Abundance Starts with Mobility

skip the gridlock and take the faster route to abundance

Art from GPT-4o (but could have just as easily been a photo from my neighborhood)

Even if every housing reform went into effect tomorrow, construction timelines mean it could be years before we see improvements in affordability or availability. To improve quality of life and opportunity in the near term, we need interventions that reshape how people live and move right now.

Mobility is the highest leverage near-term option we have.

What Abundance Means

In its simplest form, abundance means having enough affordable housing, efficient transportation options, and economic opportunities. This concept explains why many are leaving traditionally progressive states like New York and California for places like Texas and Florida, where housing costs are lower and day-to-day living is more affordable. This exodus has political consequences: as population shifts, so does electoral representation.

Mobility Improves Affordability

When people can get where they need to go efficiently, it increases the supply of livable housing even if the housing stock stays the same.

There are three core ways transportation improves affordability:

Expanding Access to Undervalued Neighborhoods

Across New York, thousands of housing units remain underutilized because they're isolated by inadequate transit options. Flexible transportation opens up additional housing supply without having to wait for new construction. It also has the added bonus of incentivizing further investment improving the total housing supply.

Reducing the Combined Housing-Transportation Cost Burden

When reliable transportation options exist, families can make trade-offs between housing and transportation costs. Improved mobility allows households to access more affordable housing farther from city centers without sacrificing job opportunities or dramatically increasing commute times. This shifts the traditional calculus of "drive until you qualify" to a more sustainable model where transportation doesn't consume the savings gained from lower housing costs.

Creating Economic Mobility Without Physical Relocation

Better transit also lets people reach better jobs without moving, which is disproportionately helpful for lower-income neighborhoods. Higher income improves affordability as much as a lower rent does.

Solutions for Near-Term Impact

New York already has the tools needed to improve mobility in the near future and some of these solutions are already underway, but they need our continued support. I’ve tried to highlight solutions that can be implemented within months to years, as opposed to years to decades, providing benefits while longer-term housing reforms take shape.

The focus here is primarily on low-friction improvements that don't require massive capital outlays like building new rail lines or other major infrastructure projects. Instead, these solutions maximize existing resources, repurpose underutilized assets, and implement policy changes that can deliver near-term benefits at modest costs.

Repurposing Street Space for Dedicated Bus Lanes

New York can learn from London's transformation of its bus network through repurposing of road space. In 2021, Transport for London (TfL) made 85km of bus lanes on its busiest roads operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This improved journey times and service reliability, particularly in central and inner London areas.

Bus service became more predictable and faster, making it an attractive alternative to driving. As Louise Cheeseman, TfL's Director of Buses, noted, "Shorter journey times will help deliver a more reliable bus network," which in turn helps "make buses an attractive travel option." These changes created a positive feedback loop: more reliable service attracted more riders, which justified further service improvements.

In New York, bus unreliability has decimated ridership. Most New Yorkers don't consider buses a viable transportation option because of unpredictable arrival times and crawling speeds when stuck in traffic. Nobody wants to wait 20 minutes for a bus that then inches along in congestion.

By converting underutilized street parking into dedicated bus lanes, we can break this cycle of decline. Continuous, camera-enforced bus lanes that operate 24/7 could be implemented quickly by repurposing existing infrastructure, delivering benefits to hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers daily. The evidence from London¹ shows that these measures can improve service without significantly impacting other traffic.

Demand-Based Parking Reform

Adjusting parking pricing based on demand has proven effective at reducing traffic congestion in urban areas. San Francisco tried this with its SFpark program. Demand-responsive pricing at parking meters cut "cruising for parking" by 43%, which translated to a 30% decrease in vehicle miles traveled in SFpark areas.

The program works through a simple application of supply and demand economics: when parking demand is high on a particular block, prices increase slightly (e.g. $0.25 per hour); when demand is low, prices decrease by the same amount. This creates a natural distribution of parking across neighborhoods while ensuring that spaces remain available on every block.

