What person, group or organization is being profiled, and why are they of interest to this project?
New York City Department of Transportation is being profiled due to its impact on air pollution and asthma rates by creating and enforcing rules on transportation and greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles in New York City.
What have they done – through research, or a public health program or education forum, for example-- that illustrates how they have worked to improve air pollution governance and environmental public health?
Alternate Fuels: Introduction of re-fueling stations for compressed natural gas and public transportation running on compressed natural gas and “New York City DOT fleets” running on electricity.
Congestion Pricing: Increasing tolls in hopes of decreasing single-passenger vehicle travel as well as increasing bike lanes and pedestrian walkways.
Recycling Asphalt: Reduces the amount of travel, and fossil fuel emission, for transporting the necessary materials to make new asphalt.
High Efficiency Buildings: All DOT buildings must adhere to high efficiency standards, including all materials inside the buildings.
Energy Efficient Street Lighting
What timeline of events illustrates how this way of addressing environmental public health has developed?
2008: Congested Corridors Project, also known as Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement Program (CMAQ), was launched in six areas in order to reduce congestion and improve air quality. The study gathered data on the different roadways, mostly trucking routes, highlighting problems along the route to later fix. Emissions analysis were used in the studies. As of 2014, the majority of the short and long terms improvements were completed or in the process of completion in four out of the six roadways. (Congested Corridors Project)
2015: Car Free Central and Prospect Parks: Areas in two of the main parks within New York City will be permanently car free as of summer 2015 in an effort to make the parks safer and happier for pedestrians.
May 2015: Proposed a project in Manhattan which would add protected bike lanes, including left turn lanes instead of the current shared lanes. This project is still in the process of moving forward.
2010: In an effort to reduce the amount of personal vehicles in New York City, a proposal was launched to increase tolls in and around the city. A toll hike to $8 was successfully passed although only on a few of the roads proposed such as the Queens Midtown Tunnel.
2008: Plans were made to enact green practices in all NYC DOT buildings and vehicles. Many vehicles are now alternate fuel based, the majority of street lighting is energy efficient, and NYC DOT is recycling asphalt but minimal studies have been made to show the extent of the improvements.
2013: Citi Bike came to NYC in an effort to increase the mobility of people in New York City while still reducing the amount of personal vehicles on the streets. As of 2015 the membership to Citi Bike is still growing and plans are being made to introduce nearly 400 new stations in and around New York City.
Does this person, group or organization claim to have a new or unique way of addressing environmental public health? Does this approach point to or suggest problems with other approaches?New York City Department of Transportation was originally big on enticing community members to go green by leading the way themselves through alternate forms of fuel for their trucks to transforming their office buildings to use “green” technologies. In respect to this philosophy, they seem to be insinuating that other organizations are hypocrites by not leading the way to green technology themselves. Recently, they are introducing the approach of making it more beneficial to ride a bike around New York City rather than drive by increasing the amount of bike lanes and increasing tolls in the area. Overall, they are pushing to reduce the amount of personal vehicles on the roads in and around New York City.
What data have they collected or used to support their approach to environmental public health? What visualizations of this data have been created?
Vehicle volumes on different roads in New York City.
Speed of the vehicles traveling on different roads in New York City.
Amounts of pedestrians and bicycles which travel different roads in New York City.
Parking, including legal and illegal areas in New York City.
Amount of asphalt landfilled on average for the past years.
Greenhouse gas emissions and particulate matter from the different methods of fuel consumption in vehicles.
What research has the organization produced or drawn on in their initiatives – in the last year, and over the last decade?
Researched existing and predicted future traffic conditions
Researched the amount of oil and truck miles it would have taken to make new asphalt instead of recycling it as NYC DOT now does.
Compared speed of vehicles to speed limits in the areas as well as the amount of pedestrians in the areas to determine dangerous areas.
Researched the best method currently used in New York City for minimized release of greenhouse gases and particulate matter in order to choose the best type of refueling stations to implement in the city and the best type of vehicle for the department to use.
What kinds of technology and infrastructure do they rely on in the production of environmental health care?
New York City Department of Transportation relies on new green technologies in the form of better, or just alternate, fuels and more efficient engines. They also rely on infrastructure already in place such as tolls and bike paths which they are also expanding in coordination with Citi Bike.
What social ecology does this person, group or organization work within, and how did it shaped their way of conceiving and engaging asthma? As the name suggests, New York City Department of Transportation is focused on improving the transportation and to some extent, air quality, in the city. Due to this, they are very city-centric. Most of the improvements, such as the Citi Bike Program, are only in the city itself and they’re increasing tolls to get into and out of the city so it only affects commuters. Their main focus in the health and safety of those in the city.
What events or data seem to have motivated their ways of thinking about and engaging environmental health?
