The Outgoing Chief Of NYC Transportation Has Done An Incredible Job
She will be replaced by Polly Trottenberg, the current Under Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation.
In her six-year tenure, Sadik-Khan has made a lot of changes.
She focused on reducing the number of cars on NYC streets. She built hundreds of miles of bike lanes, introduced a hugely successful bike share program, created pedestrian plazas, and transformed Times Square.
Her grand goal was to make it easier and safer to get around in New York, and to make the city a better place for residents and businesses, she explained in a 2011 essay for Slate.
Sadik-Khan was also responsible for managing a $2 billion annual budget and 4,700 employees. She was in charge of maintaining and improving 6,300 miles of road, nearly 800 bridges, 12,000 intersections with traffic signals, and the Staten Island Ferry.
She caught plenty of flack for things like audible cross walk signals to help the blind and taking away parking spaces to make room for Citi Bike stations. But she stood her ground, and the changes were made.
So what's the net effect of Sadik-Khan's work?