Mayor Adams Unveils 'How NYC Moves,' new, Data-Driven Plan to Streamline Developing Major Transportation-Related Infrastructure Projects

October 29, 2024

Developed in Partnership with Industry Leaders, Advocates, Academic Institutions, and Multiple Agencies, Plan Details 21-Actionable Recommendations to  Move Faster on Major Transportation Capital Projects 

Part of Adams Administration’s Commitment to Better Deliver Government Services with More Efficiency and Speed  

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams today unveiled, “How NYC Moves,” a new report detailing 21-actionable recommendations to better streamline the delivery and completion of major transportation infrastructure projects. Developed in partnership with industry leaders in tech and transportation, advocates, academic institutions, and across multiple agencies, the plan outlines a roadmap to move faster and more efficiently on executing major, often time-consuming transportation infrastructure projects. Today’s announcement is part of a larger Adams administration commitment to better spend taxpayer dollars by utilizing emerging technology, removing unnecessary red tape, and embracing multi-agency and cross-sector collaboration to deliver high quality government services to all New Yorkers. 

“Government has an obligation to its constituents to spend taxpayer dollars with efficiency and effectiveness — that means continuing to deliver a high-quality product that meets the needs of everyday, working-class people,” said Mayor Adams. “From day one, our administration made a commitment to New Yorkers to uphold that obligation by embracing the technology of tomorrow to deliver for our city today. ‘How NYC Moves’ is another example of bringing not just government, but industry leaders, advocates, and directly-impacted people to the table to examine how we can better move our city forward. Together, government can lead the way by removing red tape, embracing innovation, and recommitting itself to the idea that it can work smarter, not harder, on getting stuff done.” 

“This roadmap marks a critical step forward in how we plan, build, and improve New York City’s infrastructure,” said First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer. “By harnessing big data and AI, the Adams administration is not just cutting red tape — we’re creating a smarter, faster, and more efficient city for all New Yorkers. I thank the Mayor’s Office of Policy and Planning, the Department of Transportation, and Cornell Tech’s Urban Tech Hub at the Jacobs Institute for their partnership.” 

“In our rapidly changing world, streamlining our transportation infrastructure projects is often the key to being able to get them done at all,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. “From centralized data sources to leveraging technology — thank you to the New York City Department of Transportation, the New York City Mayor’s Office of Policy and Planning, and Cornell Tech for identifying these recommendations to make building critical infrastructure projects even more efficient.” 

“In a city that moves a mile a minute, New Yorkers need transportation infrastructure rolled out just as fast," said New York State Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar. “‘How NYC Moves’ will use data-driven decision making, streamline processes with the latest technology, update performance benchmarks, and upskill our workforce to implement the infrastructure New Yorkers need and deserve. I am proud of my work to improve project delivery, passing legislation to authorize progressive design build and end in-person public comment requirements. I am also promoting the emerging technology of 3D-printed transportation infrastructure that will accelerate delivery, as evidenced by Amsterdam completing a 3D-printed bridge in six months. Together, we will deliver state-of-the-art transportation infrastructure in a ‘New York Minute.’” 

“The findings put forth in ‘How NYC Moves’ have the potential to reshape how we deliver life-changing improvements to our streets for New Yorkers,” said New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. “Transforming our city’s critical infrastructure, and the processes that bring these projects to the finish line, is the key to ensuring New York remains strong, vibrant, and prosperous for generations to come.”  

“Across this administration, technology is the engine that enhances government efficiency, improves service delivery, and keeps New Yorkers safe,” said New York City Chief Technology Officer Matthew Fraser. “Through initiatives such as the nation's first broad Artificial Intelligence Action Plan and our NYC Smart City Testbed Program, we're empowering city agencies to leverage emerging technologies responsibly and effectively to better meet the needs of our city's 8.3 million residents. I thank our partners with the Mayor's Office of Policy and Planning, the DOT, and Cornell Tech for their contributions to this report and their commitment to building a safer, smarter New York City.” 

 “Collaboration between government, industry, and academia can uncover the pathway to build better tools for data-driven decisions in our transportation network,” said “Get Stuff Built” Executive Director and “How NYC Moves” co-author Rob Holbrook. “This report provides a vision to deploy innovative emerging technologies that are rigorously grounded in reliable data standards to bring our understanding of how we travel through New York City into the 21st century.”     

