New York City voters are in luck, with two leading mayoral candidates who have put serious thought into transportation. In responding to Transportation Alternatives’ just-released Candidate Survey, both Mayor Bloomberg and Democratic challenger Bill Thompson provide plenty of specifics in explaining their support for traffic calming, speed cameras, expansion of bus rapid transit, and other progressive reforms.

Bloomberg has the advantage of incumbency, and cites a transportation record that is more accomplished than that of any mayor in recent history and includes car-free Times Square, the PlaNYC sustainability blueprint, Select Bus Service, and safety fixes on Queens Boulevard. For his part, Thompson calls for variable tolls on MTA crossings and a weight-based car registration fee in the city. He would also institute a pilot program to bar car traffic from the Central and Prospect Park loop drives, while Bloomberg says there are “no plans to close these routes further.”

Democrat Tony Avella has less to say about transportation. While he supports car-free Central Park loops, he also says that drivers should be allowed to make right turns on red.

The site is chock-full of information, as Transportation Alternatives received surveys from over 70 candidates competing in the fall elections for City Council, comptroller, district attorney, borough president, and public advocate. The questions cover vehicular crime, walking and biking, traffic congestion, parking, the MTA, and more.

The organization will host debates between the candidates for City Council in districts 25 (Jackson Heights) and 33 (Greenpoint/Williamsburg/DUMBO) in the coming weeks. More information is available here.