lanes, drivers don’t respect the space. Frequently, one sees cars or trucks being parked on the supposed bike lane, making cyclist turn aside towards the car lane, becoming riskier for them. It may not be done on purpose since it is clear that there is a limited amount of parking space in the city, but it still puts lives at risk. There is no physical barrier in the way of vehicles to stop them from parking on bike lanes, which brings in another issue at hand. Most of the bicycle lanes in New York City are separated by white strip paint on the pavement. Yes, it is better to have these unprotected bike lanes than nothing at all, but it is still not safe enough for the residents. There is not enough space for a car and a bike, especially in the boroughs, so cars usually get in your way.6
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“The number of cyclists in NYC more than doubled between 2005 and 2010, and will triple again by 2017.7” This may be taken as a positive analysis given the fact that more bicyclists on the streets, the safer they are. This may be due to the fact that drivers become more aware or familiar with cyclists and that people feel safer riding along with other people.8 Although protected lanes require more space, it is now time to find a way to engage them on city streets, bike lanes are inexpensive compared to other transportation means, and bicycling itself only brings in benefits that we must protect and advocate. Reference: 1https://macaulay.cuny.edu/eportfolios/adiv14_magazine/2014/05/18/the” 2 http://www.ibike.org/library/history”timeline.htm 3https://www.nycgovparks.org/about/history/bicycling 4 https://www.nycgovparks.org/about/history/bicycling 5https://www.thrillist.com/news/new”york/why”is”biking”in”nyc”so”dangerous”and”how”can”it”be”improved 6https://www.thrillist. com/news/new”york/why”is”biking”in”nyc”so”dangerous”and”how”can”it”be”improved 7https://www.transalt.org/issues/bike/bikefaq 8https://www.transalt.org/issues/bike/bikefaq
How Buses and Bikes Impact the Economy By Xianwen (Amy) Chen Stakeholders: According to a group of New York cCartographers there are at least 18,889 families “that would not have the financial resources and job flexibility to overcome a major transit disruption”1 in the L-train. The hidden cost-savings of BRT(Bus rapid transit) is a high-quality, efficient mass transport mode, providing capacity and speed comparable with urban rail (light and heavy rail). 4 Generally, this new transportation mode creates 5 benefits. Firstly, travel time is saved as there are segregated busways with a prepaid system, at the same time, the high-capacity buses are accompanied by a high-frequency. Secondly, there is pollutant reduction by introducing the new technology BRT buses. Better driving trainings guaranteed the most efficient routes that lead to lower fuel consumption and emissions. Thirdly, road safety is improved as there are fewer interactions by the separated busways. Clear vehicle technology is applied for reducing exposure of the passengers to air pollutant. Last but not least, there is more physical activity as the walking distance to the BRT stations is longer while there is an incentive of high speed. BRT will make affordable transport with all these non-monetized co-benefits. The surprising benefits of biker consumerism: The most common phrase when we hear the promotion about riding a bicycle is “protecting environment by reducing the emission.” However, according to Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, an investigation shows that by promoting bicycle riding , the local retailing business will boom. In a study of shoppers in the East Village of NYC in 2012, the experts found that cyclists spent the most money at local businesses. The results were as below: 1) Bicyclists: $168; 2) Pedestrians: $158; 3) Car drivers: $143; 4) Public transit: $111. Similar results came up in other states countries includinge Oregon and , California, and in the countries of New Zealand, and Canada. Other unmonetized benefits of bicycle riding include healthy exerciseexercize, reduced car casualties, and private parking space could be used more efficient (private bicycles take up less space than private cars) which will save more public space for the local residence (park, etc.). As the Federal Highway Administration states “road diets can provide cyclists with added safety through dedicated bike lanes, increase pedestrian safety, provide on-street parking, increase compliance with speed limits, and reduce many types of crashes.”3 Social Return on Dollar Invested: Apart from a series of benefits and advantages froorm the innovative ideas above, according to a research report from APTA (the American Public Transportation Association), there are many pieces of evidence showing the im-
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portant and positive connection between public transit and local economic development, productivity, and job creation. 5 According to the report, more than 50,000 jobs (mostly private sector) are created with every $1 billion of investment in public transportation while $4 economic return to a community for every $1 invested in public transportation.5 The investment would also bering a huge amount of contribution to the U.S. GDP each year. The economy will benefit from a broader labor markets and the regional growth will be boomed. Reference: 1 Https://www.facebook.com/tanviwritesstuff. “How Will Brooklynites Get to Manhattan?” CityLab. July 27, 2016. Accessed November 05, 2016. http://www.citylab.com/commute/2016/07/the-impact-of-nycs-l-train-shutdown-in-4-maps/493115/. 2 “L Train Coalition Business Survey - The L Train Coalition.” The L Train Coalition RSS2. October 24, 2016. Accessed November 05, 2016. http://ltraincoalition.com/2016/10/18/l-train-coalition-business-survey/. 3 @e_jaffe. “The Complete Business Case for Converting Street Parking Into Bike Lanes.” CityLab. March 13, 2015. Accessed November 05, 2016. http://www.citylab.com/cityfixer/2015/03/the-complete-business-case-for-converting-street-parking-into-bikelanes/387595/. 4 “Social, Environmental and Economic Impacts of Bus Rapid Transit.” WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities. Accessed November 05, 2016. http://www.wrirosscities.org/research/publication/social-environmental-and-economic-impacts-bus-rapid-transit. 5 Dorsey, Inc. Piccirilli. “The Economic Impact of Public Transportation Investment: Stories from Around the Country.” Environmental and Energy Study Institute. May 05, 2014. Accessed November 05, 2016. http://www.eesi.org/briefings/view/051514transit.
