Skip to content

New York City Streets Renaissance

52 members. New York, NY Join Group
Aaron Naparstek profile permalink
Collapse

Aaron Naparstek

Subject: Re: Re: Honking Cabbies
2009-06-01 13:44
The market-based anti-honking solutions come up a lot but they are absolute non-starters. Horns ar
The market-based anti-honking solutions come up a lot but they are  
absolute non-starters. Horns are there for emergencies. You can't  
charge people money to use a safety device that we really do, in fact,  
want them to use in emergency situations. More important: The taxi  
owners are never going to allow you install devices in their cars that  
take money from them.

If someone really wanted to put together a real advocacy campaign  
around car horns, I think the objectives would be pretty  
straightforward:

- Get the NYPD and/or DOT and DEP to massively increase anti-honking  
enforcement on an ongoing basis. Perhaps some technology could be  
deployed to enable automated enforcement, like red light cams do with  
red light runners.

- As part of that campaign, aggressively target dollar vans and livery  
cabs that use their horns to attract and notify passengers of their  
availability. Make sure all those companies know that the honking is  
no longer going to be tolerated and they will be heavily fined.

- Get the TLC to mandate a new, softer, gentler, pedestrian-friendly  
horn in all NYC cabs and liveries.

- Get the mayor and/or the police commissioner to talk about the issue  
and take it on. raise consciousness.

If someone really wanted to work on this, I think all of the above  
objectives are potentially achievable.

--A


On Jun 1, 2009, at 10:41 AM, Greg Zwahlen wrote:

Show quoted text 

> Paul,
>
> Great idea. I think the honking issue is one of the more
> under-addressed quality of life issues out there today. Three years
> ago the Times ran a "Suggestions for Mayor Bloomberg" and one reader
> submitted what I think is a great idea regarding cab honking:
>
> Suggestion: Counters should be installed in taxicab horns. Each month,
> cabdrivers would pay for the number of times they honked (they might
> be given a generous allowance of free honks for safety). The cost per
> honk could be relatively low, maybe 50 cents. The knowledge that
> disturbing the peace isn't entirely free might quiet the pointless use
> of car horns, or at least raise some revenue. If the plan is a
> success, it might be expanded to other vehicles in the city.
> — Thomas Talbot, Upper West Side
>
> Matthew W. Daus, chairman of the Taxi and Limousine Commission,
> responded: "Hornhonking for any reason other than to warn of danger is
> simply unacceptable, which is why it is singled out for mention in the
> 'Passenger Bill of Rights.' We definitely appreciate the highly
> creative approaches to this issue, but continue to believe that the
> best way to hold drivers appropriately accountable is to report
> incidents by calling 311."
>
> (you can view it here:
> http://travel.nytimes.com/2006/01/08/nyregion/thecity/08featheds.html?n=Top%2FReference%2FTimes%20Topics%2FPeople%2FV%2FVandam%2C%20Jeff
> )
>
> Best,
> Greg
>
>
> On Fri, May 29, 2009 at 7:03 PM, Ethan Kent <ekent@...> wrote:
>> This may be a project to combine the passions of the two Aarons that
>> love to make noise about excessive noise.
>>
>> Aaron Friedman (CC'd )lead a successful campaign to reduce the use of
>> Car Alarms.  http://www.silentmajorityny.org/
>>
>> He is busy through this month leading Make Music NY.
>>
>>
>>
>> Ethan Kent
>> Vice President
>>
>> Project for Public Spaces
>> 700 Broadway New York, NY 10003
>> T (212) 620-5660 x 318 F (212) 620-3821
>> http://www.pps.org
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Aaron Naparstek [mailto:aaron@...]
>> Sent: Friday, May 29, 2009 12:38 PM
>> To: nycsr-discussion@...
>> Subject: Re: [New York City Streets Renaissance discussion] Re:  
>> Honking
>> Cabbies
>>
>> i didn't have a decibel meter on me but it sure sounded that way to  
>> me.
>>
>>
>>
>> On May 29, 2009, at 12:45 PM, Paul Chenard wrote:
>>
>>> I haven't had a chance to hear a London cab horn, are they
>>> significantly lower
>>> in decibels than their American cousin?
>>>
>>>
>>> On 2009-05-29 12:37, Aaron Naparstek wrote:
>>>> it's a great idea. the horns in london taxis would do just fine and
>>>> it
>>>> wouldn't take all that much work to modify these horns.
>>>>
>>>> i'd love to see someone do a sustained and organized advocacy  
>>>> effort
>>>> at the TLC and in City Council on this issue. they will be highly
>>>> resistant but this is very winnable. taxis are relatively easy to
>>>> regulate.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On May 29, 2009, at 12:27 PM, Paul Chenard wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Hi everyone. I've been pondering these days what we would need  
>>>>> to do
>>>>> in order to suppress the over use of car horns by cab drivers.  
>>>>> As we
>>>>> all know the threat of the $350 fine for honking has not been a
>>>>> deterrent and in my opinion almost impossible to enforce, so I
>>>>> propose looking into a car horn for our yellow cabs that isn't as
>>>>> loud as the current ones. What do my fellow New Yorkers think of
>>>>> this idea? What are your ideas about this issue and how should  
>>>>> it be
>>>>> addressed? Does anyone know of a horn or heard of a car horn that
>>>>> isn't as loud. Does anyone know of any other cities that have
>>>>> successfully addressed this issue?
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Archive:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>> http://www.livablestreets.com/projects/nycsr/lists/nycsr-discussion/arch
>> ive/2009/05/1243614432578
>>> To
>>>>> unsubscribe send an email with subject "unsubscribe" to
>>>>> nycsr-discussion@...
>>> .  Please contact
>>>>> nycsr-discussion-manager@...
>>> for questions.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Archive:
>> http://www.livablestreets.com/projects/nycsr/lists/nycsr-discussion/arch
>> ive/2009/05/1243615522016
>>> To unsubscribe send an email with subject "unsubscribe" to
>> nycsr-discussion@...
>>> .  Please contact nycsr-discussion-manager@...
>>> for questions.
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Archive:
>> http://www.livablestreets.com/projects/nycsr/lists/nycsr-discussion/arch
>> ive/2009/05/1243618673730
>> To unsubscribe send an email with subject "unsubscribe" to
>> nycsr-discussion@....  Please contact
>> nycsr-discussion-manager@... for questions.
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Archive: http://www.livablestreets.com/projects/nycsr/lists/nycsr-discussion/archive/2009/05/1243634755263
>> To unsubscribe send an email with subject "unsubscribe" to nycsr-discussion@... 
>> .  Please contact nycsr-discussion-manager@...  
>> for questions.
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Archive: http://www.livablestreets.com/projects/nycsr/lists/nycsr-discussion/archive/2009/06/1243867288321
> To unsubscribe send an email with subject "unsubscribe" to nycsr-discussion@... 
> .  Please contact nycsr-discussion-manager@...  
> for questions.
>
Return to messages