Janette Sadik-Khan: New York's streets? Not so mean any more

Translator: Beatriz Muñiz Reviewer: Carme Paz

The work of a transportation commissioner

O traballo dun comisionado de transporte

isn't just about stop signs and traffic signals.

non trata só de sinais de stop e de tráfico

It involves the design of cities

Tamén implica o deseño de cidades

and the design of city streets.

e o deseño de rúas da cidade.

Streets are some of the most valuable resources

As rúas son uns dos recursos máis valiosos

that a city has, and yet it's an asset

que ten unha cidade, e aínda así é un activo

that's largely hidden in plain sight.

que, a simple vista, parece oculto.

And the lesson from New York

E a lección que nos deu Nova York

over the past six years

durante os pasados seis anos

is that you can update this asset.

é que se pode actualizar este activo.

You can remake your streets quickly, inexpensively,

Podemos refacer as rúas rapidamente, de maneira barata,

it can provide immediate benefits,

producindo beneficios inmediatos,

and it can be quite popular.

e con grande aceptación.

You just need to look at them a little differently.

Só hai que miralas de maneira un pouco diferente.

This is important because we live in an urban age.

Isto é importante porque vivimos nunha era urbana.

For the first time in history,

Por primeira vez na historia,

most people live in cities,

a maioría das persoas viven en cidades,

and the U.N. estimates that over the next 40 years,

e a ONU estima que nos vindeiros 40 anos

the population is going to double on the planet.

a poboación do planeta vaise dobrar.

So the design of cities is a key issue for our future.

Por iso, o deseño das cidades é un tema chave para o noso futuro.

Mayor Bloomberg recognized this

O alcalde Bloomberg recoñeceuno

when he launched PlaNYC in 2007.

cando lanzou o PlaNYC no 2007.

The plan recognized that cities

O plan recoñecía que as cidades

are in a global marketplace,

están nun mercado global

and that if we're going to continue to grow and thrive

e que, se seguimos a crecer e prosperar

and to attract the million more people

e se atraemos o millón máis de persoas

that are expected to move here,

que se espera que se muden aquí,

we need to focus on the quality of life

precisamos centrarnos na calidade de vida

and the efficiency of our infrastructure.

e na eficiencia das nosas infraestruturas.

For many cities, our streets have been

En moitas cidades, as rúas estiveron

in a kind of suspended animation for generations.

nunha especie de animación suspendida durante xeracións.

This is a picture of Times Square in the '50s,

Esta é unha foto de Times Square nos anos 50,

and despite all of the technological innovation,

e a pesar de toda a innovación tecnolóxica,

cultural changes, political changes,

dos cambios culturais, dos cambios políticos,

this is Times Square in 2008.

esta é Times Square no 2008.

Not much has changed in those 50 years.

Non houbo moitos cambios neses 50 anos.

So we worked hard to refocus our agenda,

Así que traballamos duro para cambiar o foco da nosa axenda,

to maximize efficient mobility,

para maximizar a mobilidade eficiente,

providing more room for buses, more room for bikes,

proporcionando máis espazo para buses, para bicis,

more room for people to enjoy the city,

máis espazo para que a xente gozase da cidade,

and to make our streets as safe as they can be

e para facer as nosas rúas o máis seguras posible

for everybody that uses them.

para todos os que as usan.

We set out a clear action plan

Implantamos un plan de acción claro

with goals and benchmarks.

con obxectivos e referencias.

Having goals is important,

Fixar obxectivos é importante,

because if you want to change and steer the ship

porque se desexas cambiar o rumbo do barco

of a big city in a new direction,

dunha gran cidade cara a unha nova dirección,

you need to know where you're going and why.

tes que saber a onde te dirixes e por que.

The design of a street can tell you everything

O deseño dunha rúa pode dicirche todo

about what's expected on it.

o que se espera dela.

In this case, it's expected that you shelter in place.

Neste caso, espérase que te refuxies no lugar.

The design of this street is really

O deseño desta rúa destínase

to maximize the movement of cars

a maximizar o movemento de coches

moving as quickly as possible

movéndose o máis rápido posible

from point A to point B,

dende o punto A ata o punto B,

and it misses all the other ways

e desaproveita todas as outras maneiras

that a street is used.

nas que se utiliza unha rúa.

When we started out, we did some early surveys

Cando comezamos, fixemos algúns estudos

about how our streets were used,

sobre como se usaban as nosas rúas,

and we found that New York City was largely

e atopamos que Nova York era maiormente

a city without seats.

unha cidade sen sentadoiros.