How E-commerce led to a new kind of Sharing Economy By Kevin Chen The sharing economy refers to collaborative consumption, usually online. There are numerous businesses based on the principle of sharing economy such as Alibaba, Airbnb, and Uber. They have one common feature: they are a platform which establishes connections between consumers and owners. It bring up lots of benefits and also many problems. For instance, Wwhen e-commerce began to emerge in the market, iIt gave people a completely a new idea of shopping with more leisure and efficient shopping experiences. People no longer needed to go to a brick-and-mortar store to purchase goods (with significant benefit for rural people). “First, e-commerce enables a business to extend its geographic reach to customers around the globe.” However, online shopping has lots of issues, such as lack of trust: concern about product qualities, fake products, or inaccurate items. On the sellers’ side, there is also worry that consumers do not make payments after they send out goods. The Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba comes up with a perfect solution., They created a transferring system called Alipay. The role of Alipay is like a money keeper for consumers, once consumers make their payments, money doesis not directly go to sellers’ accounts, those money will only be transferred to sellers once consumers are satisfied with their purchasing items. “As it became clear to me later, the reason has to do with the requirement that input for a purchase, to include delivery details, must be written in Chinese, and our laptop has the capability of typing Chinese words. At the bottom of the China eBay storefront, there is a link to a business license that is issued by the Chinese government. All the online merchants in China are required to provide access to an official license.” Official licenses ensure all products are good from merchants. This system enhanced online trading safety. Uber is an innovative sharing economy. It improves people’s riding experiences, on the other hand, it also provides lots of car owners secondary job opportunities. However,as since more drivers joined Uber, safety became a big issue, lots of customers reported some drivers made assaults. In early 2016, Uber declared that it wanted to be everyone’s private driver.“ In Uber’s early days, it said it wanted to be ‘everyone’s private driver.’ Now the company and its main U.S. competitor, Lyft, are playing around with the idea of becoming the bus driver, too. Uber has partnered with a handful of local public transportation agencies to strike deals like the one in Pinellas Park, which it expanded earlier this month. Later this month Lyft plans to launch a partnership with Centennial, Colorado, its first deal where a local government will subsidize its rides. The company also said it has helped a dozen transit agencies
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apply for federal grants that would pay for a portion of Lyft fares in situations where its drivers would effectively become part of the public transportation system.” Reference: The Editors of Salem Press, ed. Business Reference Guide : E-Commerce and Retail Merchandising. Ipswich, MA, USA: Salem Press, 2014. Accessed November 6, 2016. Emurian, Henry H. “E-Commerce in China: A Personal Perspective.” Information Management Fall 2006: 23,23,30,32. ProQuest. November 6. 2016. Brustein, Joshua. “Uber and Lyft Want to Replace Public Buses.” Bloomberg.com. August 15, 2016. Accessed November 06, 2016. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-08-15/uber-and-lyft-want-to-replace-public-buses.
Human Health Benefits from Public Gardens By Xiaoshu Ni As modern society developed, buildings altered from wood or stone structure to concrete constructions. Although, this represented the high-end technologies and rapidly developed architecture skills, the percentage of green plant coverage was continuously reduced in recent decades. In recent years, many governments came up with a strategy to figure out the problem of lacking greenness----Public Garden. The public garden can enhance human health both physically and psychologically. Also, green plants can relax human eyes muscle, and reduce fear, anger, blood pressure, and muscle tension. Also, improving the outlook and life satisfaction, helps us to cope with and recover from stress, improves our ability to recover from illness and injury, restores concentration, and improves productivity. Adding beauty to the city and enhancing the satisfaction of citizens with their own city are also parts of the benefits. As we know, air, water, and soil are the elements essential to all life on the earth. For trees, nutrition comes from the soil and is transported by water from the roots to the leaves. The leaves capture sunlight and air to transform the sap into sugar that will then be used to feed all of the tree’s living cells. As part of this process, some of the air is filtered and returned to the atmosphere. The most common point of the advantages is the ability to restore oxygen and increase photosynthesis, which could absorb carbon dioxide and release more oxygen for human beings. Moreover, the public garden will provide a large amount of soil to the environment, which could filter the rainwater and then purify the lake, river, also the underground water. The public garden can even reduce soil runoff and wind or sand erosion. Cities that own large areas for green plants offer some amazing benefits by purifyng the polluted air and cooling the whole city temperature. Since the first industrial revolution, the air quality of urban areas was rapidly getting worse, which was a problem lasting until now. Like some cities in China, polluted air has changed to smog which would harm human’s respiratory system. Plants play an essential role in purifying the air we breathe. Trees also need the breath, but not the same way that human beings do with our lungs. They perform photosynthesis. Plants absorb sunlight and turn the sunlight into energy and nutrition, then deliver the nutrition to the root to support the growth. An essential part of photosynthesis is what plants exhale, oxygen, which is opposite to what human beings exhale, the carbon dioxide. CO2 is the kind of element plants use to breath. So, air is filtered by the tree and returned to the atmosphere in the form of oxygen. Thus, the green coverage would improve the oxygen level in the atmosphere and also purify the micro particles in the air. The public garden is also good for human’s mental health. People often use their voluntary attention during work, school or even get along with others, but voluntary attention needs people to focus their attention, they have to keep away all the distractions in the environment by using their own effort. However, nature can give voluntary attention a rest and allows involuntary attention to
