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The Steady Rise of Bike Ridership in New York

citylab.com

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Re: The Steady Rise of Bike Ridership in New York

#31

Post by akgerber »

krschultz wrote: post #17
cauterized wrote: post #5

One thing the article mentions but the headline misses is the need for more and better bike lanes all over the city. De Blasio hasn't been emphasizing this nearly as strongly as Bloomberg did. But the numbers show that replacing one lane of traffic with a protected bike lane can actually ease congestion and increase average car speeds and total throughput (Lafayette St. in Soho is apparently an excellent example of t…

Agree 100% with that sentiment, but I think the problem is actually lower in the political food chain. The Department of Transportation is very pro-active about adding bike lanes (in contrast to previous generations at the DOT), but they are often blocked by old stodgy community boards in the city. The minority of people that own cars are heavily involved in that level of government, and bikers/pedestrians are not co…

Community Boards are still problematic in some areas, but not all. And as bike folks are realizing how important they are, they are joining boards and lobbying them: http://www.transalt.org/calendar/6441

Recent bike projects have mostly been backlogs from the Bloomberg era— today, the DOT hasn't been particularly bold in proposing new protected bike lanes. The proposed Spring Street lane is pretty meager: http://www.streetsblog.org/2015/04/07/let-down-by-bike-lane-...

Re: The Steady Rise of Bike Ridership in New York

#32

Post by kosei »

While it's great to see NYC bike ridership up to 21K per weekday, and touted as growing "faster than other modes of transportation", it's misleading when you compare that the MTA has a ridership of 8.6 million daily. Currently that Bike Ridership number is a paltry 0.2% of the overall ridership.

So, kudos - and I hope they improve it dramatically, but it has a long way to go, and I'm skeptical of de Blasio's goal of getting it up to 6% in the near future.

http://web.mta.info/mta/network.htm

Re: The Steady Rise of Bike Ridership in New York

#33

Post by jaredmcdonald »

I'd love to ride my bike to work but don't really have a place to put it during they day; ideally, the building would have a large, relatively secure space with bike racks in the basement or something (which it doesn't; nor do most buildings, as far as I can tell). I doubt my bike would make it more than a couple of weeks with seat and wheels intact if I locked it on the street.

Re: The Steady Rise of Bike Ridership in New York

#34

Post by thirsteh »

ams6110 wrote: post #18
curveship wrote: post #9

This is happening all over the nation. Here in small Durham, NC, we've seen biking more than double over the last 6 years. Most of the increase is young creative workers who've come for Durham's growing tech and advertising scene. It's also causing some growing pains -- we had three cyclists killed last year by cars.

I passed a car v. cyclist crash this morning on way to work. Cyclist had evidently been riding in the pedistrian crosswalk, against the flow of traffic. Couldn't tell if he had hit a car turning across the walkway, or the car had hit him. Looked like no injuries, though the bicycle was pretty mangled.

That's something that annoys me about bikes in the US vs. Europe: People in Europe are generally taught to obey the same laws as everybody else, whereas US bicyclists, in NYC in particular, just completely wing it. When I first moved here I didn't understand why everybody hated on bicyclists; now, after nearly being hit by a bicycle slamming through a crowded crosswalk at least 10 times, I do.

Yes, red lights apply to you too, bicyclists.

Re: The Steady Rise of Bike Ridership in New York

#35

Post by zwtaylor »

lisa_henderson wrote: post #21

I bike to work in New York, and I've biked around Berlin, and I would say New York still has a way to go before it catches up with Berlin. The problem that New York faces is that it is embedded in USA society, so it has to face some issues that are not about bikes, but effect bikes. An example would be the reasons people use bike helmets. No one uses bike helmets in Berlin, because Berlin is safe for bicycles, and th…

> Also, in New York, the roads are often chaotic. In Berlin, I only saw chaos around construction sites, otherwise the roads were safe and orderly.

One only needs to bike a couple minutes in New York to start encountering hazards, even in lanes specifically designated for bike use. I ride in NYC daily and usually encounter at least one of the following in bike lanes on every other block: car or delivery truck double-parked, construction, police activity, someone walking or running in bike lane, car doors opening. There's often no other option for some of these things (I particularly empathize with delivery drivers), but it all creates a very hazardous atmosphere, especially for those not accustomed to riding in the city.