Pictures like this, people perched

Fotos coma esta, xente sentada

on a fire hydrant, not the mark of a world-class city.

nunha boca de incendios, non é o típico dunha cidade de primeira categoría.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

It's not great for parents with kids.

Non é bo para os pais con nenos.

It's not great for seniors. It's not great for retailers.

Non é bo para os anciáns. Non é bo para os comerciantes.

It's probably not good for the fire hydrants.

Probablemente non sexa bo para as bocas de incendio.

Certainly not good for the police department.

De seguro non é bo para a policía.

So we worked hard to change that balance,

Daquela, traballamos moito para cambiar esta distribución,

and probably the best example of our new approach

e probablemente o mellor exemplo deste novo enfoque

is in Times Square.

estea en Times Square.

Three hundred and fifty thousand people a day

350 mil persoas pasan cada día

walk through Times Square,

por Times Square,

and people had tried for years to make changes.

e xa se tentaran facer cambios durante anos.

They changed signals, they changed lanes,

Cambiáronse sinais, cambiáronse vías,

everything they could do to make Times Square work better.

todo o que se puido para que Times Square funcionase mellor.

It was dangerous, hard to cross the street.

Cruzar a rúa era perigoso, difícil.

It was chaotic.

Era un caos.

And so, none of those approaches worked,

Ningún deses enfoques funcionou,

so we took a different approach, a bigger approach,

así que probamos outro, un máis amplo,

looked at our street differently.

miramos as nosas rúas doutro xeito.

And so we did a six-month pilot.

E fixemos unha proba piloto de seis meses.

We closed Broadway from 42nd Street to 47th Street

Pechamos Broadway dende a rúa 42 ata a 47

and created two and a half acres

e creamos máis dunha hectárea

of new pedestrian space.

de espazo peonil novo.

And the temporary materials are an important part

Os materiais temporais foron unha parte importante

of the program, because we were able to show

do programa, porque puidemos mostrar

how it worked.

como funcionaba.

And I work for a data-driven mayor, as you probably know.

Traballo para un alcalde que se guía por datos, como saberedes.

So it was all about the data.

Así que todo tiña que ver cos datos.

So if it worked better for traffic, if it was better for mobility,

Se funciona mellor para o tráfico, se é mellor para a mobilidade,

if it was safer, better for business, we would keep it,

se é máis seguro, mellor para os negocios, mantémolo,

and if it didn't work, no harm, no foul,

e se non funciona, non hai problema,

we could put it back the way that it was,

poñémolo todo tal como estaba antes,

because these were temporary materials.

porque eran materiais temporais.

And that was a very big part of the buy-in,

Isto foi unha parte moi importante para lanzar o proxecto,

much less anxiety when you think that something

sen ansiedade, porque sabes que sempre

can be put back.

se pode poñer todo coma antes.

But the results were overwhelming.

E os resultados foron abraiantes.

Traffic moved better. It was much safer.

O tráfico ía mellor, era moito más seguro.

Five new flagship stores opened.

Abriron cinco novas tendas insignia.

It's been a total home run.

Foi un grande acerto.

Times Square is now one of the top 10

Times Square é, hoxe en día, un dos 10 mellores puntos

retail locations on the planet.

para o comercio do planeta.

And this is an important lesson,

Esta é unha lección importante

because it doesn't need to be a zero-sum game

porque ninguén ten que saír perdendo

between moving traffic and creating public space.

cando fas o tráfico máis fluído e creas espazos públicos.

Every project has its surprises,

Todos os proxectos teñen sorpresas

and one of the big surprises with Times Square

e unha das grandes sorpresas con Times Square

was how quickly people flocked to the space.

foi o rápido que a xente ocupou o espazo.

We put out the orange barrels,

Sacamos os cilindros laranxa,

and people just materialized immediately into the street.

e a xente apareceu de súpeto na rúa.

It was like a Star Trek episode, you know?

Foi como un episodio de Star Trek, sabedes?

They weren't there before, and then zzzzzt!

Antes non había ninguén aló, e, de súpeto, zas!

All the people arrived.

Chegaron todos.

Where they'd been, I don't know, but they were there.

Onde estiveran antes non sei, pero agora alí estaban.

And this actually posed an immediate challenge for us,

E isto automaticamente presentounos un novo reto,

because the street furniture had not yet arrived.

porque o mobiliario urbano aínda non chegara.

So we went to a hardware store

Entón fomos ata un almacén

and bought hundreds of lawn chairs,

e mercamos centos de cadeiras de xardín

and we put those lawn chairs out on the street.

e puxémolas fóra, na rúa.

