Transportation Roundtable: Ydanis Rodriguez

Q: What are the biggest transit needs facing the city, and how do you anticipate the city addressing them?

YR: When I think on new legislation or initiatives, I want to organize it and work around those two goals—how do we make transportation in New York City safer and efficient? The reality is infrastructure in New York City has to be improved. Forty-three percent of all roads in Manhattan have been considered substandard; followed by Staten Island, which has 40 percent; and the Bronx, 34 percent; Queens, 31 percent; and Brooklyn, 28 percent. I am so happy that the mayor has committed $250 million to improve our arterials, and that money will be used for redesigning dangerous intersections. With that investment, I am pretty sure that we will be able to break our old record that we had in 2014 when we were able to get the lowest number of pedestrians being killed by car accidents.

Q: What are the next steps for Vision Zero? And what are your thoughts on the debate about whether the current level of prosecution is appropriate for drivers and bus drivers who fail to yield and hit and injure or kill a pedestrian?

YR: I am a strong supporter of increasing penalties for drivers who fail to yield. I [was] one of the co-sponsors together with Councilman Mark Weprin on this bill. I do believe that the Transit Workers Union has made a legitimate concern on the case of one of the drivers. I have been going over the standards that the MTA drivers have to follow. I am at this particular moment reviewing all the information produced by the MTA on how they investigate drivers who get involved in accidents, so that I can make a decision on any changes we should make. But I want to be informed before I make any decision.

Q: Are you involved in discussions about the possibility of creating a new license for-hire vehicle bases that use apps?

YR: I am not involved. I have heard about it, but I have not had any discussion with any of my colleagues. For me, at this moment, things have been working fine, but I’m always open to hearing the arguments that any of my colleagues will have when they propose any new legislation.

Q: How is the bus rapid transit and select bus service push progressing? What neighborhoods do you foresee getting this next?

YR: Brooklyn, Far Rockaway, they have made a case on how it takes an hour and a half for someone to come to Manhattan, and how bus rapid transit will help to reduce the time it takes. We will be working with the commissioner of the Department of Transportation and the administration to make sure that we connect those isolated communities with bus rapid transit. I hope that New York City looks at other models, at other places where there is a public-private partnership contributing to investing in transportation. Investing in bus rapid transit is something that benefits and connects isolated communities, and it’s a good investment.

Q: What are your thoughts on the Move NY’s tolling plan? Do you think it will go anywhere?

YR: I believe it is important that the plan include $200 million to be reinvested in transportation at the local communities throughout the five boroughs. If we go throughout the communities in the five boroughs and we let them know that there is going to be a particular amount of money to be reinvested in areas related to transportation needs in their community, I believe that we can gain their support. I believe that the plan has good merits. It will help congestion in lower Manhattan. It will help to raise money.

Q: Why is there no movement on the bill banning horse carriages? What is the hurdle for your colleagues that don’t support it?

YR: I am confident that we will be able to get this bill passed. At the end of this process, we should be able to create a win-win situation, where those individuals who own those permits—that I believe is less than 50 people who own those carriage horse permits—they should be able to get a good reward and a job training.Those horses, they will be able to be in another place, not in the street of New York City, where the weather is sometimes more than 100 degrees, interacting with buses, ambulances and trucks, that we didn’t have in the 1940s when we created this industry.