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take over and recharge the human psyche, which is really a good way for people to relax and give their brain a break from highstress working. Improved concentration, more rapid healing, and improved environmental conditions are all the advantages of the public garden. Public gardens provide a possibility for people to get more sustainable and health food since there is much fewer places in urban areas that could afford to cultivate organic food. Urban agriculture is a unique way for citizens to gain organic food, and an increasing number of city governments are taking advantage of this special way now. Urban gardening tends to build unused public spaces or the ones used poorly, then transform them into productive gardens which are open to the public or designed to benefit specific social service or nonprofit groups. Some forms of urban gardening look to replace cement or vacant lots with vibrant growth while others try to reframe gardens from just looking good to tasting good, too. Aside from the relatively larger benefits, the public garden is also good to the local micro-climate. Our natural world is composed by hundred and thousand of different creatures and lives. In the urban circumstance, there is not much natural space to host diverse species. Thus, the public garden is serving as a tiny bio-world, a microdiversity tribe inside the concrete city. Each component of the bio-world exhibits their unique spatial and temporal responses to every change in the natural structure. Also, the biodiversity could bring the nature world more dynamics, it is just like the digestion system of human beings. People need a healthy, well operating metabolism system to support the basic actions of daily life. The natural world is similar to human, it needs dynamics to operate the whole eco-system, which was benefited by those plants. Microclimate would influence the whole ecosystem, though it is composed of many tiny elements which we even cannot see. So, the public garden is intelligent and necessary for cities to improve the urban circumstance. Not only the benefits mentioned above, this kind of urban forests also provide substantial economic benefits. New York city street trees provide $520,000 each year to increase the value of city properties. Environmental benefits, economic improvement, citizen health, city portrait… those are all the benefits brought by the public garden, which definitely would make the world much more sustainable. Reference: 1.The Trust for Public Land. (Winter 2004). The role of parks and greenspace in urban redevelopment. Retrieved October 31, 2006, from http://www.tpl.org 2.Blair, Dorothy. (2009). The Child in the Garden: An Evaluative Review of the Benefits of School Gardening. Journal of Environmental Education 40:2, 19.) 3.”Report Shows Urban Green Space Cuts Air Pollution and Cools the City.” David Suzuki Foundation. The Ontario Public Health Convention, 24 Mar. 2015. Web. 06 Nov. 2016. 4.By Using Trees to Modify Temperatures, the Amount of Fossil Fuels Used for Cooling and Heating by Homeowners and Businesses Is Reduced. Our City’s Street Trees Provide $27 Million a Year in Energy Savings. “MillionTrees NYC - About MTNYC - NYC’s Urban Forest.” MillionTrees NYC - About MTNYC - NYC’s Urban Forest. Accessed November 06, 2016. http://milliontreesnyc.org/html/about/ forest.shtml.
Why doesn’t New York City subway system have public restrooms? By Ping He Public restrooms seems to be athe basic public facility that a city should have, while New York City, as one of the biggest city in the world, lacks this essential facility. Security concerns and budget constraints are the two major reasons why New York City subway system does not have any bathrooms. Nevertheless, in actuality, restrooms do exist for transit employee. Some stations will open the employee restroom to the public based on their demand, but it was reported that such requests are usually denied.
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Historical and Current Status of NYC restrooms. When we look back into the history, there was a time when New York City subway actually had public restrooms. According to citylab.com, back in 1940 when Fiorello LaGuardia was in charge of the city, there were 1,676 functioning toilets in subway stations throughout the system — and all of them received weekly inspections. Nevertheless, as time passed most of the subway public restrooms lacked maintenance and were gradually closed. A survey of the Manhattan facilities conducted by New York magazine in 2006 found most of them are either impossible to locate or closed for “construction,” and the rest were gross. A citywide survey, done by AM New York in 2010, found that 60 of the 129 total restrooms were locked or being used for another purpose, such as storage (the rest were still pretty gross.). The MTA cited “criminal activity” as the main reason for the closures. Then comes the significant question: how to design a practical public bathroom in the subway? Portland Public Restroom Case Study. While NYC public restrooms have been shut down because of security and maintenance problems, the Portland restrooms have been around a long time and are clean. The problem with the failed restroom is, according to Anna DiBenedetto, a staff assistant to city commissioner Randy Leonard, and also the spiritual godfather of the Portland public bathroom, is that they are too comfortable and personal. “Trying to be comfortable and private makes people feel more empowered to do the illegal activities that people do in public toilets,” said Anna DiBenedetto. The goal of the Portland restroom is to make people finish their business as quick as they can and leave as soon as they finished. There is no running water inside the bathroom, in order to prevent the possibility of homeless people washing their clothes using the sink. There is no mirror in the restroom so no one can break the mirror. There are bars at top and the bottom of the toilets’ structure. This structure is to enable cops to have a sense of what is happening inside the bathroom, and to make sure that nothing illegal is being done inside. With this opening, pedestrians are also able to hear hear the grunts and splashes of the person inside and the person inside hear the footsteps and conversation of pedestrians. Nobody wants to stick around such a toilet for long. The toilet also has a graffiti-proof coating. The price of building this practical public restroom is very affordable. For the first time, the city paid approximately $140,000. For the subsequent one, the fee has gone down to about $90,000, with an annual maintenance fee of $12,000 per commode. Creative Restrooms. Compare to this super practical and functional bathroom system in Portland, there are also some artful and conceptual public bathrooms. For example, in Solomon E. Guggenheim museum, there is a closestool made with pure gold. There are flower-shaped urinals at the garden centre in Shepton Mallet, Somerset. As a creative city, New York City can also consider to include this kind of design when thinking about building restrooms. New York City can learn from the super practical public restroom in Portland as well as all the other strange bathroom designs. Reference: www.citylab.com/commute/2013/01/why-dont-american-subway-stations-have-public-bathrooms/4304/ www.citylab.com/desugn/2012/01/why-portlands-public-toilets-succeeded-where-others-failed/1020/
NYC’s Plan for Improving Transportation By Hsin Ting (Iris) Wu There are a lot of transportation systems going on in the city, such as the bridges, tunnels, roads, and subways. However, New York City is still known as being crowded throughout the boroughs. According to the American Community Survey 2007-2009 pie chart, Most of the New Yorkers take the subway or railroads to work. Subways in the city are too unstable because of train delays and service changes. It often causes people late from going to somewhere. The city has a lot of plans for improving its public transportation.
