Reducing Taxi Fares When Drivers Speed, and 62 Other Proposals in the Vision Zero Report
Within a three block radius of P.S. 75, the school where Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday delivered details for his plan to eliminate pedestrian fatalities in New York City, three pedestrians have been struck and killed by cars this year. No charges have been filed against the drivers (one was issued a ticket for "Failure to Yield"), but the NYPD has deployed officers to ticket jaywalkers in the area... and, in the process, bloodied an 84-year-old man confused about why he was being stopped. 
NYC Department of Transportation
...Which is all to say the mayor had a lot of work to do to show the city he is serious about addressing its rising pedestrian casualty rate. On Tuesday, de Blasio rolled out 63 policy goals designed to prove precisely that.
Among the report's proposals is one that would reduce fares for passengers when taxi drivers speed. That suggestion could make a big difference for cyclists -- one study found that 40 percent of cyclists injured on New York streets were struck by cabs. The Department of Citywide Administrative Services' -- whose garbage trucks are some of the most dangerous on city streets -- promised to outfit its fleets with back-up cameras, as well as technology to record speeding and other dangerous driving behaviors.
Implementing many of the 63 goals -- suggested by the heads of the NYPD, Department of Transportation, Taxi and Limousine Commission, Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, and the Department of Citywide Administrative Services -- will not only require cooperation among city agencies, but a concerted lobbying effort at the state level.
Several proposals will require authorization from Albany before they can be realized here, like installing red light and speed cameras, and lowering the citywide speed limit from 30 miles per hour to 25.
The most promising and specific goals on the list came from departments of transportation and citywide administrative services. The NYPD, meanwhile, appeared to backtrack on previous promises, and promise to do things they've previously claimed to have already done.
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