Michael Bloomberg Emphasizes Public Transportation in Campaign Platform

New York’s former mayor looks to build on his work at City Hall

Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg's presidential campaign has announced details of his plan for transportation issues.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority of the State of New York

If you liked Mayor Bloomberg’s approach to public transit, you’ll love President Bloomberg’s approach to public transit. That, at least, is one conclusion you could draw from the transportation platform that the billionaire candidate has proposed. Among other things, his campaign has reunited the former mayor with Janette Sadik-Khan, who headed the city’s Department of Transportation during Bloomberg’s time in office.

At Curbed, Alissa Walker explored Bloomberg’s plan and talked with Sadik-Khan about the campaign’s motivation for it. Sadik-Khan spoke about one particular goal: “[I]nvesting in the network that makes alternatives to driving possible.”

Bloomberg’s proposals would work on both the local and national level — from incentivizing superblocks for municipalities large and small to creating a system of electric buses that would travel between cities.

How does this compare to some of the candidates Bloomberg is running against in the Democratic primaries? Curbed has a rundown on that as well, as does the Eno Center for Transportation, a think tank focused on transportation issues.

Like Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders — among others — Bloomberg has discussed a plan for high-speed rail, to name one example. As Walker points out, Bloomberg’s mayoral record on transportation and environmental issues is one of the more impressive things about his candidacy. Whether or not this will resonate with voters remains to be seen — though the beginning of primary season isn’t too far in the future any more. 

Subscribe here for our free daily newsletter.

The InsideHook Newsletter.

News, advice and insights for the most interesting person in the room.