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Improve and expand bus service throughout the city. Buses can carry 2.3 million of citizens each day. In a lot of neighborhoods, buses are the only public transportation option for the residents. Buses have more stops and lines than the subway systems. New York buses have worked with the MTA to use technology service to make it more attractive and also convenient to the people using it. The MTA Bus Time is a new bus time information system that will be installed on all bus routes. It tells riders where their bus is by web, text service, or on-street LCD displays. Improve and expand subway and commuter rail. Since now we know that the L-train is going to be shutdown in 2019, having improvements and expand subway lines is a really important topic. The “W” line has been brought back and is working in early November 2016. We look forward to have more subway lines or commuter rails back, or even create new ones. Having some connected to the North Shore of Staten Island, or under the Hudson River might be good ideas. Expand for-hire vehicle service throughout our neighborhoods. The for-hire vehicle services is getting bigger and bigger in the city. There are lots of new car service companies coming up. It is more common to have pick ups in the city, but it is also available almost throughout the whole city. No matter taxis or car services, there are still expanding their service areas. Promote car sharing. New York City is already the largest market for car sharing in the country. Only 54% of NYC households own a car, so it makes totally sense that the car-sharing idea should work out. In 2010, there is a pilot program launched to replace 50 vehicles based in Lower Manhattan with a private car-sharing company, ZipCars. Expand and improve ferry service. Ferries could carry over 90,000 people each day between Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and New Jersey. The busiest route in the city is the Staten Island Ferry. We would like to have ferry services along the East River. It would be a nice way cross the river for people who used to take the L-train. Make bicycling safer and more convenient. Since Citi Bike in launched in New York City, many people also chooses to use it as a major public transportation. It is convenient because it is also a sharing system, which you could pick up a bike and park it at any stops with only paying a small fee. You could see the bike lanes almost everywhere in the city. The bike stops in the city should expand more. Enhance pedestrian access and safety. Most of the New Yorkers walk in some point of their daily life, so pedestrians’ safety is really important. The pedestrian countdown signals are almost everywhere in the city. Also, a standardized pedestrian way finding system for New York will be nice for avoiding people getting lost. Make all the city’s neighborhoods accessible to natives and visitors alike are also good acts for protecting the people. Improving the public transportation systems in the city is a really important topic. New York City is such a big city that has a lot of people going throughout the city everyday. Reference: http://www.nyc.gov/html/planyc/downloads/pdf/publications/planyc_2011_planyc_full_report.pdf
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Design Solutions in response to the L-train shutdown In 2012, superstorm Sandy’s storm surge flooded the 100-year-old Canarsie Tunnel under the East River with millions of gallons of salt water, causing irreparable damage. In response, the MTA announced it would need to shut down the L train between Manhattan and Brooklyn for 18 months beginning as early as January 2019 so that it can make critical repairs. The L train carries 400,000 New Yorkers every weekday; this includes 50,000 in Manhattan alone and 200,000 under the river (http://web.mta.info/sandy/river_crossings.htm). Therefore, about a quarter of a million weekday riders will have their route interrupted. This is approximately the same as the population of the city of Buffalo (258,000), and only slightly less than the entire population of Jersey City (265,000). Our projects address short and long-term opportunities for making NYC and it’s transportation system better.
The Cable Car I a new public transportation line for new york citizens by Kevin Chen Zhihong Fu Abstract New York city is also known as world’s capital, One of the most densely populated city in the world. Therefore, the transportation system is crucial to keep New York city alive, it directly impacts businesses, economy and residents’ daily lives. In the aftermath of mega storm “Sandy”, New York’s transportation system has been damaged and it takes time to recover. L-train shutdown impacts residents and businesses between Manhattan and Brooklyn areas. In order to solve the inconvenience, we came out with a plan to replace L-train during the shutdown and can also be used permanently due to sustainable reasons. This proposal will instantly solve residents’ transportation issue between 14th street Manhattan and Williamsburg Brooklyn. Since energy waste is a primitive concern, deploying cable cars between 14th street and Williamsburg is the best solution. Our goal is to transport people as many as possible by using minimum resources. Manhattan has numerous tall buildings and they potentially give opportunity to install cable car stops instead of waste resources to build additional cable car platforms. Beside providing people convenient daily lives and businesses, we also hope our cable car project can be able to bring a leisure experience while people are traveling between Manhattan and Brooklyn.
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Cable Car Line Overview
Stops in Manhattan The Cable Car Linemeets subway stations and transfer is available to F, M, J, Z, N, Q, R, W, A, C, E, 6 and 1 trains.
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Stops in Brookly The Cable Car Line meets the original L-train stop at Grant St and then goes towards Queens through Grand Ave.
Stops in Queens The Cable Car Line meets subway E, M, R trains at Grand Av - Newtown and ends there.