One of the main events which seems to have motivated New York City Department of Transportation’s move to creating a safer and greener city is former Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC which was put into place with the overall goal to create a sustainable NYC by 2030. The majority of green initiatives put into place by the DOT were in response to PlaNYC.
What funding enables their work and possibly shapes their way of thinking about environmental health?
New York City Department of Transportation is funded by the government. Therefore all changes have to go through a long series of presentations and approvals. In the end, a lot of times it depends on economics in order to change anything. Projections must show a minimal net loss of revenue in order to proceed usually.
What in the history of this person, group or organization likely shaped the way they conceived or and engage environmental health?
As a government organization, they abide by the laws and regulations set by the state, federal, and in the case of New York City, City Government. The current administration’s goals and ideas for the future influence the actions taken by the DOT as is clearly seen when former Mayor Bloomberg was heavily focused on making New York City sustainable.
What does this person, group or organization seem to find methodologically challenging or concerning in dealing with environmental health?
The main challenge seems to be getting people to take action. They tried creating an example first, then making it less economic to travel into the city and finally are trying to make it easier to travel through methods other than personal vehicles. Yet, even though the results are positive, more action needs to be taken in order to make a large difference.
What kinds of governance are (implicitly or explicitly) called for in the way they think about environmental health?
New York City Department of Transportation calls for reduced congestion in order to increase the safety and reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted in New York City. They call for greater incentives for people to use alternate fuel, such as refueling stations for these types of fuel, or to walk or bike by making paths safer from vehicles and increasing tolls.
How can The Asthma Files enable or supplement this way of thinking about environmental health, and the work of this person, group or organization? The Asthma Files will help New York City Department of Transportation review other cities’ plans in order to reduce their air pollution which may be useful in implementation in New York City as well. It will also bring to light how serious an issue air pollution is worldwide.
New York State Department of Transportation (DOT)
What person, group or organization is being profiled, and why are they of interest to this project? New York State Department of Transportation is being profiled due to its widespread effect on transportation governance throughout the state of New York in order to create a comparison between New York City’s governance and the whole state. Their fifth “priority result” is in respect to keeping the transportation system as a whole having minimal environmental effects.
What have they done – through research, or a public health program or education forum, for example-- that illustrates how they have worked to improve air pollution governance and environmental public health?
Increased greenways, bike paths, or shared-lanes in order to allow for safe biking instead of driving, especially to parks.
Public transportation overview to ensure it runs smoothly and it has been reported to service 80 million people each year in New York.
Asbestos management to reduce the amount of asbestos released into the air especially during demolition.
Particulate matter and greenhouse gas emission regulations.
Clean Air NY to encourage commuters to cut down on emissions through small ways
What timeline of events illustrates how this way of addressing environmental public health has developed?
2000: First compilation of CO emissions which expanded to NOx and Volatile Organic Compounds in 2005 in order to create an easy way to view air quality data. These analyses are no longer in use as of December 20, 2012.
2001: First official greenway creation between boroughs to provide safer biking and walking pathways, this program is still continuing with multiple greenways in various locations around New York and has expanded to bike paths or shared ride lanes.
2002: “Moving beyond compliance and mitigation” to join with environmental agencies in New York to improve bike lanes and pedestrian areas in an effort to become part of the solution, instead of the problem. Very vague ideas which were rarely carried out.
2007: Clean air NY was announced as a plan to better notify the public on issues of air quality, such as high ozone levels, and increase air quality.
2009: Creation of emission factor tables to allow users to determine the emissions from their vehicles and approximate emissions in the different areas. These tables are no longer in use as of December 20, 2012.
2013: Ocean Parkway Coastal Greenway Shared-Use Path projects to create a safe, 14.4 mile path to connect various counties in a safe bike path. This project is estimated to be completed in 2021.
Constantly updating the Environmental Procedures Manual for air quality (last update December 2012), particulate matter, asbestos, and energy impacts,
Does this person, group or organization claim to have a new or unique way of addressing environmental public health? Does this approach point to or suggest problems with other approaches? New York State Department of Transportation claims to strive to somehow incorporate elements in their roadways to mitigate the effects of the greenhouse gases being released from the vehicles on their roads however specifics into how this will be accomplished are few and far between. Instead the main approach seems to be increasing access to bike paths and pedestrian walkways in order to entice commuters to use alternate forms of transportation.
What data have they collected or used to support their approach to environmental public health? What visualizations of this data have been created?
Emissions factors
Particulate matter
Asbestos amounts taken at each demolition of buildings to ensure proper guidelines
Energy through the amount of travel each vehicle must take for construction vehicle
What research has the organization produced or drawn on in their initiatives – in the last year, and over the last decade?
Research has been conducted on emissions based on the numerous factors and corresponding data and many graphs and diagrams have been made to create presentations to a wide variety of audiences.
Research on the percentages of commuters walking, riding bicycles, and driving have been complied to estimate air pollution.
