When Citi Bikes Are Faster Than Taxis in New York City • Hacker News Board

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

#41

Post by xapata » Tue, Sep 26, 2017, 1:40 PM UTC

JohnnyConatus wrote: post #12

When you're trying to get to the morgue? I'm sympathetic to cyclists - I am one myself - but the average CitiBike rider rides like an 8 year old who just got their first bike.

Many people predicted citibikes would be dangerous, but they were surprisingly accident-free for quite some time. You might have the impression that they're badly ridden, but the data suggests they're actually safe.

There might be a bit of memory tricks going on -- you remember the things that stand out, but not the boring riders stopping at the light.

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

#42

Post by detaro » Tue, Sep 26, 2017, 1:42 PM UTC

verelo wrote: post #38

astannard wrote: post #16

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.

What kind of e-bikes do people have in Canada? Electric-assist types, or ones with a throttle?

In Europe the assist-type is way more common, limited to 25 km/h and at least in Germany the stereotypical user is an elder person that now suddenly can go a bit faster and go comfortably up hills.

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

#43

Post by jablan » Tue, Sep 26, 2017, 1:42 PM UTC

rockostrich wrote: post #40

verelo wrote: 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.

You should ask your local government for dedicated biking infrastructure then.

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

#44

Post by jdanp » Tue, Sep 26, 2017, 1:43 PM UTC

ghaff wrote: post #34

jdanp wrote: 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.

You're right, my use of the term 'broken' was a bit harsh but this summer was particularly bad in terms of track fires, delays, station shutdowns, and persistent subway signal system problems, so much so that 'fixing the subway' has become a major talking point of the mayoral race.

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

#45

Post by verelo » Tue, Sep 26, 2017, 1:43 PM UTC

detaro wrote: post #42

verelo wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

What kind of e-bikes do people have in Canada? Electric-assist types, or ones with a throttle? In Europe the assist-type is way more common, limited to 25 km/h and at least in Germany the stereotypical user is an elder person that now suddenly can go a bit faster and go comfortably up hills.

I've seen both, the Electric-assist seem less common [or maybe just harder to identify?]. The ones that I see as not really fitting in are the larger ones that look kind of like an electric Vespa.

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

#46

Post by turkeywelder » Tue, Sep 26, 2017, 1:43 PM UTC

verelo wrote: post #38

astannard wrote: post #16

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.

In the UK you only get assistance up to 15.5mph on an eBike (legally) so they're generally no quicker than a normal bike

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

#47

Post by rockostrich » Tue, Sep 26, 2017, 1:44 PM UTC

dr_ wrote: 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…

The only reason I look both ways on a one-way street in NYC is because I've almost been hit by cyclists going the wrong way on a few occasions (and then been yelled at by that cyclist for not looking).

As an everyday commuter in Boston, I'm definitely guilty of not stopping at stop signs that I bike through everyday and not stopping when there is a pedestrian in the crosswalk (usually trying to get as far away as possible from them), but whenever I have to go down the wrong way of a one way street (Charlestown has is a bit confusing and it happens whenever I'm there) I go slow and sometimes even dismount.

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

#48

Post by detaro » Tue, Sep 26, 2017, 1:45 PM UTC

verelo wrote: post #45

detaro wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What kind of e-bikes do people have in Canada? Electric-assist types, or ones with a throttle? In Europe the assist-type is way more common, limited to 25 km/h and at least in Germany the stereotypical user is an elder person that now suddenly can go a bit faster and go comfortably up hills.

I've seen both, the Electric-assist seem less common [or maybe just harder to identify?]. The ones that I see as not really fitting in are the larger ones that look kind of like an electric Vespa.

Ah, yes, those really don't mix well with neither bike lanes nor cars.

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

#49

Post by fishtank » Tue, Sep 26, 2017, 1:45 PM UTC

dr_ wrote: 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…

I would encourage anybody who thinks cyclocommuters are particularly bad actors to stand on a busy urban street corner and count the percentage of drivers who are actively engaged with their mobile phone. You can identify them easily because they will be shiftily looking downward at sporadic intervals, rolling stop signs, and failing to notice traffic light changes.

In addition to the phone-related dangerous behavior, I would encourage people to count the number of unsignaled turns that happen at an urban intersection. As a pedestrian and a bicycle commuter in Chicago, I have to operate under the assumption that cars will jump in any direction at any moment (especially after having once been hit by a truck making an unsignaled right turn).

People who ride bikes in the city seem to attract extra scorn from the public for their supposedly higher rates of scofflawism. Cyclists do not have true impunity because they are in constant danger, whereas drivers have de jure and de facto impunity. A drunk driver in Chicago received no jailtime for actually killing a cyclist last year, for example. The rulebreaking of the cyclist is always taken as less acceptable. For motorists, there is no strong social expectation to follow the rules. I hope this will change as bicycle commuting gets more popular.

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

#50

Post by verelo » Tue, Sep 26, 2017, 1:45 PM UTC

rockostrich wrote: post #40

verelo wrote: 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.

Yeah totally agree. The only plus I can get from it is that they're easy to identify as the higher risk riders. I've seen cities where you can just rent a regular bike [often old, beaten up a bit], and those people just blend right in.

Having said that, they don't seem to cause anywhere near as much of a problem when there are bike lines, but obviously that is not something available everywhere.