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ew York city is an old and developed city and full of infrastructures. Due to this reason, it is very difficult for us to design an alternative plan neither on surface or underground. Due to our deep consideration from many aspects, we decide to design a cable car route to transport residents between Manhattan and Brooklyn areas. Cable cars are normally used in natural scenic areas. It is really unusual to see a huge cable car project takes place in a mega city like New York. New York has its potentials to build cable car systems. Those tall buildings can be platforms for cable car stops, so we can save workforces and money to build additional platforms. Compare to buses and private cars cross bridge, cable car shows its significant advantages. Firstly, cable car allows more residents to travel at once. Secondly, road condition is hardly to be predicted. People always complain about bad traffic condition while they are crossing the bridge. However, cable car has its ability to avoid any traffic jams and it gives travelers a fixed schedule which indirectly helps the efficiency in businesses and residents’ live qualities. Lastly, since New York city is one of the busiest city in the world and people’s daily paces are very fast and they are stressed by works, cable car is a perfect way to provide a leisure experience for New Yorkers. On the cable car, they can relax and enjoy the view of New York city.
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n our design, the cable car line connects Manhattan with Brooklyn through Williamsburg Bridge. This line can transfer people between Manhattan and Brooklyn during L-train shutdown. Because of sustainability, this new cable car line will not only be an replacement for L-train for only 18 months. We designed it to be permanent so that after L-train backs to work the cable car can still be useful and separate the increasing number of people in New York City. Because there is no public transportation goes across Manhattan on Canal Street, we decided to built the cable car line from Williamsburg Bridge all the way to the west. Stops will be built on Essex St, Bowery St, Spring St and Canal St. The last stop is Canal Street and Hudson Street. The cable car line meets subway stations and transfer is available to F, M, J, Z, N, Q, R, W, A, C, E, 6 and 1 trains. Also, the cable car will not stop at Williamsburg in Brooklyn. It goes into Brooklyn through Grand street. It meets the original L-train stop at Grant St and then goes towards Queens through Grand Ave. Eventually it meets subway E, M, R trains at Grand Av - Newtown and ends there. Bus lines will be planned in Brooklyn according to the cable car line in order to transfer people to cable car stops. Our cable car design increases the sustainability of New York City. It also provides a new public transportation to all citizens.
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Public Restrooms for L Train By: Ping He
Summary: People who travel to New York City may found that the subway is really gross, because homeless people always pee inside the subway, and there is no public restroom inside the subway. This project is dedicates to solve this problem, by designing a practical and long-lasting restroom system. The design is very basic, and it’s goal is to limit the maintenance fee, since maintenance is the main problem that cause the public restrooms so hard to keep alive. The appearance of the restroom is simple, but got a futuristic feeling. There is no mirror inside the restroom so people have no chance to break the mirror. There is no sink or roll paper inside, to prevent misuse of these resources. The space inside the restroom is small and it is a closed space, in order to make people feel like not to stay too long inside. Nevertheless, a gap is opened between the door and the ground. This is to enable police and other people outside to notice if anything wrong is happening inside. The entire restroom is designed to be white, because white color is proved to lower the possibility of destructive action. This design also try to keep our restroom sustainable. In areas lack of water, the restroom uses cat litter. There is a weight detector inside the pedestal pan. When weight reach a certain point, the machine changes the litter automatically. When the litter inside the reservoir is used over, The machine notifies staffs to add some more.
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Cable Car System solutions for L train Shutdown by Tingting Luo
ABSTRACT: The L train is going to be shut down for 18 months. To reduce the inconveniece of the residence, I designed a cable car bridge that connected to the both sides of the East River to transport people from both sides. The cable car system will be high efficent and sustainable to the environtmnt because it includes many natural energy source devices. Unique designs of the elecaors and cable cars enables to carry more people during rush hours.
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Cable Car Bridge responce to L-train shutdown by Tingting Luo
Cable Car bridge is designed to be an alternet solution to the upcoming shutdown of the L train. While L train being shutdown, millions of people need to find another way to travel across the East River. The Cable Car system is going to be placed across East river near Williamsburg bridge. After the shutdown, this can be perserved and become another choice for people who travels between brooklyn and Manhattan. It can also be a spot for tourists to the the landscape of New York City in the future There will be two huge elevators on each side of the East River to carry people up to the platform. The elevators is not like other elevators who only have one lift for going up and down. This elevator has eight lifts totoal: they only goes to one direction. There will be no waiting for the elevator because it opens and close automatically in order to increase efficeincy of carrying people. Once people reach to the platform they will be able to take the cable car by order. There will be total 50 cable car on both direction. Each cable car can carry 15 people. There is a stop station in the middle of the East river where you can change a direction if you need to go back or you can just sit on chairs on the platform and appreciate the beautiful sights of New York City. This can be another tourists spot in New York City. Those cable cars were produced by strong steels with protect cover outside to prevent rust from rainy days. There are three devices placed on the cable car system to make the whole project more sustainable. Solar panels were installed on the top of each cable car. It absorbs solar power into electricities during sunny days. Outside the elevators and the middle platform were three fans that can transform wind power to electricity in order to generate cable cars. Underneath the middle platform is a hydro electrical device and can generate electricity from kinetic energy of the water flows. Those extra programs saves the cost of fossil fuels to protect the environment as well as the financial cost of fossil fuels if we make it a long-term program. Because there is only 18 months, concerns about time matter should also be considered. From my experience in my hometown it only took less an year to finish the entire subway so there might be chance to ask funds from the government and hire more workers from other countries to work for this project in order to complete the whole bridge on time. Or it can be built on the Williamsburg bridge to save time doing the concrete work. The whole program is able to carry around 250000 people a day to reduce the traffic jams and other safety issues might be caused after the L train shutdown.