Research on the amount of energy used by different types of vehicles for each mile have been complied to determine energy costs of construction.
Research on air quality measurements from CO to NOx to Particulate matter has been compiled per region to determine areas of specifically negative air quality.
In the past year, the research drawn on by the Tri-State Transportation Campaign so far has been on pedestrian fatalities in order to determine the most dangerous roads in the tri state area as well as gas taxes (specifically New Jersey) and transit fare history
What kinds of technology and infrastructure do they rely on in the production of environmental health care? New York State Department of Transportation relies heavily on air quality measurements to determine what the impact of transportation is having on the air. They also rely on infrastructure such as greenways and bike lanes in order to try to cut down on the amount of air pollution from transportation. Finally, energy consumption data is used to attempt to minimize impact from construction teams.
What social ecology does this person, group or organization work within, and how did it shaped their way of conceiving and engaging asthma? New York State Department of Transportation works at a state-level, meaning they are constantly having to view the “big picture”. Instead of focusing on a greenway in a certain county or town, they focus on making a 14.4 mile greenway to connect the counties. Much of their focus is on the main highways in New York as well.
What events or data seem to have motivated their ways of thinking about and engaging environmental health? In the 1990s, the idea of mitigation was first put into play which started the New York State Department of Transportation’s launch of environmental initiatives, but it wasn’t until the 2000s that reform started to happen. In the 2000s they began analyzing air quality and increasing the amount of bike paths. In 2007, many new programs were created or increased in response to the Clean NY act and these have been steadily continuing as publicity rises over air quality concerns.
What funding enables their work and possibly shapes their way of thinking about environmental health? New York State Department of Transportation is funded by the government and is under the same guidelines as New York City Department of Transportation. Therefore all changes have to go through a long series of presentations and approvals. In the end, a lot of times it depends on economics in order to change anything. Projections must show a minimal net loss of revenue in order to proceed usually.
What in the history of this person, group or organization likely shaped the way they conceived or and engage environmental health? As a government organization, they abide by the laws and regulations set by the state and federal Government. The current administration’s goals and ideas for the future influence the actions taken by the DOT but instead of a city level such in New York City, at a state level.
What does this person, group or organization seem to find methodologically challenging or concerning in dealing with environmental health? One of the challenges seems to be coordinating such a large area. It’s hard to enforce changes across an entire state instead of just a city. This goes hand in hand with the challenge of getting people to take action. Even though the results do seem to be positive, more action needs to be taken in order to make a large difference.
What kinds of governance are (implicitly or explicitly) called for in the way they think about environmental health? Very similar to New York City Department of Transportation, New York State Department of Transportation is focused on getting personal vehicles off the road through the use of alternate types of transportation. They also seem to attempt to instate regulations on the energy used for construction projects.
How can The Asthma Files enable or supplement this way of thinking about environmental health, and the work of this person, group or organization? The Asthma Files will help publicize the greenways and bike paths as well as alternate types of transportation available for all New York citizens. It may also help give New York policy makers ideas in how to further decrease the amount of greenhouse gas emissions without breaking their budget.
Timeline: Motor buses for public transit first came about in 1905. These double-decker buses set a new way of transportation for a large majority of the public. They quickly replaced horse-drawn vehicles and starting in 1935, began replacing trolleys as well. This set the standard for the motor-operated bus system which still exists today.
New York City temperature inversion in 1966 trapped all the pollution for three days. It is believed that this inversion caused the deaths of 168 people due to breathing in the polluted air. This was one of the first times people in New York City and around the world began to realize how dangerous air pollution can be. It influenced the revisions to the Clean Air Act to make stricter air quality regulations.
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s New York City Community Air Survey (NYCCAS) ran from 2008 to 2010 with 150 locations and 2010 to 2013 with 100 locations of measuring air quality. The air pollutants measured include fine particles, Sulfur Dioxide, and nickel concentrations. This was a part of PlaNYC in an effort to understand current air quality trends in order to then make improvements upon the air quality.
New York City Department of Transportation is being profiled due to its impact on air pollution and asthma rates by creating and enforcing rules on transportation and greenhouse gas emissions from vehicles in New York City.
New York City Department of Transportation relies on new green technologies in the form of better, or just alternate, fuels and more efficient engines. They also rely on infrastructure already in place such as tolls and bike paths which they are also expanding in coordination with Citi Bike.
As the name suggests, New York City Department of Transportation is focused on improving the transportation and to some extent, air quality, in the city. Due to this, they are very city-centric. Most of the improvements, such as the Citi Bike Program, are only in the city itself and they’re increasing tolls to get into and out of the city so it only affects commuters. Their main focus in the health and safety of those in the city.
