*IDEAorange

Want to test an idea you have? Build a proof of con­cept and see what hap­pens. The city of New York decided it would exper­i­ment with cheap planters and bar­ri­ers to cre­ate pedes­trian space and reroute traf­fic. They didn’t spend a for­tune and they mea­sured for gains in qual­ity of life as well as bet­ter traf­fic move­ment, fewer vehic­u­lar acci­dents, and fewer pedes­trian injuries. These find­ings helped the city to mea­sure against it’s def­i­n­i­tion of success.

A good process defines suc­cess and uses mea­sure­ment tools to sim­plify decision-making.

“New York City has 6,000 miles of streets, and it’s narrow-minded to think that every inch of them should be all-car, all the time–especially in a place where pedes­tri­ans and bus rid­ers out­num­ber dri­vers 9 to 1. By cut­ting traf­fic injuries and fatal­i­ties dra­mat­i­cally, projects like the 34th Street transit-way ulti­mately save tax­pay­ers money. Remem­ber: every traf­fic death costs $3 mil­lion in emer­gency response, lit­i­ga­tion, med­ical treat­ment, etc.” – Wiley Norvell, Trans­porta­tion Alternatives

This video by DOT in NYC describes their plan to reduce con­ges­tion and improve qual­ity of life and safety issues at Times Square.