There’s a new plan to reduce New York City congestion. However this program released by the city’s Department of Transportation yesterday will not include fees to drive into midtown, like Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s ill-fated plan tried to do.

New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan yesterday charted a smarter and greener future for City transportation policy with the release of the agency’s ambitious strategic plan, “Sustainable Streets,” laying out clear goals for transforming the City’s streetscape into people-friendly boulevards and world-class public spaces, and targeting improvements in bus mobility, safety, and bicycling while reducing the transportation network’s impact on the environment. The 68-page document, the most far-reaching of its kind for the agency, builds on the Mayor’s PlaNYC by laying out a detailed blueprint to improve travel in our thriving City to ensure a safer, more pleasant and sustainable New York City for years to come.

Key goals in “Sustainable Streets” include:

*Cut city traffic fatalities by 50% from 2007 levels
*Establish bus rapid transit lines to improve bus speeds citywide
*Double bicycle commuting by 2015
*Initiate citywide parking policies to help reduce cruising for parking and congestion
*Adopt complete-street design templates for reconstruction projects
*Improve street surfaces through better management of street cuts and underground infrastructure work
*Increase energy efficiency in DOT street lighting and office operations

“The vision laid out here will go a long way toward easing transportation conditions in our growing city while also squarely address the environment, climate change and improving the City’s quality of life,” said Commissioner Sadik-Khan. “A green approach to transportation can make a dramatic contribution to answering the challenges facing New York City, and make us an example for the rest of the country. So I am proud to share this plan with all New Yorkers and chart new directions for our City’s transportation system.”

“Sustainable Streets” follows the release one year ago of Mayor Bloomberg’s PlaNYC, which looks at New York City’s future in a sustainable and global context, and where transportation plays a vital role. The City grows in population every year, adding to the demands placed on its streets and public transit. With more than 6,300 miles of streets and public spaces spread across the City’s 321 square miles, the City’s transportation network offers countless opportunities to bring world class streets to a world class city. To create these world class streets DOT is committed to installing 200 new miles of bike lanes, including 15 miles of protected bike lanes, by 2009. The plan also calls for creating new public plazas in every community citywide.

To improve mobility, the plan also calls for helping buses move faster and more reliably through traffic; increasing HOV lanes citywide; increasing ferry service; expanding the use of technology to fight congestion; increasing curbside parking prices to encourage turnover; and implementing traffic remedies along congested corridors in all five boroughs.

Addressing the City’s infrastructure, DOT seeks to increase the agency’s already successful use of recycled asphalt to 50%; minimize the impact of street construction; increase the percentage of streets and bridges rated as “good” by 2030; and reduce the number of over-height trucks that strike overpasses.

The plan also outlines goals for greening the city, enhancing the DOT’s use of data and managing of projects, and establishes benchmarks in every category to monitor progress.

“A strategic plan is an important guide to help the transportation professionals at DOT who work so hard every day to make the City’s transportation network as great as it can be,” Commissioner Sadik-Khan said. “More transportation choices and more reliable travel-and streets that serve as public places in and of themselves-won’t merely improve our commutes and our environment. They also represent a new frontier in efforts to improve the quality of life in New York City. All of these factors will add up to a greater, greener New York and ensure that the City continues to thrive.”