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The City Bikes
benefit from existing means for productive transportation by Eugenia Lacayo
ABSTRACT: As the L-Train is temporarily being shutdown, beginning January 2019 millions of New Yorkers will be directly impacted. The L-train plays an integral role in transporting residents from Brooklyn to Manhattan and from west to east and vise versa. Searching for reasonable and uncomplicated solutions to help these 400,00 New Yorkers that use the tunnel everyday, The City bike proposal aims at promoting the use of bikes in the city by introducing a City bike card and new bike paths. With these new integrations, we hope to reduce traffic jams and help people with their commute, offering an economical sustainable solution. 14th street is a very busy street, and is the very one that the L-train passes through to get from one side of the city to the other. This proposal understands the high amount of activity that happens daily in that street, which is why rather than adding up to the everyday hustle aboveground, it is encouraging circulation around that street. The “superstations” at every intersection in Williamsburg Bridge, 1st avenue and 12th street, 1st avenue and 19th street, 7th avenue and 19th street, lastly, 7th avenue and 12th street, will guide you towards the bike paths to reach your destination quicker and safety. These “superstations” are kiosks that will offer City bike cards, which will make your trip more effective and easier. Bicycling is a great transit alternative to consider, it is a fun and affordable way to get around town, gets you around faster, and it’s cheaper and more sustainable than riding a taxi or an Uber.
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The City Bikes
benefit from existing means for productive transportation by Eugenia Lacayo Taking the city into account, and all its residents, the city bike proposal was developed to help all of those that are directly affected by the L-train shutdown. Considering environmental and economic factors, the main goal of this project is to maximize the use of bikes around the city and its efficiency forecasting the potential that they have. The city bike plan consists of six main “superstations”. These “superstations” are specific locations where one can rent a city bike, return one, but most importantly purchase a City bike card, or pay with cash or credit card. These superstations will be located on: Williamsburg bridge, 1st avenue and 12th street, 1st avenue and 19th street, 7th avenue and 19th street, lastly, 7th avenue and 12th street. What this project focuses on is promoting the City bike card, by listing a few of its advantages. This card, will function just like a credit card, only that it just operates for city bike purposes. The benefit of holding one of these cards is that every time you rent out a bike, there is an automatic discount. The more you use city bikes, the more chances you get to receive coupons or special promotions. Having this card saves you time, these superstations will have a new system implemented that consists of a sensor, where with just a tap you can take out a bike to get to your destination on time. When you reach a station, there is no need to worry about having enough cash or your credit card at hand, with these City bike cards you can choose a form of payment that best fits your satisfaction. These cards can be linked directly to the bank account of your choice, and be charged by every completed trip. You can choose the option of receiving a bill monthly with the sums of your trips, or you can even charge the card with the amount that you desire and use it until the credit runs out or expires. Becoming more efficient not only requires implementing these stations, but requests involvement from the city and community as well. As we hope for more people ridding bicycles in the future, we must promote safer streets and try to reduce traffic jams. Therefore the following streets: 19th street, 12th street, 1st avenue, and 7th avenue will have bike lanes and be prioritized for bikers. 60
New Ferry System in NYC By: Sabrina Rivera
Abstract: Every day, New York City’s Ferry System releases tons of green house gasses leading to global warming and climate change. Over the last few decades the total greenhouse gas emissions have increased by about 80% since 1970. With increasing levels of greenhouse gases being added daily by the Ferry system in New York City and the upcoming closure of the L- Train, has lead to a number of creative, innovative and sustainable proposals for transportation alternatives. In collaboration with Siemens, the goal of this project is to imitate Norway’s ferry system in New York City’s East River. This new type of ferry system is operated by electrical powered ferries that release 0 carbon footprint nor any type of pollutants. Additionally, the project consists of creating a new Pier in North 7st, Brooklyn and re-opening Pier 42 in southern Manhattan to add functionality to an already existing infrastructure that has been closed.
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About the Project Currently, the only medium of public water transportation that move people from Manhattan to Brooklyn is the East River Ferry. The East River Ferry features seven days a week reliable service that connects Manhattan with various destinations in Brooklyn, Queens and seasonally on Governor’s Island. However, the East River Ferry is not effective for a quick trip because it is somewhat slow and additionally it releases tons of green house gases causing global warming and climate change. In collaboration with Siemens, the goal of this project is to imitate Norway’s ferry system in New York City’s East River. A few years ago, Siemens created the first electrical powered ferry with 0 carbon footprint in Norway, and has been in use for the last few years. The reason behind implementing this ferry system in New York City is because it will not only be more effective than a traditional ferry, but because it will be the first electrical powered ferry used for transportation in the East River that will travel silently without burning fossil fuels nor producing any type of pollutants. The ferry, which is 80 meters long, has a capacity of 500 passengers and is driven by motors that are powered by lithium-ion batteries that are re-charged at each pier. Lithium- ion batteries are the batteries that are least harmful to the environment, have a higher energy density than other rechargeable batteries and have a longer lifespan. Siemens will be responsible of installing one lithium-ion battery at each pier to serve as a buffer which will supply electricity to the ferry while it waits. The charging stations will be housed in small buildings near the piers, which will also be installed by Siemens. There will be 2 electrical powered ferries that will follow different routes. Ferry 1 will travel from 34 St./ Midtown Pier to a new pier that will be constructed in North 7 St. in Brooklyn and vice versa. And Ferry 2 will travel from new pier at North 7 St. in Brooklyn to pier 42 that will be re-opened and vice versa. This way, people that are affected by the closure of the L train will be able to travel from North 7st in Brooklyn, uptown and downtown Manhattan. As mentioned above, this project also consists in creating a new pier and re-opening Pier 42. Although Pier 42 has been permanently closed due to its new design of becoming a pathway park, the project proposes to re-open the Pier to add functionality to the already existing infrastructure and will benefit people that would want to travel directly to the park. The pier that will be created in North 7st in Brooklyn, Pier 7, will be constructed using similar infrastructure of Pier 42, however both of them will have installed in them lithium –ion batteries to re-charge the ferries while they wait at each pier. The aspiration of project is also to bee seen as an example of a creative, innovative and sustainable way to change the water transportation system and inspire upcoming designers and engineers to think about resiliency and sustainability when designing future systems.