Contrary to initial concerns about increasing costs, the program resulted in lower average parking rates (down 4% for on-street parking and 12% for city-owned garages) while increasing business activity. Sales tax revenue rose 35% in SFpark areas compared to less than 20% in other parts of the city.

By implementing similar demand-responsive parking policies in New York, we could reduce the estimated 30% of traffic caused by drivers searching for parking, improving mobility for everyone while supporting local businesses and reducing emissions.²

Repurposing Street Space for Bike Lanes

New York has made progress in expanding its bike lane network, but too many routes remain disconnected, unprotected, or both.

Protected bike lanes have been shown to increase cycling volumes within months of installation. This growth occurs because many potential cyclists cite safety concerns as their primary reason for not biking.

My own experience confirms this. Since protected bike lanes were installed connecting Downtown Brooklyn to Williamsburg, I've made them my preferred mode of transportation during much of the year. While driving this route might take 17 minutes on a good day, it's wildly unpredictable – today it took 45 minutes (it was rainy so I foolishly opted to take my chances driving), and I've experienced trips longer than an hour before. By contrast, my bike commute is a consistent ~17 minutes every time, plus I avoid the hassle of finding parking. This reliability is why I often choose cycling over other modes even in winter when protected lanes are available.

Beyond increasing cycling, protected bike lanes benefit the transportation ecosystem. They reduce injuries for all road users (not just cyclists), decrease traffic congestion by encouraging mode shift, and improve business for local retailers along bike routes. Many neighborhoods have seen retail vitality increase after protected bike infrastructure was installed.³

Implementation can be swift - a basic protected bike lane can be created using paint and flexible bollards in days or weeks rather than months. More permanent versions with concrete barriers can follow as funding permits, but the safety and mobility benefits begin as soon as the lanes are marked.

With thousands of miles of streets in New York City, dedicating just a fraction of this space to safe, protected bike infrastructure could create an accessible network.

Improving Transit Information Accessibility

New York's public transit system, while extensive, often fails at the most basic function of helping riders navigate with confidence. These informational barriers create anxiety and discourage transit use, even among regular riders.

Anyone who has tried to navigate New York's subways has experienced the frustration of missing or inadequate wayfinding tools. Maps are scarce throughout stations, making quick orientation difficult. While other global metro systems prominently display route maps in multiple locations within each car and throughout stations, New York riders often find themselves straining to glimpse a distant map or relying on smartphone apps – assuming they have service underground.

Compare this to the Bay Area's BART system, where airport-bound trains are clearly designated with distinct signage. In New York, the train to JFK is indistinguishable from the other on the same line, with no special markings. For visitors and residents alike, this creates uncertainty about whether they're heading to their flight or somewhere entirely different.

The function of announcing upcoming stops is rendered nearly useless by poor audio quality throughout the system. Garbled, unintelligible announcements compete with the train's noise, leading riders to miss their stops entirely – especially when crowding prevents visual confirmation of location. This basic communication failure creates anxiety for riders who must remain hyper-vigilant rather than using travel time productively.

Perhaps most frustrating is the unpredictable nature of service changes and skip-stop patterns. Riders can never fully trust that their train will make all expected stops, forcing them to constantly monitor announcements (which, as noted, are often unintelligible) rather than using transit time productively for reading, working, or resting. This unpredictability erodes confidence in the system and discourages ridership among those who have alternatives.

Implementing clear, consistent, and accessible information systems would improve the rider experience at low cost compared to infrastructure changes. Digital displays in every car showing upcoming stops, clear airport route differentiation, improved audio systems, and real-time service alerts visible throughout stations would transform how New Yorkers interact with their transit system.

Prioritizing Mobility for Immediate Impact

While we continue pursuing long-term housing solutions, we shouldn't neglect the mobility problem. By implementing these interventions, we make breathing room for housing reforms to take effect.

The path to abundance starts with mobility.

1. 24-hour bus lanes trial set to become permanent as bus journey times improve

2. San Francisco Adopts Demand-Responsive Pricing Program to Make Parking Easier

3. Protected Bike Lane Analysis