Clarence Eckerson Jr.
Clarence Eckerson Jr. is the Director of Video Production for NYCSR's StreetFilms and producer of bikeTV. He loves the color purple, chocolate chip cookies, and enjoys walking, biking, and taking transit. He has never owned a driver's license.
Recent Posts
Obama Becomes First Prez to Walk Down a Bike Lane on Inauguration Day
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The networks were busy tripping over themselves trying to point out all the “firsts” during yesterday’s inauguration ceremonies. But when Barack and Michelle Obama stepped out of the presidential motorcade to greet well wishers on Pennsylvania Avenue, they missed a huge one: Obama is now the first U.S. president to walk down a bike lane […]
San Francisco: Reclaiming Streets With Innovative Solutions
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Tom Radulovich, the executive director of the local non-profit Livable City, describes the recent livable streets achievements in San Francisco as “tactical urbanism” — using low-cost materials like paint and bollards to reclaim street space. That willingness to experiment was a big reason that the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) gave its 2012 Sustainable Transport Award to San […]
Minneapolis’s Midtown Greenway: Good for Bikes, Good for Business
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In the increasingly heated competition to see who deserves the title of America’s most bike-friendly city, Minneapolis has plenty going for it. Last year Bicycling magazine anointed the city tops in the nation, knocking Portland off its long-held perch. The Twin Cities are undergoing a steady transformation into a more bike-oriented region thanks to nearly […]
Complete Streets: It’s About More Than Bike Lanes
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Over the last four years, New York City has seen a transportation renaissance on its streets, striking a better balance by providing more space for walking, biking, and transit. As with any departure from the status quo, it can take a while for everyone to grow accustomed to the changes. So Streetfilms decided to look […]
Moving Beyond the Automobile: Congestion Pricing
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In the fifth chapter of “Moving Beyond the Automobile,” we demystify the concept of congestion pricing in just five short minutes. Here you’ll learn why putting a price on scarce road space makes economic sense and how it benefits many different modes of surface transportation. In London, which successfully implemented congestion pricing in 2003, drivers […]
Bike Summit: Congressional Bike Ride (for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords)
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The National Bike Summit, organized by the League of American Bicyclists, culminated Friday morning with a Congressional Bike Ride. This year’s ride was held in support of Rep. Gabrielle “Gabby” Giffords and was the largest in LAB history. At the beginning of the ride, Executive Director Andy Clarke held a moment of silence for all the […]
Voices From the Rail~Volution
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Streetfilms was out in Portland at this year’s Rail~Volution conference, putting our finger on the pulse of the sustainable transportation world. We spoke to a healthy dose of this year’s attendees, including advocates, bloggers, planners, transit industry reps and members of transportation agencies across the country. Among those we heard from was Congressman Earl Blumenauer, […]
In San Francisco: People, Parklets, and Pavement to Parks
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In San Francisco, the Pavement to Parks program has launched an initiative that may someday alter the way many dense U.S. cities decide to treat the streets of their commercial strips. Taking the PARK(ing) Day concept to a more permanent, logical level, the Parklets Program has begun experimenting with trial spaces allowing businesses to convert […]
Times Square, Then and Now: A Streetfilms Retrospective
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In New York City, Mayor Mike Bloomberg is expected to announce his verdict on Times Square’s new pedestrian spaces very soon. Will the changes be permanent? This morning Bloomberg told radio host John Gambling that we’ll find out sometime next week. In the meantime, the media has focused on rumors that Midtown traffic speeds may […]
Streetfilms: D.C. DOT Director Talks ‘Transportation Freedom’
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Meet Gabe Klein, who was appointed to direct Washington D.C.’s Department of Transportation (DDOT) in December 2008. With a background that includes four years working for Zipcar, Klein was brought in to look at the city’s mobility problems from a fresh perspective. As he says: Cars are a part of our daily life here in […]
Streetfilms: Take a Ride on the Seattle Streetcar
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Seattle’s South Lake Union Streetcar is a 1.3-mile line that opened in December 2007, the first leg in the city’s commitment to new transit and light rail. It passed the half million passenger milestone in its first year, surpassing ridership projections. The streetcar features many top-of-the-line tech amenities, including real time arrival message boards, solar-powered […]
Upper West Siders: What Would You Fix?
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In the first of many shorts we will present over consecutive days, The Open Planning Project’s Executive Director Mark Gorton tours the streets of the Upper West Side with neighbor Lisa Sladkus pointing out problems in advance of the November 6 Streets Renaissance Workshop with Jan Gehl. Today’s topic is: Double Parking. Parking policy is […]