Cameras, Crosswalks, and Change: Exploring the Policy and Design of Better Streets with Streetfilms

The new Sam Schwartz Transportation Research Program at Roosevelt House is pleased to present a special screening of selections from Streetfilms, an online documentary project and leading platform for educational films on sustainable transportation. These “shorts” feature Streetfilms’ signature “man on the ground” storytelling approach, capturing how smart transportation design and policy in Paris, Montreal, London, and beyond are creating more vibrant, healthy, and livable communities.

Following the screening, Sam Schwartz, Chair and Founder of the Transportation Research Program, leads a discussion with director and founder of Streetfilms, Clarence Eckerson Jr. They explore which of the policies and infrastructure approaches portrayed in the films could be adapted for New York City, as well as the opportunities and challenges involved in doing so. Welcoming remarks by Sam Schwartz Transportation Research Program Director Kelly McGuinness.

The discussion considers questions such as: What is Paris doing to protect children walking, and rolling, to school? How is Montreal innovating with bicycling infrastructure? How important was congestion pricing in allowing the city of London to rethink its streets?

Founded in 2006, Streetfilms has inspired action and behavioral change worldwide. Its videos have been used by public agencies, nonprofits, advocacy groups, schools, and community organizations to educate decision-makers and advance the movement for more livable streets.

Clarence Eckerson Jr. has been documenting innovative transportation practices for over a quarter century and has produced over 1,100 Streetfilms. He has been referred to as “the hardest working man in transportation show biz” for his dedication to making difficult, wonky concepts more accessible and entertaining. He travels all over the globe in search of the newest best-practices to enlighten the public, journalists, and elected officials the world over. With no formal video training or education in urban planning, Eckerson attributes much of his accumulated knowledge to never holding a driver’s license. He shoots 99% of his footage by bike, foot, train, or bus, which gives his filmmaking a unique, see-it-as-it-happens feel. He gained valuable experience as the creator of NYC’s public-access show “bikeTV” in 2000 which advocated for better biking in NYC, often teaming with Transportation Alternatives to document initiatives for car-free parks & protected bike lanes. In 2022, Eckerson received a World Bicycle Day award from the UN in recognition of how his films have made the world a better place for bicyclists and pedestrians, and safer city streets for all. In 2025, Eckerson marked over 20 years of producing video for Open Plans.

Sam Schwartz is the Chair and Founder of the Transportation Research Program at Roosevelt House, where he also serves as the Theodore W. Kheel Fellow, teaching a course on NYC Transportation. He founded Sam Schwartz Engineering and was CEO from 1995-2021. He wrote a column on transportation for the New York Daily News from 1990 to 2022. Previously, Schwartz was New York City’s Traffic Commissioner and the Chief Engineer of the NYC Department of Transportation. He started his transportation career in the late 1960s as a NYC cabbie and joined the Traffic Department as a junior engineer in 1971. His most recent books include No One at the Wheel: Driverless Cars and the Road of the Future (2018) and Street Smart: The Rise of Cities and The Fall of Cars (2015), which together lay out a recipe for cities faced with rapid changes in modes, automation, demographic shifts, and travelers’ preferences. He has a novel, centered on automotive technology, to be released in 2026.

Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College, December 3, 2025.