And the lawn chairs became the talk of the town.

E todo o mundo comezou a falar das cadeiras.

It wasn't about that we'd closed Broadway to cars.

Non falaban de que pecharamos Broadway para os autos.

It was about those lawn chairs.

Senón das cadeiras de xardín.

"What did you think about the lawn chairs?"

'Que che parecen as cadeiras?'

"Do you like the color of the lawn chairs?"

'Gústache a cor das cadeiras?'

So if you've got a big, controversial project,

Así que se tedes un proxecto importante e controvertido

think about lawn chairs.

pensade en usar cadeiras de xardín.

(Laughter)

(Risas)

This is the final design for Times Square,

Aquí tedes o deseño final para Times Square

and it will create a level surface,

que creará unha superficie nivelada

sidewalk to sidewalk,

de beirarrúa a beirarrúa,

beautiful pavers that have studs in them

cun fermoso chan que ten uns remaches

to reflect the light from the billboards,

que reflicten a luz dos carteis luminosos

creating a great new energy on the street,

e crean unha estupenda enerxía nova na rúa,

and we think it's going to really create

así que nos parece que se vai crear

a great place, a new crossroads of the world

un gran lugar, unha nova encrucillada do mundo

that is worthy of its name.

que ben merece o seu nome.

And we will be cutting the ribbon on this,

Inauguraremos isto,

the first phase, this December.

a primeira fase, este decembro.

With all of our projects, our public space projects,

En todos os nosos proxectos de espazo público,

we work closely with local businesses

traballamos moi de preto cos negocios locais

and local merchant groups

e grupos de comerciantes locais

who maintain the spaces, move the furniture,

que son os que manteñen os espazos, moven o mobiliario,

take care of the plants.

coidan as plantas.

This is in front of Macy's, and they were

Aquí estamos en fronte de Macy's, apoiaron

a big supporter of this new approach,

moito este novo enfoque

because they understood that more people on foot

porque entendían que canta máis xente a pé

is better for business.

mellor é para o negocio.

And we've done these projects all across the city

Implantamos estes proxectos por toda a cidade

in all kinds of neighborhoods.

e en todo tipo de barrios.

This is in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn,

Aquí temos Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn,

and you can see the short leg that was there,

onde se pode ver o pequeno acceso que había,

used for cars, that's not really needed.

usado polos autos, non se precisaba moito.

So what we did is we painted over the street,

O que fixemos foi pintar a rúa,

put down epoxy gravel, and connected the triangle

puxemos no chan pedrullo de resina e conectamos o triángulo

to the storefronts on Grand Avenue,

coas tendas na Grand Avenue,

created a great new public space,

creamos un marabilloso espazo público novo

and it's been great for businesses

que está sendo moi bo para o comercio

along Grand Avenue.

da Grand Avenue.

We did the same thing in DUMBO, in Brooklyn,

Fixemos o mesmo en DUMBO, en Brooklyn,

and this is one of our first projects that we did,

e este foi un dos primeiros proxectos que fixemos,

and we took an underutilized,

collemos un aparcadoiro que se usaba pouco,

pretty dingy-looking parking lot

bastante lúgubre,

and used some paint and planters

e usamos algunhas pinturas e plantas

to transform it over a weekend.

para transformalo nunha fin de semana.

And in the three years since we've implemented the project,

Nos tres anos que levamos dende que comezamos co proxecto,

retail sales have increased 172 percent.

as vendas aumentaron un 172 %.

And that's twice that of adjacent areas in the same neighborhood.

Isto é dúas veces máis do que aumentaron nas zonas adxacentes do mesmo barrio.

We've moved very, very quickly

Traballamos moi moi rápido

with paint and temporary materials.

con pintura e materiais provisionais.

Instead of waiting

No canto de esperar

through years of planning studies

durante anos estudos de planificación

and computer models to get something done,

e modelos de computador para que se faga algo,

we've done it with paint and temporary materials.

fixémolo con pintura e materiais provisionais.

And the proof is not in a computer model.

E a proba non está nun modelo no computador.

It is in the real-world performance of the street.

Está na forma na que funciona no mundo real da rúa.

You can have fun with paint.

Podémolo pasar ben coa pintura.

All told, we've created over 50 pedestrian plazas

En resumo, creamos máis de 50 prazas peonís

in all five boroughs across the city.

nos 5 distritos da cidade.

We've repurposed 26 acres of active car lanes

Reestruturamos máis de 10 hectáreas de vías activas para autos

and turned them into new pedestrian space.

e convertémolas en novo espazo peonil.

I think one of the successes is in its emulation.