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Innovative Bus App for Brooklyn & Manhattan Commuters By: Cristina Cepeda
ABSTRACT: Brookman, a combination of the words Brooklyn and Manhattan, is a bus app that will service the areas of Brooklyn and Manhattan, allowing its users not only to locate buses within their area, but also give them information about nearest stops, daily schedules, number of people waiting at stops, and capacity of each bus, thus making rides more efficient and avoiding long lines. These statistics will be collected by the user’s location, through the signal emitted when the user is online and has the ‘location services’ on. Another benefit of this transportation method, through the use of BrookMan app, is that it will help reduce air pollution because the accordion buses will be moving large amounts of people while producing significantly less air pollution than what would take to move one passenger per mile in a single car. The final product I am proposing will take the form of an innovative technological tool, targeted to everyone who rides the L train and anyone who wishes to use an efficient mode of transportation to get into Manhattan, and use a local bus service in either Brooklyn or Manhattan. The BrookMan app will offer the service of facilitating the lives of people and their transportation method, creating a quicker and readily accessible tool for its users.
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Everything You Need to Know About BrookMan
BrookMan, a combination of the words Brooklyn and Manhattan, is a bus app that will service the areas of Brooklyn and Manhattan, providing transportation to and within. The app allows its users to locate buses within their area; help find where the nearest bus stop is, when it will leave, when the next bus is coming and its full daily schedule. The capacity that the bus holds upon arrival to a particular stop is another feature that will be available to its users, thus avoiding people having to stand in long lines. The app will also indicate approximately the number of people waiting in line for the bus at that bus stop. These statistics will be collected by the user’s location, through the signal emitted when the user is online and has the ‘location services’ on. The buses used are going to be accordion buses with the purpose of providing even more space to passengers in a single ride. They will be approximately 18 metres (59 ft) in length and their capacity is around 100 people. Its users are provided with the option of paying through their phones with a credit card on file, pay in either cash, credit or swipe a rechargeable BrookManCard when they get on the bus. The BrookManCard can be refilled with cash or credit in the ATM machines located in each bus stop or online through your personal account. Free WiFi service is provided as well for all passengers. This design solution also makes the world more resilient because it helps control climate change and pollution, since more people are being transported in the bus with large capacities while producing significantly less air pollution than what would take to move one passenger per mile in a single car. The fuel efficiency of a fully occupied bus is six times greater than that of the average single-occupant car. The statistics indicate that buses use 8.7% less energy per passenger mile than a typical automobile. The final product I am proposing will take the form of an innovative technological tool, which sustainably addresses a problem by creating an accessible solution to individuals in search of an efficient and affordable alternative transportation method. My design choices will include basic technology skills in order to create the app, along with a logo design to brand the new service that is being implemented. Also, advertising campaigns will be implemented to let people know about this new service. Another idea is to create packages that allow users to buy a sort of ‘metro card’ that will serve for Uber, Taxi or other select bus or car rides. The target audience of my service is honestly anyone who rides the L train and anyone who wishes to use an efficient mode of transportation to get into Manhattan, and use a local bus service in either Brooklyn or Manhattan. My app will offer the service of facilitating the lives of people and their transportation method, creating a quicker and readily accessible tool for its users. The idea is to create its own company, but to start, it can be presented to the city transit and companies such as Uber, for partnerships and promotion purposes. Regular L train users, above all, are the most important and crucial people that need to be reached and educated about this new and alternative design that I believe, is a great and possible solution to the problem at hand.
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L-Train Bracelet Map Xiaoshu Ni
Abstract Thanks to the development of mobile technology, people nowadays rely heavily on the applications such as Google Map to search for directions. However, there are still a fraction of people find digital map confusing. This product is a bracelet of creative visual presentation of bus stops along the 14th street in Manhattan while the L-train is shutdown for renovation. This bracelet will be placed in the stations along 14th street and people can grab it for free while waiting for the bus at the station. By placing the bracelet on their wrists, riders will not be needing their mobile app anymore while they are on the train. In addition, the bracelet is all made by used paper using natural dye from vegetables and fruits. Users could easily adjust the size of the bracelet to the length of their wrists.
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Proposal This project aims to provide bus riders on 14th street a more straight forward indication of each stops along the road. Since the MTA is going to provide bus services along the L-train route when the L-train is shut down, there are going to be hundreds or even thousands more riders for the bus services. This bracelet is especially designed for those riders because although there Google map has more choice and more accurate time measurement, the plates would show those information more simple and easy. This bracelet has its unique advantages. First of all, it gives people the opportunity to spend some time face to face. People rely heavily on their phones nowadays - one moment they are checking on directions from Google Map, the next moment they would switch to social media such as Instagram or Facebook. With this bracelet, riders don’t need to check on their phones frequently and it will decrease the amount of time people spend on phones. Thus, riders could spend the time talk to their companions on the bus, no matter it is their family or friends. Moreover, since it is estimated that hundreds of new riders would join the bus services during the L-train shutdown period, it will be very crowed while people are waiting in the stations or riding on the buses. By not looking at their phones all the time on their hands for directions, people would save more space for others. The material used to create the bracelet is 100% sustainable and reusable. The paper used to make the bracelet is gathered from used paper from magazine, books, newspaper to card boxes so that it will not contribute to global warming. The pigments used to color the diagram are extracted from natural fruits. For example, blue is from blueberries, yellow is from lemons and red is from strawberries so that this natural dye will cut the energy used to make artificial pigments.