“The ‘How NYC Moves’ report highlights how the right data and appropriate technology can be harnessed to address public challenges and transform the way we plan, review, and deliver projects in New York City,” said Urban Tech Hub, urban technology fellow and “How NYC Moves” co-author Paul Salama. “The 21 recommendations we’ve outlined were made possible thanks to the insightful contributions from the cross-sector dialogue facilitated by the symposium, matching tech solutions with clearly articulated agency needs.” 

“New York City is making historic investments citywide, ensuring neighborhoods are supported by functional public infrastructure that addresses climate risks and enhances New Yorkers’ quality of life. Spending taxpayer dollars efficiently starts with how we plan and initiate each of our capital projects,” said New York City Chief Delivery Officer Alison N. Landry. “The ‘How NYC Moves’ report reflects partnership across city agencies, academia, and industry leaders to remove obstacles and reduce obsolete processes — generating opportunities for smarter implementation. Thank you especially to Rob Holbrook and Paul Salama, and the teams at the Mayor’s Office of Policy and Planning, the Department of Transportation, and Cornell Tech’s Urban Tech Hub at the Jacobs Institute, for facilitating this interdisciplinary dialogue in support of effective project delivery.” 

The “How NYC Moves” report results from a two-day symposium hosted by multiple city agencies and Cornell Tech’s Urban Tech Hub at the Jacobs Institute in January 2024, where transportation experts from agencies, industry, and academia gathered to identify technology opportunities for more effective processes. Notable recommendations in the report include utilizing the thousands of existing cameras and sensors owned by city agencies to better capture reliable traffic counts, producing centralized transportation data to create better data-driven decisions, applying artificial intelligence (AI) technology to accelerate analyses and reviews, and automating transportation analysis to reduce redundancy and improve accuracy.    

The Adams administration has remained on the frontlines on delivering better-quality government services by using cutting-edge technology. In his first year in office, Mayor Adams announced “Get Stuff Built” to create more housing more quickly by cutting red tape, streamlining processes, and removing bureaucratic obstacles that are slowing housing production and economic recovery. A report produced by the Building and Land Use Approval Streamlining Task Force included 111 concrete actions to create more housing more quickly by cutting red tape, streamlining processes, and removing bureaucratic obstacles that are slowing housing production and economic recovery. The actions will increase the speed and lower the cost of development by accelerating project timelines by 50 percent.  

Earlier this year, Mayor Adams and the New York City Department of City Planning celebrated the implementation of “Green Fast Track” — a streamlined environmental review process to accelerate the production of small-and medium-sized housing projects across New York City. The streamlined environmental review process could reduce up to two years of study and $100,000 in costs for qualifying projects. With Chief Technology Officer Fraser, Mayor Adams released the comprehensive “New York City Artificial Intelligence Action Plan,” taking a major step to cement New York City’s position as a leader in the responsible use of innovative AI technology. The broad plan — the first of its kind for a major U.S. city —develops a framework for city agencies to carefully evaluate AI tools and associated risks, help city government employees build AI knowledge and skills, and support the responsible implementation of these technologies to improve quality of life for New Yorkers. 

“This report is a clear example of how Cornell Atkinson and The 2030 Project: A Cornell Climate Initiative is working to accelerate climate action in many forms. We’re proud to have supported this convening of key government agencies and technology firms to find opportunities to speed up the decarbonization of our built environment,” said Ben Furnas, executive director, The 2030 Project: A Cornell Climate Initiative. 

“New York City's struggles with traffic congestion are legendary, and now advances in data science are giving us never before seen opportunities to measure, optimize and improve the traffic flow on our city streets,” said Michael Samuelian, director, Cornell Tech’s Urban Tech Hub at the Jacobs Institute. “This report outlines ambitious and realizable ways to help make New York City move better, faster and safer.” 

“As a consultant responsible for leading transportation analysis work for applicants, which is often part of the critical path timeline, I’m extremely encouraged by the city’s initiatives to streamline and compress the transportation review process by leveraging existing assets, harnessing technology and big data, and adopting updated methodologies that better align with the city’s goals,” said Jeff Smithline, director of traffic engineering, Sam Schwartz. 

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