Penso que un dos éxitos está na imitación.

You're seeing this kind of approach,

Podedes ver este tipo de enfoque,

since we've painted Times Square,

dende que pintamos Times Square,

you've seen this approach in Boston, in Chicago,

vistes este enfoque en Boston, Chicago,

in San Francisco, in Mexico City,

en San Francisco, na Cidade de México,

Buenos Aires, you name it.

Buenos Aires, onde queirades.

This is actually in Los Angeles,

Este é en Los Ángeles,

and they actually copied even the green dots

onde ata copiaron os lunares verdes

that we had on the streets.

que tiñamos nas rúas.

But I can't underscore enough

Pero non podo deixar de insistir

how much more quickly this enables you to move

na maior rapidez coa que podemos actuar

over traditional construction methods.

ao non usar os métodos de construción tradicional.

We also brought this quick-acting approach

Tamén aplicamos este enfoque rápido de actuación

to our cycling program,

ao noso programa de bicicletas,

and in six years turned cycling

e en seis anos tornamos a bici

into a real transportation option in New York.

nunha opción de transporte posible en Nova York

I think it's fair to say --

Penso que é xusto dicir...

(Applause) --

(Aplauso)

it used to be a fairly scary place to ride a bike,

que antes era unha cidade bastante perigosa para ir en bici

and now New York has become

e agora Nova York converteuse

one of the cycling capitals in the United States.

nunha das capitais 'ciclistas' dos EUA.

And we moved quickly to create an interconnected

Tamén nos movemos rápido para crear unha rede

network of lanes.

de carrís interconectados.

You can see the map in 2007.

Podedes ver o mapa do 2007.

This is how it looked in 2013

Aquí está o do 2013

after we built out 350 miles of on-street bike lanes.

despois de construír 563 km de carrís bici.

I love this because it looks so easy.

Encántame isto porque parece tan fácil.

You just click it, and they're there.

Só hai que premer e aí están.

We also brought new designs to the street.

Tamén trouxemos novos deseños para as rúas.

We created the first parking-protected bike lane

Creamos o primeiro carril bici protexido de aparcamentos

in the United States.

nos EUA.

(Applause)

(Aplauso)

We protected bikers by floating parking lanes,

Protexemos os ciclistas creando aparcadoiros flotantes,

and it's been great.

e funcionou estupendamente.

Bike volumes have spiked.

O volume de bicis creceu arreo.

Injuries to all users, pedestrians, cyclists, drivers,

Os accidentes, tanto de peóns, ciclistas, condutores,

are all down 50 percent.

baixou un 50 %.

And we've built 30 miles of these protected bike lanes,

Construímos 48 km destes carrís protexidos

and now you're seeing them pop up

e agora vedes como crecen

all over the country.

por todo o país.

And you can see here that this strategy has worked.

Vedes aquí como funcionou esta estratexia.

The blue line is the number of cyclists,

A liña azul é o número de ciclistas,

soaring.

The green line is the number of bike lanes.

crecendo.

A liña verde é a liña de carrís bici.

And the yellow line is the number of injuries,

E a liña amarela é o número de accidentes,

which has remained essentially flat.

que fica basicamente igual.

After this big expansion, you've seen

Despois desta grande expansión, vedes

no net increase in injuries,

que os accidentes non aumentaron

and so there is something to that axiom

polo que hai algo do axioma

that there is safety in numbers.

que di que hai seguridade nos números.

Not everybody liked the new bike lanes,

Non a todos lles gustaron os novos carrís bici,

and there was a lawsuit and somewhat

e houbo unha demanda xudicial e

of a media frenzy a couple years ago.

un rebumbio na prensa hai un par de anos.

One Brooklyn paper called this bike lane

Un xornal de Brooklyn chamoulle ao carril bici

that we have on Prospect Park West

que temos en Prospect Park West

"the most contested piece of land

'o anaco de terra máis controvertido

outside of the Gaza Strip."

dende a Franxa de Gaza.'

(Laughter)

(Risas)

And this is what we had done.

Isto é o que fixemos.

So if you dig below the headlines, though,

Entón, se ledes máis aló dos titulares

you'll see that the people were far ahead of the press,

veredes que as persoas ían ben por diante da prensa,

far ahead of the politicians.

ben por diante dos políticos.

In fact, I think most politicians would be happy

De feito, creo que moitos políticos aledaríanse

to have those kind of poll numbers.

se tivesen eses números nas enquisas.

Sixty-four percent of New Yorkers support these bike lanes.

O 64 % dos neoiorquinos apoian os carrís.

