New York City Closes Seven Mile Stretch to Cars and Trucks
Those of us in Southern California who live in and around downtown LA, Highland Park and Pasadena might recall the closing of the historic 110 freeway a few times in the last couple of years to foot traffic and cyclists. Sierra Mazda remembers, well it’s the city of New York’s turn.
No Cars, Summer Streets in New York
New York held three consecutive no cars or trucks events, yes even no Mazdas either. The first event took place on Saturday August 9th. The Big Apple, through the City Department of Transportation, closed down seven miles of urban streets to large vehicle traffic so that bicyclists, pedestrians and other random forms of transport could take over a swath of city from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park. These test events, called Summer Streets was promoted not only by mayor Michael Bloomberg, but also by and all-star and celebrity roster that included hip-hop star Jay-Z, a self-proclaimed bicycle enthusiast, musician David Byrne and bicyclist Lance Armstrong.
NYC Mayor Bloomberg proclaimed:
“We’re going to embark on a grand experiment that could dramatically alter the way we use and look at the streets of New York,” he said. “Streets that are normally tied up with cars and trucks will be turned over to the public - so that we can experience this city as never before.”
Los Angeles and Other Cities To Report GHG Emissions
The Southern California Mazda Blog reports that Los Angeles, Portland and Denver are among a list of United States cities that have decided to voluntarily report on their greenhouse gas emissions which includes of course, emissions from cars.
Car Smogged Los Angeles
These U.S. cities have resolved to work with the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP). The Carbon Disclosure Project is an independent and nonprofit that collects climate change figures from more than 3000 major corporations globally and has assembled the largest corporate greenhouse gas emissions database to date in the world. All of this is important because a wider range of data can be generated with cooperation from more sources. Furthermore, the impact by cars, used and new, and other pollution sources can more accurately be assessed.