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After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

nytimes.com

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Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#191

Post by jueij9jk »

bravoetch wrote: post #87
pwthornton wrote: post #5

This is big time for America. If our biggest city can’t show leadership on pedestrian and bicyclist safety, we can’t expect any other city to as well. New York is really lagging behind where it should be. Despite being by far the biggest American city, it is overrun with cars. Protected bike lanes, street improvements to make crossing the street safer, and dedicated bus lanes will improve the city for all New Yorkers…

No. NYC isn't some reference point for what other cities should do. Making a city bike friendly is available to all cities, and has been for decades. There's no trickle down bike policy, as other cities in the US are already showing.

This is being overly literal with the meaning.

Yes, of course, NYC and Omaha need a different model when it comes to implementation.

What’s shared is the public/political will to challenge the status quo.

Pointing out the differences that you are isn’t terribly insightful. Anyone with solid algebra and geometry skills can see the variables involved and shape of the problem are different.

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#192

Post by anonu »

The "horrifying" crash mentioned in the article is indeed horrifying. I bike a lot in NYC (consistently for 10+ years now) and I think I am pretty cautious and defensive. But there's absolutely nothing the guy could have done in the video.

I linked it below because its a good reminder that your fate is never 100% in your hands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0kqsUnpGlU

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#193

Post by vonmoltke »

crazygringo wrote: post #50
unlinked_dll wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

not to go all "blame the victim" here, but one thing I noticed culturally in NYC is that traffic lights are a suggestion to pedestrians. If there isn't a car directly in front of them, they'll cross the street. Compare to LA, where people tend to wait for the signal to cross pretty consistently. That said, LA still has horrible pedestrian death statistics so who knows how much that matters.

Well NYC is a city for pedestrians primarily, and for drivers only secondarily. Vastly more people walk through a midtown Manhattan intersection than drive. So yes -- unless a car is immediately coming, you and everyone else will cross the street regardless of the signal. Cars are the minority in what is primarily a pedestrian zone, numerically. LA is generally the opposite -- it's a city for drivers, not for pedestr…

I think is the issue is where this leaves cyclists, who are also supposed to obey signals and traffic direction restrictions.

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#194

Post by kevin_thibedeau »

rb808 wrote: post #138
SwellJoe wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not unlike New York City. But, how about Finland? They also ride bikes a lot more than most US cities, and Finland definitely has harsh winters. Edit: As for summers, I've regularly biked in Texas throughout the summer over many years (I've lived without a car quite a bit in Austin). The peak of the day is rough, but the usual commuting hours aren't too bad. New York has nothing on Texas summers.

I know AMS and NYC well, Finland - do people bike all winter? The snow is one thing, the icy roads and cold make it tough.

Nokia's tire division makes studded bicycle tires. The problem bicycling on ice with these tires is the threat of cars sliding into you.

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#195

Post by RandallBrown »

unlinked_dll wrote: post #23
pwthornton wrote: post #5

This is big time for America. If our biggest city can’t show leadership on pedestrian and bicyclist safety, we can’t expect any other city to as well. New York is really lagging behind where it should be. Despite being by far the biggest American city, it is overrun with cars. Protected bike lanes, street improvements to make crossing the street safer, and dedicated bus lanes will improve the city for all New Yorkers…

not to go all "blame the victim" here, but one thing I noticed culturally in NYC is that traffic lights are a suggestion to pedestrians. If there isn't a car directly in front of them, they'll cross the street. Compare to LA, where people tend to wait for the signal to cross pretty consistently. That said, LA still has horrible pedestrian death statistics so who knows how much that matters.

The system works amazingly well. In a couple years of walking through midtown, I only saw one person get hit by a car and they walked out from behind a food truck into traffic, nowhere near a crosswalk. The car couldn't have done anything about it.

When I first moved there I was annoyed by everyone ignoring the signals. Then I came to appreciate it as an efficient way of getting around the city. Pedestrians (and bikes and cars) all used the signals as general guidelines, but would go when it was safe, because otherwise you're never going to get anywhere.