Re: The Steady Rise of Bike Ridership in New York

#36

Post by mauricemir »

zwtaylor wrote: post #35
lisa_henderson wrote: post #21

I bike to work in New York, and I've biked around Berlin, and I would say New York still has a way to go before it catches up with Berlin. The problem that New York faces is that it is embedded in USA society, so it has to face some issues that are not about bikes, but effect bikes. An example would be the reasons people use bike helmets. No one uses bike helmets in Berlin, because Berlin is safe for bicycles, and th…

> Also, in New York, the roads are often chaotic. In Berlin, I only saw chaos around construction sites, otherwise the roads were safe and orderly. One only needs to bike a couple minutes in New York to start encountering hazards, even in lanes specifically designated for bike use. I ride in NYC daily and usually encounter at least one of the following in bike lanes on every other block: car or delivery truck double-…

You have to ride with awareness of the hazards I used to regularly ride in central London 15 years ago.

1 Ride assertively not aggressively 2 Don't ride in the gutter 3 Most IMPORTANT don't undertake slow or stopped traffic - that's what causes most fatal accidents (90% in london)

Re: The Steady Rise of Bike Ridership in New York

#37

Post by mgob »

akgerber wrote: post #29
aaronharnly wrote: post #6

I work in Brooklyn, in a building that houses Etsy, Amplify Education (my company), Tough Mudder (until recently), and others. In the annual bike commuting challenge put on by Transportation Alternatives, our building is overflowing with bikes -- all of those companies achieved double-digit participation rates. Granted, these are tech and lifestyle companies that draw a young and idealistic workforce, but it's pretty…

It also helps that it's awful to use a train to commute to Dumbo unless you live along the F or A.

Or the 2/3. Or you could, uh, transfer?

Re: The Steady Rise of Bike Ridership in New York

#38

Post by markvdb »

jaredmcdonald wrote: post #33

I'd love to ride my bike to work but don't really have a place to put it during they day; ideally, the building would have a large, relatively secure space with bike racks in the basement or something (which it doesn't; nor do most buildings, as far as I can tell). I doubt my bike would make it more than a couple of weeks with seat and wheels intact if I locked it on the street.

You need a Brompton folding bicycle.

Re: The Steady Rise of Bike Ridership in New York

#39

Post by odiroot »

lisa_henderson wrote: post #21

I bike to work in New York, and I've biked around Berlin, and I would say New York still has a way to go before it catches up with Berlin. The problem that New York faces is that it is embedded in USA society, so it has to face some issues that are not about bikes, but effect bikes. An example would be the reasons people use bike helmets. No one uses bike helmets in Berlin, because Berlin is safe for bicycles, and th…

I wouldn't say 12-15€/day is a cheap rental. And these are the prices you find everywhere.

A lot of tourists are buying their bikes on flea markets instead and just leave them unlocked on the street before leaving. The bikes are probably then "recycled".

Re: The Steady Rise of Bike Ridership in New York

#40

Post by toomuchtodo »

stronglikedan wrote: post #27
lisa_henderson wrote: post #21

I bike to work in New York, and I've biked around Berlin, and I would say New York still has a way to go before it catches up with Berlin. The problem that New York faces is that it is embedded in USA society, so it has to face some issues that are not about bikes, but effect bikes. An example would be the reasons people use bike helmets. No one uses bike helmets in Berlin, because Berlin is safe for bicycles, and th…

> No one uses bike helmets in Berlin, because Berlin is safe for bicycles That's not why people don't wear helmets there, and that's not a reason to not wear one. I would have been in a world of hurt if I didn't have a helmet on when I fell. No cars, people, or other moving object were anywhere near me. My tire hit a slippery patch as I was turning, and I went over sideways. I broke my shoulder and my hand, and my he…

> Wear a helmet. They not only save you from dangerous environmental situations, but they save you from yourself.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/do-bik...

http://www.californiahealthline.org/insight/2015/bicycle-hel...

http://greatergreaterwashington.org/post/19036/feds-will-sto...

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