What's happening
This bill allows New York City to set speed limits as low as five miles per hour on open streets prioritizing non-vehicle users.
Why it matters
Prioritizes pedestrian and cyclist safety. by allowing the city to set extremely low speed limits (down to 5 mph) on designated open streets, aiming to reduce the risk and severity of crashes involving non-vehicle users.
Clarifies what qualifies as an “open street,”. defining it as a street where motor vehicle access is limited by barriers or signage and where pedestrians, cyclists, and other non-vehicle users are given priority, ensuring the law targets genuinely shared or pedestrian-focused spaces.
Expands local authority. for New York City’s Department of Transportation to experiment with and implement aggressive traffic calming in urban environments, potentially serving as a model for other dense cities looking to reclaim street space for non-drivers.
May influence street design and community use,. encouraging more events, play streets, and everyday active uses by making certain streets feel safer and less dominated by cars, potentially improving neighborhood cohesion and public health.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Lower Speed Limit Open Streets
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
History
- Enacting clause stricken
- Referred to transportation
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Lower Speed Limit for Open Streets
In Senate Committee · Transportation · Sponsor Julia Salazar
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
167
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
Introduced by M. of A. EPSTEIN, LEVENBERG, GONZALEZ-ROJAS, SIMON, BORES, RAGA -- read once and referred to the Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to authorizing a five mile per hour speed limit for open streets in cities having a population in excess of one million
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subparagraph (a) of paragraph 27 of subdivision (a) of section 1642 of the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by section 2 of part OO of chapter 56 of the laws of 2024, is amended to read as follows:
(a) Establishment of maximum speed limits below twenty miles per hour at which motor vehicles may proceed on or along designated highways within such city for the explicit purpose of implementing traffic calming measures as such term is defined herein or for the explicit purpose of implementing an open street; provided, however, that no speed limit shall be set below ten miles per hour nor shall such speed limit be established where the traffic calming measure to be implemented consists solely of a traffic control sign, and provided, further, that no speed limit shall be set below five miles per hour on an open street. Establishment of such a speed limit shall, where applicable, be in compliance with the provisions of sections sixteen hundred twenty-four and sixteen hundred eighty-four of this title. Nothing contained herein shall be deemed to alter or affect the establishment of school speed limits pursuant to the provisions of section sixteen hundred forty-three of this article. For the purposes of this paragraph, "traffic calming measures" shall mean any physical engineering measure or measures that reduce the negative effects of motor vehicle use, alter driver behavior and improve conditions for non-motorized street users such as pedestrians and bicyclists, and "open street" shall mean a street or segment of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00603-01-5
a street designated by the New York city department of transportation as such pursuant to section 19-107.1 of the administrative code of the city of New York, on which motor vehicle access is controlled by barriers and signage or other traffic calming measures, and on which priority is given to pedestrians, individuals using bicycles, and other non-vehicular street users.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.