This summer, we launched Citi Bike,

Este verán, lanzamos Citi Bike,

the largest bike share program in the United States,

o programa máis amplo de préstamo de bicis dos EUA,

with 6,000 bikes

con 6000 bicis

and 330 stations located next to one another.

e 330 estacións postas unha preto da outra.

Since we've launched the program,

Dende que lanzamos o programa,

three million trips have been taken.

fixéronse 3 millóns de viaxes.

People have ridden seven million miles.

A xente percorreu en bici máis de 11 millóns de km.

That's 280 times around the globe.

Iso é a volta ao mundo 280 veces.

And so with this little blue key,

Con esta pequena chave azul,

you can unlock the keys to the city

podedes abrir as chaves da cidade

and this brand new transportation option.

e desta nova opción de transporte.

And daily usage just continues to soar.

O uso diario segue a medrar.

What has happened is the average daily ridership

O que sucedeu é que, de media, as persoas

on the streets of New York is 36,000 people.

que van en bici diariamente en NY son 36 000.

The high that we've had so far is 44,000 in August.

O máximo que tivemos ata agora é de 44 000 en agosto.

Yesterday, 40,000 people used Citi Bike in New York City.

Onte, 40 000 persoas usaron Citi Bike na cidade de NY.

The bikes are being used six times a day.

As bicis veñen a usarse 6 veces ao día.

And I think you also see it in the kinds of riders

E penso que tamén podemos aprecialo no tipo de ciclistas

that are on the streets.

que van pola rúa.

In the past, it looked like the guy on the left,

Antes, eran coma o home da esquerda,

ninja-clad bike messenger.

unha especie de mensaxeiro ninja.

And today, cyclists look

Pero hoxe os ciclistas van

like New York City looks.

coma calquera outra persoa de Nova York

It's diverse -- young, old, black, white,

É diverso, novos, vellos, negros, brancos,

women, kids, all getting on a bike.

mulleres, nenos, todos en bici.

It's an affordable, safe, convenient way to get around.

É unha forma de viaxar barata, segura e conveniente.

Quite radical.

Ben radical.

We've also brought this approach to our buses,

Tamén levamos este enfoque aos nosos buses,

and New York City has the largest bus fleet in North America,

e NY ten a frota de buses máis grande de América do Norte,

the slowest bus speeds.

e a máis lenta.

As everybody knows,

Todo o mundo o sabe,

you can walk across town faster

andando pódese cruzar a cidade máis rápido

than you can take the bus.

que indo en bus.

And so we focused on the most congested areas

Así pois centrámonos nas áreas máis saturadas

of New York City,

da cidade de NY,

built out six bus rapid transit lines,

construímos 6 vías rápidas de autobús,

57 miles of new speedy bus lanes.

92 km de vías rápidas novas para autobús.

You pay at a kiosk before you get on the bus.

Pagas nun quiosco antes de subir ao bus.

We've got dedicated lanes that keep cars out

Temos vías asignadas que manteñen os autos fóra

because they get ticketed by a camera

porque hai unha cámara e poñemos unha multa

if they use that lane,

se usan o carril do bus,

and it's been a huge success.

e foi un enorme triunfo.

I think one of my very favorite moments

Penso que un dos meus mellores momentos

as transportation commissioner was the day

como comisionada de transporte foi o día

that we launched Citi Bike,

que se lanzou Citi Bike,

and I was riding Citi Bike up First Avenue

e eu ía en bici ata First Avenue

in my protected bike lane,

no meu carril bici protexido,

and I looked over and I saw pedestrians

e botei unha ollada e vin os peóns

standing safely on the pedestrian islands,

de pé e seguros nas illas para viandantes,

and the traffic was flowing,

e o tráfico ía fluído,

birds were singing --

os paxaros cantaban...

(Laughter) --

(Risas)

the buses were speeding up their dedicated lanes.

os autobuses ían a boa velocidade nas súas vías.

It was just fantastic.

Foi fantástico.

And this is how it looked six years ago.

E así é como estaba hai 6 anos.

And so, I think that the lesson that we have

Entón, penso que a lección que aprendemos

from New York is that it's possible

de NY é que é posible

to change your streets quickly,

cambiar as rúas rápido,

it's not expensive, it can provide immediate benefits,

que non é caro, que pode ser beneficioso no momento

and it can be quite popular.

e que pode ser moi popular.

You just need to reimagine your streets.

Só se necesita reimaxinar as rúas.

They're hidden in plain sight.

A simple vista están ocultas.

Thank you.

Graciñas.

(Applause)

(Aplauso)