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When Citi Bikes Are Faster Than Taxis in New York City

toddwschneider.com

31–40 of 294 posts

Re: When Citi Bikes Are Faster Than Taxis in New York City

#31
I live in the East Village and am convinced that cyclists in New York City have no regard for human life. The NYPD seems to be cracking down on their lawless behavior, but I think a push away from cycling and towards ride-sharing (a la Via) is the solution for our transit issue.

With our broken subway system and high volume of cabs, ubers, etc; it is clear that New York is a driving city - but not a parking city.

Re: When Citi Bikes Are Faster Than Taxis in New York City

#32
post #3

Do people use bikes to get anywhere faster? I would use one to save on emissions and/or get some much needed exercis edit: so many replies! I guess I stand corrected, although the more I think about it, the less I'm surprised. I live in Japan, obviously known for its public transport. Interesting to note though once I travel abroad, thanks for the replies everyone :-)

Yes. My door to door commute by bike takes about 30 minutes but by public transport takes about 60 minutes. In fact, being able to commute by bike is the reason I moved out to a nicer, larger place than I would have considered if constrained to public transport only.

For reference, this is South West London to West London (6 miles).

Re: When Citi Bikes Are Faster Than Taxis in New York City

#33
post #3

Do people use bikes to get anywhere faster? I would use one to save on emissions and/or get some much needed exercis edit: so many replies! I guess I stand corrected, although the more I think about it, the less I'm surprised. I live in Japan, obviously known for its public transport. Interesting to note though once I travel abroad, thanks for the replies everyone :-)

On my skateboard I can commute through SoMa in SF faster than cars during rush hour. Actually my 30 mile commute between Palo Alto to Oakland is 10 minutes faster by taking a train and skateboard than driving.

Re: When Citi Bikes Are Faster Than Taxis in New York City

#34
post #31

I live in the East Village and am convinced that cyclists in New York City have no regard for human life. The NYPD seems to be cracking down on their lawless behavior, but I think a push away from cycling and towards ride-sharing (a la Via) is the solution for our transit issue. With our broken subway system and high volume of cabs, ubers, etc; it is clear that New York is a driving city - but not a parking city.

The NYC subway system is far from the nicest in the world and it has a lot of infrastructure problems--in part because of its age. But a system that moves about 6 million people on the average weekday can't be all that broken.

Re: When Citi Bikes Are Faster Than Taxis in New York City

#35
post #7
post #2

what citi bikes need is a reward system to get riders to transfer bikes from plenty to empty areas. [edit] i meant to use Citi bike as a generic term.

They do have this. It's called "bike angels", and it lets you earn points based on how empty or full a station is. They also have bonuses on special holidays or rainy days.

Sounded interesting, so I looked it up - https://bikeangels.citibikenyc.com/ - seems like a well designed incentive system.

Re: When Citi Bikes Are Faster Than Taxis in New York City

#36
post #19
post #3

Do people use bikes to get anywhere faster? I would use one to save on emissions and/or get some much needed exercis edit: so many replies! I guess I stand corrected, although the more I think about it, the less I'm surprised. I live in Japan, obviously known for its public transport. Interesting to note though once I travel abroad, thanks for the replies everyone :-)

In Seattle, many trips of 3-6 miles are fastest by bike. Faster than transit or car even without including parking time. There are quite a few dedicated bike paths that make it smooth sailing for most of the trip.

Unfortunately Seattle is also not an especially flat city. It makes it hard to get started.

Re: When Citi Bikes Are Faster Than Taxis in New York City

#37
post #6
post #4

As a pedestrian crossing the straw in NYC, you will typically wait for cars to stop, then walk about 2/3 of the way into the street, then peer into the bike lane to make sure no bikes are coming, then complete your crossing. Most of the bikers, from my experience, do not follow rules such as stopping at a Stop sign or for pedestrians or at their own bike designated stop lights. It may be nice to bike in the cities pa…

And if you do follow the rules on a bike you often end up sitting in traffic with the cars anyway.

Even following the rules you still save time because you're at the top of the queue with the lead car every time. When I bike into work I never have to wait 3-4 turns of the light to proceed.

Yes, I do follow the rules: lights, stop signs, etc. Whether driving my car or riding my bike, I'm sharing a resource and we are all trying to get somewhere. It's only fair.

Re: When Citi Bikes Are Faster Than Taxis in New York City

#38

I have been comparing biking and driving to work in Derby (UK) for my 7 mile commute. Biking can be quicker for me depending on traffic. I have just ordered an ebike that should shift the odds more in favour of this bike. I always feel better having commuted on bike though

I wish you luck with the ebike, but personally i feel like they're problematic.

It could just be our roads here though; the issue I find is that they're too fast for bike lanes [risk to cyclists], but too slow for the road [cars frequently pass them at higher speeds and very close-by]. It seems like everyone is frustrated and the ebikers are just being pushed around by everyone.

Re: When Citi Bikes Are Faster Than Taxis in New York City

#39
post #4

As a pedestrian crossing the straw in NYC, you will typically wait for cars to stop, then walk about 2/3 of the way into the street, then peer into the bike lane to make sure no bikes are coming, then complete your crossing. Most of the bikers, from my experience, do not follow rules such as stopping at a Stop sign or for pedestrians or at their own bike designated stop lights. It may be nice to bike in the cities pa…

A million times this! I live in Chicago and am an avid biker (been doored by a cab, right of passage i guess?) I am one of the few who stops at stop signs and slows down or stops at cross walks to watch for pedestrians. I attend my local alderman's meetings to push for more protected bike lanes which we are now getting, but my fellow bikers are making us all look bad wrt following the rules of the road. I can't tell…

[deleted]

Re: When Citi Bikes Are Faster Than Taxis in New York City

#40
post #20

Not much love for biking here; You'd almost think that most of the people on Hacker News are from Californian suburbs... Seriously though, biking in cities is great. It's one of those critical mass problems where the more people that do it the better the infrastructure gets, the more aware drivers become and there is a herd mentality where bikers tend to flow together making them more predictable and therefore safer…

Your edit is my one problem with the bike sharing programs in cities. As an everyday commuter if I see someone on their own bike it's usually a pretty safe assumption that they're aware of their surroundings. The casual riders make a lot of dangerous decisions because of their lack of awareness and I usually just end up waiting for some space to pass them as quickly as possible.
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