Main features 1. Paper bracelet - Made from used paper 2. Adjustable length - People with different withsts length could all wear 3. Clear indications of each bus stops - By using planets as symbols for each bus stop 4. Natural dye - The color used are all from sustainable sources - No artificial pigments
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L-Train Alternative Bus Stop Yiran (Rachel) Wang
Abstract As the L-train in New York city is going to be shutdown for 18 months starting in January 2019, hundreds of thousands of people will face serious commute problem. In fact, city officials claims that it will be among the largest disruptions in the transit system’s history. The The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced that there will be alternative buses along Manhattan and Brooklyn. Riders could be directed to other nearby subway routes, including the G and M lines, which would have additional trains. This project aims to design a sustainable bus stop that will provide shelters for passengers to sit while waiting for the bus to come. In addition, the bus stop features real time information on bus schedules using the power generated from solar panel roof. Since the MTA buses are only a temporary service, this bus stop can also be assembled and disassembled easily.
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Proposal This proposal is aimed to enhance the bus system and makes taking buses more efficient during the L train shutdown period by designing a temporary bus stop that increases the efficiency of riders. It is expected that as the L-train shuts down, the number of private cars is going to have drastic increase. Nevertheless, private cars are the less efficient form of transportation. Therefore, setting up resting and waiting spaces for the resident is vital for a friendly neighborhood because a nicely build station will attract more resident to take public transportations. Made out of iron and glass with solar panel roof, the L-train alternative bus station is a perfectly sustainable and adaptable architecture that can be molded according to the differing needs of several places because of joints on top of the glass wall. Glass is a sustainable, fully recyclable material which provides great environmental benefits such as alleviating climate change and saving natural rescues. The design features shade structure solar panels that offer ample protection from the sun and rain while providing energy for ads and map display. The design offers free wifi spot and features a seating area as well as an area to get real time information on bus routes, delays, QR codes and bus schedules, etc Aside from the environmental benefits, building the station will increase ridership.Thus everyone will have the same access to the station. Seniors and people with limited mobility would be benefit from better bus services. In addition, this station will also increase system efficiency since it provides designated space for riders to wait and rest. The station will also improve public image so that when tourists come to New York and visit the L-train area, they will feel welcomed and have essay accesses to the transportations around them. Main features 1. Iron stand with movable joints - Firm and recyclable material 2. Glass wall - Able to withstand strong wind 3. Solar panel roof - Used for generating power of ads displace and bus schedule - Rain proof 4. Setting area - Build with recycled PET bottles - Suitable for people with all different kinds of heights - The way it is designed gives the station a modern twist
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The
Designers & authors: Abby Wang & Evelin Fung Z.
funway The
proposal T
W
ith the upcoming shutdown of the L-train, around 300,000 New Yorkers are facing serious and complicated problems to commute from Manhattan to Brooklyn and vice versa. There are many issues related to traffic jams, saturation of other subway lines, and others; yet we focused on how would commuters be able to cross the East River. Thus, we created a fun and dynamic solution for active and daring people. This is “the FUNway”, an inflatable plastic sphere with a built in chair for users to seat and be able to reach out for the two paddles on either side of the sphere. The “FUNway” is great for any commuter that desires to spice up their day and get a great arm work out on the way to their daily routines. The “FUNway” sphere and paddles are created with durable recyclable plastic for everyday use.
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he users of the L-train would be facing many problems with the forthcoming shutdown, but one of the biggest issues is the fact that people that live around this area would have to commute even further if they use either the subway or bus system. Therefore, we propose the idea of “FUNway”, this is an inflatable plastic sphere that has a built in seat and two specialized holes for two paddles to be placed. How this would work is that there would be two stations, one near at the green areas near 14th street, Manhattan and the other at the East River State Park, Brooklyn. We are aware of the water currents that the East River may have, thus we propose that there would also be special mechanisms to be created to have a control of these currents and this would not only beneficiate the users of this mechanism
but also in the long term it could be used to create a certain flow of water that could be used for a new type of renewable energy mechanism through water movements. There are many problems that commuters have make use of the L-train are facing, but the one issue that we thought that would affect the city in a negative way is that once the L train is shut down, there will be a huge amount of vehicles used daily by people to commute from Manhattan to Brooklyn and other way around, therefore causing even more pollution to the city. We plan to have a proposal that will use renewable energy. It will be sustainable to the environment but also provide people with a more convenient way to get to both places. There will be stations set up on both sides of East River. The stations will be used to pull the plastic spheres to each side when people get into the water ball. They can choose to be pulled over to other side or can manually walk in the water ball to the other side on water as a
fun way to exercise. We plan to use electricity as the power to pull water balls. The stations can also be a place for people to change outfits. If there are needs for people to change clothes in winter, the station will have restrooms set up for people. Considered the fact that there are strong currents going on at the moment, people may need special mechanisms to have better control in water. We plan to have this mechanisms to function with batteries. People can simply charge it at home and expect it to last for two days. As in the L train being shut down is a temporary issue, we are looking forward to have a solution to help people and the environment for the moment. After L train’s tunnel is fixed, our solution, the water ball, can still exist between two sides of East River. It can be used as a more an entertainment on weekend for people to have fun. . 76
The
concept Drawing of the sphere in water with paddles on either side.
Drawing of how a person would be inside one of the spheres.
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Detail of the paddles that would be used, these would also be made out of recycleable plastic and there has a special design that makes the user be able to travel further with one stroke.
Map detailing the area that the “FUNway� would offer its services.
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