One of the main events which seems to have motivated New York City Department of Transportation’s move to creating a safer and greener city is former Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC which was put into place with the overall goal to create a sustainable NYC by 2030. The majority of green initiatives put into place by the DOT were in response to PlaNYC.
New York City Department of Transportation is funded by the government. Therefore all changes have to go through a long series of presentations and approvals. In the end, a lot of times it depends on economics in order to change anything. Projections must show a minimal net loss of revenue in order to proceed usually.
As a government organization, they abide by the laws and regulations set by the state, federal, and in the case of New York City, City Government. The current administration’s goals and ideas for the future influence the actions taken by the DOT as is clearly seen when former Mayor Bloomberg was heavily focused on making New York City sustainable.
The main challenge seems to be getting people to take action. They tried creating an example first, then making it less economic to travel into the city and finally are trying to make it easier to travel through methods other than personal vehicles. Yet, even though the results are positive, more action needs to be taken in order to make a large difference.
New York City Department of Transportation calls for reduced congestion in order to increase the safety and reduce the amount of greenhouse gases emitted in New York City. They call for greater incentives for people to use alternate fuel, such as refueling stations for these types of fuel, or to walk or bike by making paths safer from vehicles and increasing tolls.
The Asthma Files will help New York City Department of Transportation review other cities’ plans in order to reduce their air pollution which may be useful in implementation in New York City as well. It will also bring to light how serious an issue air pollution is worldwide.
New York State Department of Transportation (DOT)
New York State Department of Transportation is being profiled due to its widespread effect on transportation governance throughout the state of New York in order to create a comparison between New York City’s governance and the whole state. Their fifth “priority result” is in respect to keeping the transportation system as a whole having minimal environmental effects.
New York State Department of Transportation claims to strive to somehow incorporate elements in their roadways to mitigate the effects of the greenhouse gases being released from the vehicles on their roads however specifics into how this will be accomplished are few and far between. Instead the main approach seems to be increasing access to bike paths and pedestrian walkways in order to entice commuters to use alternate forms of transportation.
New York State Department of Transportation relies heavily on air quality measurements to determine what the impact of transportation is having on the air. They also rely on infrastructure such as greenways and bike lanes in order to try to cut down on the amount of air pollution from transportation. Finally, energy consumption data is used to attempt to minimize impact from construction teams.
New York State Department of Transportation works at a state-level, meaning they are constantly having to view the “big picture”. Instead of focusing on a greenway in a certain county or town, they focus on making a 14.4 mile greenway to connect the counties. Much of their focus is on the main highways in New York as well.
In the 1990s, the idea of mitigation was first put into play which started the New York State Department of Transportation’s launch of environmental initiatives, but it wasn’t until the 2000s that reform started to happen. In the 2000s they began analyzing air quality and increasing the amount of bike paths. In 2007, many new programs were created or increased in response to the Clean NY act and these have been steadily continuing as publicity rises over air quality concerns.
New York State Department of Transportation is funded by the government and is under the same guidelines as New York City Department of Transportation. Therefore all changes have to go through a long series of presentations and approvals. In the end, a lot of times it depends on economics in order to change anything. Projections must show a minimal net loss of revenue in order to proceed usually.
As a government organization, they abide by the laws and regulations set by the state and federal Government. The current administration’s goals and ideas for the future influence the actions taken by the DOT but instead of a city level such in New York City, at a state level.
One of the challenges seems to be coordinating such a large area. It’s hard to enforce changes across an entire state instead of just a city. This goes hand in hand with the challenge of getting people to take action. Even though the results do seem to be positive, more action needs to be taken in order to make a large difference.
Very similar to New York City Department of Transportation, New York State Department of Transportation is focused on getting personal vehicles off the road through the use of alternate types of transportation. They also seem to attempt to instate regulations on the energy used for construction projects.
The Asthma Files will help publicize the greenways and bike paths as well as alternate types of transportation available for all New York citizens. It may also help give New York policy makers ideas in how to further decrease the amount of greenhouse gas emissions without breaking their budget.
Timeline:
Motor buses for public transit first came about in 1905. These double-decker buses set a new way of transportation for a large majority of the public. They quickly replaced horse-drawn vehicles and starting in 1935, began replacing trolleys as well. This set the standard for the motor-operated bus system which still exists today.
New York City temperature inversion in 1966 trapped all the pollution for three days. It is believed that this inversion caused the deaths of 168 people due to breathing in the polluted air. This was one of the first times people in New York City and around the world began to realize how dangerous air pollution can be. It influenced the revisions to the Clean Air Act to make stricter air quality regulations.
New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s New York City Community Air Survey (NYCCAS) ran from 2008 to 2010 with 150 locations and 2010 to 2013 with 100 locations of measuring air quality. The air pollutants measured include fine particles, Sulfur Dioxide, and nickel concentrations. This was a part of PlaNYC in an effort to understand current air quality trends in order to then make improvements upon the air quality.