I'm not saying that everyone everywhere should ignore traffic signals, but it seems to work well in New York City.

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#197

Post by mumblemumble »

shaboi wrote: post #126
pwthornton wrote: post #5

This is big time for America. If our biggest city can’t show leadership on pedestrian and bicyclist safety, we can’t expect any other city to as well. New York is really lagging behind where it should be. Despite being by far the biggest American city, it is overrun with cars. Protected bike lanes, street improvements to make crossing the street safer, and dedicated bus lanes will improve the city for all New Yorkers…

Chicago has been doing a pretty good job of building out bike lanes. But it needs to be taken further still, and more quickly. However, the initiative needs a more robust implementation, with more consideration of driver behavior and parking needs. This is evident as many delivery trucks, Ubers etc. park in the lane (albeit, with emergency blinkers on, but it's a moot measure regardless) and push bicyclists into traf…

Based on what I've seen in Chicago, it seems that the missing element is informing the public of the relevant laws.

To my knowledge, the rules covering bicycles and pedestrians have never been on Illinois's written test, they aren't necessarily covered in driver's (or other) education, and, since most motorists (and also, I'm guessing, cyclists) come from more suburban environments where there just aren't as many bikes and pedestrians on the roads, people simply don't know how they're supposed to behave on the streets. Which is a recipe for unnecessary chaos.

Case in point: About ten years back, when she was visiting, I had to tell my mom not to drive in a bike lane. She was surprised to hear that it was a bike lane; she though it was just a weirdly small shared-use lane with slightly confusing paint marks.

And no, while I appreciate the good intentions of whoever it is at the DOT who thinks composes these things, cute rhyming phrases in glowing amber letters over the freeway aren't going to cut it.

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#198

Post by mumblemumble »

selectodude wrote: post #167
shaboi wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Chicago has been doing a pretty good job of building out bike lanes. But it needs to be taken further still, and more quickly. However, the initiative needs a more robust implementation, with more consideration of driver behavior and parking needs. This is evident as many delivery trucks, Ubers etc. park in the lane (albeit, with emergency blinkers on, but it's a moot measure regardless) and push bicyclists into traf…

Protected bike lanes implies a curb between the road and the lane. While a delivery truck could jump the curb, technically, it "curbs" a lot of that behavior.

In Chicago it's largely been implemented by placing the bike lane in between on-street parking and the sidewalk, with soft posts and paint separating the parking lane from the bike lane.

I've watched people put an impressive amount of effort into delicately navigating between those posts so that they can parallel park their car next to the curb. i.e., in the bike lane.

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#199

Post by RandallBrown »

tombert wrote: post #112
OutsmartDan wrote: post #62

As an avid cyclist in NYC, this is a huge step forward into cyclist protection. I can't tell you how many times i've almost been hit, or doored, by a car. Sometimes, it's a lot safer to run a red light to get in front of a car versus waiting for the light to turn- but of course that's not legal. Honestly, as huge and condensed NYC is, I am surprised this hasn't happened years ago. It's much, much more efficient to ge…

My biggest pet peeve is when cops treat the bike lane as additional parking. I've seen cops do it just to walk into 7-eleven and buy a snack. I wonder if that will be addressed at some point.

Casey Neistat, a prominent YouTuber, partially got his start by making a video about people/things blocking the bike lanes in NYC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzE-IMaegzQ

Re: After Spike in Deaths, New York to Get 250 Miles of Protected Bike Lanes

#200

Post by kristo »

I moved from NYC to Amsterdam a bit more than a month ago because getting around in NYC is too unpleasant and dangerous. Have been hit on my bike thrice in 5 yrs. Have been run down by psycho drivers. Have been doored.

In the last month in Amsterdam I’ve had more pleasant interactions on the streets than in my entire time in nyc. It’s pure magic what cities are like when they embrace the fact that they are a city.

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