Sustainable Streets, the strategic plan for the New York City Department of Transportation brings a green approach to transportation that will simultaneously ease travel conditions in our growing city while squarely facing the problem of climate change and improving the city's quality of life. New York is thriving. The city has attracted one million new residents and generated hundreds of thousands of jobs since 1980. Our transportation infrastructure is in better condition and our streets are safer than ever. But as Mayor Bloomberg articulates in PlaNYC our success is coming up against limits. To prepare for the future, we must forge more capacity for sustainable growth, especially in transportation. That requires new priorities and a more efficient approach to the city's basic circulatory system-our streets. We have already begun to pioneer new lane designs for buses and bicycles. We will also work to reduce private auto use in crowded neighborhoods in every borough to allow us to make more room for these clean, efficient types of travel. More transportation choices and more reliable travel -and streets that serve as public places in and of themselves-will improve our commutes and environment and represent a new frontier in efforts to improve the quality of life in New York City.

Source: NYC Department OfTransportation

Since taking over as New York City's Commissioner of the Department of Transportation in mid-2007, Janette Sadik-Khan has taken on the challenge of making NYC streets more bike & pedestrian friendly while emphasizing livable streets and re-orienting them to accommodate all modes. She and her staff have done it quickly with innovative concepts, thinking outside the box and drawing on successful street designs from around the world to come up with a NYC model that is already changing the way our city feels.

In our exclusive Streetfilms interview, she talks with The Open Planning Project's Executive Director, Mark Gorton, about some of the highlights her department has achieved in a very short period of time including a physically-separated bike lane on Ninth Avenue, multiple pedestrian plazas (including Madison Square and Broadway Boulevard), new efforts to boost efficiency and speeds on some bus routes, and the city's phenomenally successful, Ciclovia-style closure "Summer Streets".

Source: StreetFilms.com