Transit ridership continues to shatter records as more New Yorkers get around on buses and trains. While state and federal officials wrestle over spending for capital projects, city officials are turning to leaner solutions like bus rapid transit, bike share and ferry routes to move New Yorkers.
While major infrastructure projects slug along, new digital technologies are revolutionizing the way we move through the city. E-hail companies are enhancing ease and access across the five boroughs and weakening the once dominant yellow cab industry. Car-sharing companies are swaying more New Yorkers to ditch their private automobiles. Rapid delivery services are reducing trips to grocery stores and big box retailers. Autonomous cars and trucks are being tested on roads across America. And people are taking to the streets in greater numbers as the city updates its uses and neighborhoods.
What will these new habits and technologies mean for the shape of the city? Will ridesharing reduce the need for parking and unlock new opportunities for development? How will autonomous vehicles affect the design of our streets? Could our dense city become a bicycle boomtown? And will new transportation options pull support away from our historic transit network?
Help us craft a vision for the future of mobility in New York City. How would you build a more accessible, equitable, and sustainable city?
Extended deadline for entries: June 10, 2016
Your Proposal
Participants are invited to answer the question: How would you improve New York’s streets, transportation networks, and built fabric in order to create a more accessible, sustainable, and equitable city?
We welcome all ideas, from napkin sketches to policy prescriptions to detailed designs. Ideas may apply to the City of New York or the greater New York area. There is no limit to the number of ideas you may submit but each must be submitted individually.
Programs & Publication
The most compelling ideas will form the basis of the Urban Design Forum’s Onward programs, a series of quickfire presentations and discussions hosted each month from April 2016 to November 2016.
The Forum will publish a collection of the most compelling proposals this fall to be distributed to civic leaders and to a broad public throughout the Tri-State region.
Key Questions to Consider
• What does the street of the future look like?
• How should the city extend transit access to underserved neighborhoods?
• Where could we build transit to spur new housing development?
• As construction costs skyrocket, should NYC continue to expand its subway system?
• What will the rise of ridesharing services mean for mobility, congestion, parking, and taxis?
• How will autonomous vehicle technology impact urban form?
• What are new forms of bike infrastructure that could boost ridership?
• How can we hasten the movement of goods through the city?
• How could we strengthen connections to cities outside the greater New York area?
• How could changes to urban form ensure that walking remains the primary mode of mobility?
• Can new forms of mobility contribute to urban resiliency?
• What about all that water that surrounds us?
What We Need from You
By July 15, 6pm:
• Submission Information: name of the idea, submitter name (individual, team or company), and key contact.• Summary: A summary of your proposal (500 word maximum)
• Headline Image (if applicable): One 12”x12” image, chart, or diagram summarizing the idea in high-resolution .jpg format, printable at 300dpi.
• Supporting Images (if applicable): Up to 5 supporting images, charts, and diagrams in high-resolution .jpg format, printable at 300dpi. Minimum suggested size 12″x18″.
• Video (optional): A video illustrating your proposal with 16:9 aspect ratio (maximum 3-minute length)
Please submit all ideas and questions to:
Spencer Tilger
Program Associate
spencer@urbandesignforum.org
718-663-8478