10 July 2018: A walking tour organized by the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) and UN-Habitat showcased initiatives implemented by local officials to boost sustainability and quality of life in the city. The tour focused on transportation infrastructure, mobility of people and better use of public space.

Portraying what it means to translate and implement the SDGs at city level, the organizers noted that initiatives span the breadth of the 2030 Agenda, going beyond Goal 11 (sustainable cities and communities) to include health (SDG 3), education (SDG 4), waste and materials management (SDGs 6 and 12), inclusive economic growth (SDG 8) and climate action (SDG 13), among others.

Led by NYC DOT’s Michael Replogle and Carl Sundstrom, the walking tour outlined how public improvements are realized in the City, as well as strategies to stimulate change. Shedding light on the history of recent initiatives, Replogle and Sundstrom began by describing policies put in place by former mayor Michael Bloomberg, which prioritized livability. They noted that the current mayor, Bill de Blasio, has built on and expanded Bloomberg-era efforts via the OneNYC initiative, which is grounded in principles that link to the SDGs.

As part of OneNYC and in direct contribution to SDG target 11.2 (provide access to safe, affordable, accessible and sustainable transport systems for all, and improving road safety), the Vision Zero initiative aims to increase eliminate traffic fatalities. To achieve this, the tour leaders noted, the city has utilized strategies such as safer street design, reducing the speed limit, stepping up traffic enforcement and making an aggressive push on communications and safety education. Executing on street design, the tour demonstrated the concept of “tactical urbanism,” where low-cost, non-permanent changes such as new a bike lane designated via painted “sharrows” or lines can happen quickly, eventually leading to permanent, protected bike lanes.

On accessible transport systems, Replogle and Sundstrom described the CitiBike sharing system connects people and neighborhoods by offering over 12,000 bikes to rent from 750 stations, noting that this makes it the largest bike sharing system in North America. Such systems can contribute towards SDG target 11.6 (reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities) by replacing trips otherwise taken by car. Leveraging big data to further-increase ridership, the city has also noted independent studies that find CitiBikes to be competitive with—if not faster than—taxis during peak travel times.

The tour also highlighted permanent infrastructure improvements that incentivize cycling and use of public transportation. Shifting the nature of who gets priority on the road, protected cycle tracks and dedicated bus lanes are giving space to people who choose to travel by modes other than cars. Describing select bus service—a step towards bus rapid transit (BRT)—the tour offered participants a view of the 34th Street bus corridor, which features improved passenger waiting areas, pre-payment systems to speed up the boarding process, and priority treatment at traffic lights. The tour underscored that implementing these changes requires not only mayoral leadership, but also a participatory project planning process that involved local stakeholders through advisory community boards.

The tour ended at Herald Square, at a section of Broadway that has been closed to traffic and transformed into a public pedestrian plaza. In line with SDG target 11.7 (provide universal access to safe, inclusive and accessible, green and public spaces), the City aims to continue shifting the use of public spaces—as seen also at the High Line. The tour noted an added benefit of some of these spaces, where, perhaps paradoxically, shutting down certain areas of roadway actually reduces congestion and speeds up the flow of traffic.

The walking tour took place on the sidelines of the 2018 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), which is convening in New York, US, from 9-18 July. [IISD RS sources] [Sustainable transport-related events at HLPF 2018] [SDG Knowledge Hub coverage of HLPF 2018]