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 meaningful improvements in affordability or availability. To improve quality of life and opportunity in the near term, we need high-leverage, low-friction interventions that reshape how people live and move right now.

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

Mobility improvements offer immediate and high-leverage benefits, but are just one component of addressing our housing affordability crisis. Mobility enhancements can deliver tangible benefits while housing developments are still navigating approval processes.

What Abundance Means

By "abundance," I’m referring to a material prosperity that enables greater life choices and opportunities. In its simplest form, abundance means having enough affordable housing, efficient transportation options, and economic opportunities so that people can thrive rather than merely survive. 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. If New York wants to preserve its importance, we need tangible policies that improve material well-being, starting with mobility solutions that can be implemented quickly while we work on longer-term housing reforms. When people can access jobs, education, and amenities affordably and efficiently, we create the conditions for genuine abundance.

Mobility Improves Affordability

Housing affordability isn't just a function of how many units exist, it's also about where those units are, and how easily people can access jobs, schools, services, and social networks from them. Mobility is a force multiplier: when people can get where they need to go quickly, reliably, and safely, it effectively increases the supply of livable housing, even if the number of units 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 simply because they're isolated by inadequate transit options. A faster, more flexible transportation system opens up these areas to new demand and investment, raising utility without having to wait for new supply to come online. 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 strategic 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

Robust transportation networks connect people to a wider range of employment, education, and service opportunities without requiring them to move. This is particularly powerful for lower-income communities where residents can access better jobs and amenities while maintaining crucial social networks, community ties, and cultural connections. Transportation becomes a ladder to opportunity that doesn't require abandoning affordable housing or supportive communities. If better transportation means families have access to better job opportunities, it improves affordability because they have higher incomes.

Solutions for Near-Term Impact

New York already has the tools needed to dramatically 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 tangible 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 relatively modest costs. By prioritizing these high-leverage, low-friction interventions, we can achieve significant mobility improvements without waiting for complex, expensive infrastructure projects to complete their lengthy planning and construction cycles.

Expanding Congestion Pricing

Expanding Manhattan's congestion pricing to high-traffic areas in Brooklyn and Queens could reduce congestion while generating revenue for transit improvements. By thoughtfully designing fee structures, we can ensure access while discouraging unnecessary traffic.

Repurposing Street Space for Dedicated Bus Lanes

New York can learn from London's successful transformation of its bus network through strategic 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 bold move significantly improved journey times and service reliability, particularly in central and inner London areas.

The results speak for themselves: 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." Most importantly, these changes created a positive feedback loop: more reliable service attracted more riders, which justified further service improvements, creating a virtuous cycle of transit growth.

This stands in stark contrast to the current situation in New York, where bus unreliability has decimated ridership. Most New Yorkers don't consider buses a viable transportation option precisely 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, turning what should be a quick trip into a frustrating ordeal.

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 relatively quickly by repurposing existing infrastructure, delivering immediate benefits to hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers daily. The evidence from London¹ shows that these measures can dramatically improve service without significantly impacting other traffic, providing a rare win-win in urban transportation policy.

Demand-Based Parking Reform

Strategic adjustment of parking pricing based on demand has proven remarkably effective at reducing traffic congestion in urban areas. San Francisco's pioneering SFpark program demonstrates the power of this approach. By implementing demand-responsive pricing at parking meters, San Francisco reduced "cruising for parking" — drivers circling blocks looking for spaces — 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 actually resulted in lower average parking rates (down 4% for on-street parking and 12% for city-owned garages) while simultaneously 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 immediately 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 significant progress in expanding its bike lane network, but too many routes remain disconnected, unprotected, or both. By strategically converting misallocated street space into protected bike lanes, we can create a comprehensive, safe cycling network that serves both commuters and recreational riders.

Protected bike lanes have been shown to substantially increase cycling volumes within just months of installation. This dramatic growth occurs because many potential cyclists cite safety concerns as their primary reason for not biking. When people feel safe, they ride.

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 just increasing cycling, protected bike lanes benefit the entire 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 remarkably 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 immediate 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.

Embracing Technological Innovation

Creating a clear regulatory framework for robotaxis and other emerging mobility technologies can accelerate their safe deployment. These services can fill gaps in the transit network, reduce car ownership needs, and free up valuable urban space currently dedicated to parking. While full-scale deployment will take time, establishing the groundwork now ensures these benefits arrive sooner.

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 unnecessary 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 needless uncertainty about whether they're heading to their flight or somewhere entirely different.

The critical 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 dramatically improve the rider experience at relatively 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. These improvements would make transit more welcoming to occasional users while reducing stress for regular commuters.

By addressing these basic informational shortcomings, we can make transit not just physically accessible, but cognitively accessible as well – a critical step toward encouraging greater ridership and reducing dependency on private vehicles.

Prioritizing Mobility for Immediate Impact

These solutions share three critical advantages over housing reforms alone:

Implementation Speed

These mobility interventions can be deployed within months to years, not decades. London's bus lane transformation and San Francisco's parking reforms demonstrate how quickly well-designed policies can reshape urban mobility patterns.

Leverage Existing Infrastructure

Rather than waiting for new construction, these approaches maximize what we already have. By repurposing street space, optimizing pricing mechanisms, and improving information delivery, we can dramatically increase the utility of our current transportation network.

Proven Success

Each proposed solution builds on documented successes in comparable urban environments. The data from London and San Francisco isn't theoretical - it shows concrete improvements in reliability, accessibility, and even economic vitality.

New York stands at a crossroads. While we must continue pursuing long-term housing solutions, we cannot afford to neglect the immediate mobility crisis affecting millions of residents daily. By implementing these high-leverage mobility interventions today, we create breathing room for housing reforms to take effect, improve quality of life in the near-term, and build momentum toward a more accessible, affordable city.

The path to abundance starts with mobility. Let's take the first steps.

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