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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

#111

Post by revelation »

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.

Even if you do, the bikes are not going to kill you. Someone on a bike breaking the "rules of the road" is pretty much only risking his own safety, someone in a car it's almost always other people that die.

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

#112

Post by matt4077 »

jablan wrote: post #43
rockostrich wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Dedicated bike lanes have actually been going out of style. Especially those using half of the sidewalk with only symbolic separation from pedestrians are plagued by the inattentiveness of pedestrians, and are usually too narrow to pass other bikes. The pavement is also at higher risk of damage, because these lanes are usually right next to any trees lining the roads, and their roots quickly create breaks, bumps and potholes.

What's now preferred is a marked lane in the rightmost car lane, or to just dedicate a complete lane to bikes.

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

#113

Post by the_gastropod »

staticelf wrote: post #99
the_gastropod wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most NYC residents don't own cars. I'm not sure I'm buying your "New York is a driving city" assessment. New York is a dense city. Bicycles: 1. Don't pollute the air the that 8 million people breathe. 2. Take up a fraction of the space of a car. 3. Are faster than cars for most trips people make. Don't toss out the entire idea of a bicycle because a few cyclist ride like idiots. Drivers sometimes behave this way, too…

NYC don't even have a train from the airport to the city. Of course it is a driving city.

Two of the three major airports in the metropolitan area (EWR and JFK) have trains to the city. And LGA has buses.

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

#114

Post by Fricken »

mohn wrote: post #72
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…

I've done a little walking in Toronto, never biked. The streetcars' recessed tracks in the road look like a nightmare. I'm sure they're easy to cross perpendicularly, but riding longitudinally with them and getting your tire into a crack could end very badly. If you have to go through an intersection where streetcars turn and the tracks snake all over, it would be hard to ensure you're always crossing them perpendicu…

With streetcar tracks if you hit them at about a 30 degree angle you can roll right over them. On a bike no matter what you got to constantly be scanning the road surface before you to watch for potholes, ruts, gravel and ice patches, puddles and whatever.

Usually I do a little bunny hop over street car tracks, and taking some time to learn these sorts of handling skills is very much worth the trouble if you intend to make a habit of commuting by bike.

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

#115

Post by detaro »

revelation wrote: post #111
btbuildem wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Even if you do, the bikes are not going to kill you . Someone on a bike breaking the "rules of the road" is pretty much only risking his own safety, someone in a car it's almost always other people that die.

Bikes can do pretty bad damage to pedestrians. Even if it isn't your fault as the car driver being involved in a crash with a biker is a pretty shitty experience. Yes, they are not as bad as cars, but it's a bad excuse.

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

#116

Post by CydeWeys »

njarboe wrote: post #107
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…

Oakland has installed a bunch of "Ford bikes". I thought about using them the other day for a quick one way trip and to check out how they work. $10 a day minimum cost. Is it similar with Citi bikes in NYC? Why not have a one or two dollar an hour option, especially outside of commute hours and weekends.

The daily passes are aimed at tourists. If you live there then you want the monthly or annual pass. If you were to enroll in Citi Bike and paid for the annual pass up front today, you'd be paying what works out to 37.8 cents per day over the next year. That's worth it even if you only replace one cab ride per month with biking.

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

#117

Post by eertami »

crispyambulance wrote: post #56
dilatedmind wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a similar situation in Philly, every day I watch bikers run red lights and stop signs or speeding in a 25. I've yet to see a cop pull over someone on a bike

Philly here as well. There are practical reasons for bikes going through red lights and stop signs. 1. We want to clear the intersection and get to the other side ahead of the traffic. Car-bike accidents occur most often at intersections rather than mid-block. Getting through the intersection before the light turns green is a way to relieve worry about getting right hooked or sideswiped by a car. Cross traffic, if an…

>There are practical reasons for bikes going through red lights

I'd hardly call "I have a desire to be killed by a car" or "I harbour a blatant disregard of the saftey and wellbeing of those around me" practical reasons. The laws are written for the protection of everyone, not solely to inconvenience you.

Stop signs aren't something we really have in my country, but cycling through red lights has been the cause of death and injury for both cyclists and pedestrians.

I find it horrifying that you're so quick to disregard even the most fundamental rules of the road and worse yet aggressively defend your anti-social behaviour.

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

#118

Post by tonyedgecombe »

bluGill wrote: post #94
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.

When you are exercising hard heat is much worse than cold. A light sweater is enough for - 30, but at just over 25 you run out of things to take off.

I'm not sure I want to see you out riding when it's over 25 :)

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

#119

Post by Chathamization »

pg314 wrote: post #82
Chathamization wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> i probably drive more than bike, depends on the weather and somewhat the mood i'm in A lot of bikers won't bike when the weather reaches a certain point (too cold, too much rain). This means that even if you build infrastructure for bikes, you're still going to have to build just as much throughput for other modes of transportation as you did before (they have to handle situations where no one is biking).

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 the winter. That number is surely lower when we have hard winters with snowstorm after snowstorm, but the numbers are still impressive.

And keep in mind the number we'd be interested in would be lower - not just how many people generally cycle throughout the winter (which seems to be ~80%), but how many of that 80% still choose to cycle on particularly cold or snowy winter days.

So even if we could have infrastructure on par with Copenhagen, and even if we get a corresponding cultural shift (neither of these are easy or quick tasks), we would still need the other forms of transportation infrastructure to be able to handle the spillover that occurs when large amount of bikers don't feel like biking.

[1] https://www.quora.com/Do-Danes-ride-a-bike-in-heavy-rain [2] http://www.copenhagenize.com/2011/01/cycling-in-winter-in-co...

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

#120

Post by tonyedgecombe »

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've had one for a few weeks now, my bike mileage has gone through the roof, they really are good especially if you are in a hilly area.
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