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When Citi Bikes Are Faster Than Taxis in New York City

toddwschneider.com

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

#141

Post by Kalium »

wooter wrote: post #132
Kalium wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a pedestrian in a dense Californian urban core, I have mixed feelings about bikers. Most bikers are reasonable, sensible bicycle commuters. They stay in the road, wear helmets, and follow laws. No skin off my nose. (ecologically friendly, fights obesity, blah blah blah blah blah) But I've also had multiple encounters with bicyclists who feel they are entitled to switch back and forth between a wheeled vehicle movi…

> But I've also had multiple encounters with bicyclists who feel they are entitled to switch back and forth between a wheeled vehicle moving significantly above normal walking speeds and a pedestrian who just happens to be on a bicycle. Usually with no notice and as is convenient for them. Not infrequently such enhanced-pedestrians can top 20 mph barreling down the sidewalk. because they can. trying to pigeonhole cyc…

Moving a 20-pound chunk of metal at 20 mph with a 100-200 squishy on top amidst a bunch of unsuspecting and unexpecting other squishies may be less than maximally safe for all squishies involved. We're talking about 40-some-odd times more kinetic energy than your average squishy walking at 3 mph.

If you're forced to move into pedestrian space for safety from giant metal cages, the safest option is to actually become a pedestrian. For you and for the other squishies around. I understand that it's slow, uncomfortable, and an unpleasant cycling experience. I appreciate the sacrifice you make for the safety of your fellow squishies.

I'd also be happier with Bay biking culture if it didn't consistently make excuses for douchey cyclists.

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

#142

Post by yardie »

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.

That's not a bike but an electric scooter. They shouldn't be on bike paths nor pedestrian sidewalks. They have more in common with a motor bike or dirt bike than they do with a bicycle.

EA bikes just can really only be identified by their battery packs. The motor can be embedded in the wheel hub or in the pedal crank.

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

#143

Post by ash »

agumonkey wrote: post #75
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…

Any Dutch old enough to remember when Amsterdam was full of cars and almost zero bikes ? I wonder how the transition went and what effects were ? I was mind wandering the other day: - biking is less stressful than driving [1] - promotes human contact - promotes prolonged activity - has very low cost - almost zero carbon emission (keep breathing people) - allows more capacity / density in urban environments But it's a…

> Any Dutch old enough to remember when Amsterdam was full of cars and almost zero bikes ?

For those interested, some history about Amsterdam cycling and "Stop the child murder" protests:

"How the Dutch got their cycling infrastructure": https://bicycledutch.wordpress.com/2011/10/20/how-the-dutch-...

"How Amsterdam became the bicycle capital of the world": https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/may/05/amsterdam-bic...

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

#144

Post by lifebehindbars »

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.

LOL @ lawless behavior. This is a ridiculous comment. Drivers speed, run red lights, double park, block the box, pollute the air, honk their horns all fucking hours of the day, and kill a ton of people every year.

EVERY major metropolitan area is experiencing fixed street capacity and a growing population. You cannot add more roads, more cars, more trains (at least in the short term) to move all these people: cycling and walking are the best ways to move in a dense area and we should be doing everything we can to promote the infrastructure and lifestyles for both of these activities.

Getting rid of this toxic ideology would be a pretty good start.

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

#145

Post by imgabe »

Chathamization wrote: post #119
pg314 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not true in places that have good bike infrastructure. E.g. Belgium, the Netherlands or Denmark get plenty of rain. That doesn't stop bicyclists at all. Cold and snow doesn't stop most people either. You just wear a couple of extra layers and go a bit slower if it's slippery.

> That doesn't stop bicyclists at all. It seems to stop at least a number of them, even in places like Denmark. Look at the answers to this question, "Do Danes ride a bike in heavy rain?"[1]: > Yes, though fewer will than in nice weather. > Bus fill up more then usual in rain, though Or this blogpost about people from Copenhagen biking through the winter[2]: > As mentioned before, 80% of Copenhageners cycle through t…

Adding bike lanes doesn't remove other infrastructure. In most cases we already have all the other infrastructure. Nobody is arguing we should replace every form of transportation with biking.

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

#146

Post by bluntfang »

revelation wrote: post #126
francisofascii wrote: post #67

IMHO, for the most ideal city experience, transit options should be prioritized in this order: 1) pedestrians, 2) buses, 3) bikes, 4) cars. Biking being faster than motoring is excellent news towards this ideal.

You got 2 and 3 switched up. It's very simple: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C5j6rPlU4AEizP6.jpg:large

kneejerk, i tend to agree..but bussing is really necessary to for people with accessibility issues.

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

#147

Post by santaclaus »

CydeWeys wrote: post #131
e40 wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I have found is there is a tiny minority of people who _hate_ bikers. I walk 4 miles a day on city sidewalks. The number of times I have to yield to bikers on the sidewalk is disgusting[0]. And some of these bikers are going fast . I once saved a child that was about to run out of a store. I could see, from my vantage point, the biker and the child set for a collision course. I stepped in front of the biker, doi…

Where do you live? I'm in Manhattan, and people rarely cycle on the sidewalk here. There's simply no room to do so, as there's so many pedestrians. You end up going more slowly than if you stayed on the street where you belong in nearly all circumstances. Don't be too mad at the cyclists, though. Usually they're doing it because the city isn't providing the proper level of bike infrastructure. With more high quality…

> Where do you live? I'm in Manhattan, and people rarely cycle on the sidewalk here.

NYPD ticket like crazy for sidewalk biking. Bay Area cops in the cities don’t really ticket for ‘quality of life’ crimes (or even blatant things like busting out car windows and such).

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

#148

Post by Quinner »

btbuildem wrote: post #103
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…

You cannot seriously expect the rules of the road to be the same for multi-ton vehicles capable of 50+ mph speeds and human-powered vehicles that weigh 200lbs tops / max out at 20 mph.

I can expect it, because in large part the rules of the road are precisely that.

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

#149

Post by hessproject »

staticelf wrote: post #97

I'm from Sweden and have been biking in NYC as a tourist. I must say, it is one of the most scariest places I have biked in my life. Huge cars, almost no biking lanes, a lot of people and other traffic. I admit I was also a bit drunk but still, in Stockholm we have biking lanes almost everywhere and you feel a lot safer. Also there is a lot more people that use the bike when you give them a lane to bike on. Please, c…

You can get to most of Manhattan under 125th st and almost all of northwest Brooklyn without leaving a bike lane: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/bicyclists/bikemaps.shtml

Even in my neighborhood in Queens I can get into Manhattan with only a 3 block stretch outside of a bike lane.

Obviously there is going to be more traffic than Stockholm, we have almost 8 million more residents.

There is a already a large effort to create bike lanes in the city. The city website lists current bike lane projects: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/bicyclists/bike-projects.sh...

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

#150

Post by francisofascii »

revelation wrote: post #126
francisofascii wrote: post #67

IMHO, for the most ideal city experience, transit options should be prioritized in this order: 1) pedestrians, 2) buses, 3) bikes, 4) cars. Biking being faster than motoring is excellent news towards this ideal.

You got 2 and 3 switched up. It's very simple: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/C5j6rPlU4AEizP6.jpg:large

My reasoning was a bus can transport many more people than one bike, but sure, I am agreeable to switching 2 and 3.
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