AMNY Subway Tracker

(via flickr's uberzombie)

The mayor signed two transportation safety bills into law today. One forces commuter vans to don a uniform sticker so riders know they're legit. The vans are also known as dollar vans, and are overseen by the Taxi and Limousine Commission, and independent operators use them to pick up customers in subway and bus-poor areas of the city. The city began looking into marking the vans after a fatal hit-and-run accident in Brooklyn last year. Witnesses said a dollar van took a woman's life and council members speculated there are more illegally operating vans than legal and better regulation was needed. The TLC is beginning the process to design a sticker. From a Mayor's Office release:

The sticker must contain a visible, distinguishable, difficult-to-replicate emblem large enough to be seen by law enforcement personnel and the general public. The sticker shall contain vehicle specific information such as make and model, license plate number, and other information unique to the van.

“With 262 commuter vans on our increasingly congested City streets, it is important to ensure that only licensed commuter vans are operating within the five boroughs. This bill will also help enforcement personnel and the public distinguish between legitimate, legal methods of transportation, and illegal vans that are not permitted to operate on our streets.

“Safe and efficient transit is the lifeblood of this City, and our continued success relies on an effective transportation network. In certain areas, particularly those underserved by trains and buses, commuter vans are an important part of that network. Introductory Number 430-A strengthens the integrity of our licensed commuter vans, while allowing us to crack down on illegal operators.

The other law requires the city Department of Transportation stop, yeild and do not enter signs to be repaired or replaced within three business days of being notified. One way signs must be taken care of in seven days.

The Tracker has spotted newly designed Department of Transportation parking signs popping up around our offices near Madison Square Garden. They look quite different from the ones that have dotted the streets for decades, and prompted us to do a double-take. We plan to check with the DOT on whether these signs augur a citywide change. Anyone notice these signs elsewhere?

We tend to resist this kind of change. For instance, Tracker still mourns for the old Don’t Walk/Walk signs. (We snagged one -- a nice glass number -- from crews that were taking them down en masse on Second Avenue in 2003, and it remains a treasured possession.) A source tells us one that one lingered until very recently in Yorkville. A pair we’d noticed in Central Park near the Dairy (one is below, in Sept. 2005), long after the others were switched to the hand/man motif, has been taken down. Are any still out there?

-- Rolando Pujol