Do we really want to go “back to normal”?  Every city in America struggles with parking issues and traffic congestion. But now, in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak, streets are free of traffic and air is remarkably cleaner. Let’s learn from this.  We can seriously consider who needs to drive in our city – do we really need to allow large delivery trucks on Main Street and Cookman?  The proposed parking garage should ease parking issues to a degree, and we’ve been discussing car-free zones, a network of connected bike lanes, and restricting deliveries to small vehicles and cargo bikes.

A quote from the article could easily describe Asbury Park or any city, “The same way we will have to reimagine so many elements in our city, we must do the same with our streets,” said Danny Harris, the executive director of Transportation Alternatives, an advocacy group. “We can’t go back to streets that are littered with traffic and parking.”

The downside of open roads is that driver entitlement is more evident in an increase of speeding.

N.Y.’s Changed Streets: In One Spot, Traffic Speeds Are Up 288%