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

#201

Post by pg314 » Tue, Sep 26, 2017, 4:36 PM UTC

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.

Utilitarian bicycling is not necessarily the same as exercising hard. Most people here in Belgium cycle at about 15-20 km/h. With the added breeze it's often more comfortable to cycle than to walk if it is really hot.

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

#202

Post by scbrg » Tue, Sep 26, 2017, 4:40 PM UTC

Ntrails wrote: post #172

dkhenry wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I have found is there is a tiny minority of people who _hate_ bikers. They tend to pop up and make wild claims about how dangerous bikers are, or how much they dislike how bikers use the streets since streets are for cars, and bikes are for children. What I have found in actually talking to people is most people support and encourage bikes, and would love to bike, but don't feel safe. Bikes make everything about…

> Bikes make everything about traffic better, and most bikers observe the traffic laws . Anecdata time. Practically every single day I'll see bikes casually going through red lights, usually moving between pedestrians crossing. Now, I'll freely grant that they're usually paying enough attention to be safe - but you can bet motorbikes (and even cars) could make those very same judgement calls - except they'd get done…

> I'm actually pretty solidly pro properly segregated bike lanes, but if I had to rate drivers vs cyclists in a "most likely to have a collision with as a pedestrian" I would easily go with the cyclist.

Possibly, but if you'd pick a more reasonable metric, such as accidents that actually result in serious injury, cars are apparently ahead, by a 6000% margin; http://road.cc/content/news/109269-are-drivers-and-cyclists-...

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

#203

Post by _jal » Tue, Sep 26, 2017, 4:40 PM UTC

belorn wrote: post #166

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…

> can top 20 mph barreling down the sidewalk. Sometimes with cargo in tow. I would be very surprised to see that on a side walk. 20mph is above the speed limits for cars in cities here in Sweden, and I recall reading that while the police can catch people speeding on bikes that its not very likely event. > Usually with no notice and as is convenient for them Seems similar to parents with strollers. I have never heard…

> I would be very surprised to see that on a side walk

I don't walk to work with a radar gun, but sidewalk-bikes barreling down on me are a daily occurrence (San Francisco). Not people coasting down the block, people actively pumping and dodging. I've been run over by a bike twice, and while I'll take that any day vs. a car, those shitheads need to stay off the sidewalk.

I am very pro-bike. I road one to work daily, until a couple of scary incidents put me off it. I no longer ride much[1].

That said, the jerks on the sidewalk, along with some of the more aggressive bikers, really need to be locked in a room with the entitled auto-rageoholics. The survivors can enjoy the nicer streets with the rest of us after they graduate from the reeducation camps.

[1] Had a couple bad incidents nearly back-to-back, and am probably doing that thing where one's risk aversion increases with age, but I don't feel safe riding anymore.

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

#204

Post by tooltalk » Tue, Sep 26, 2017, 4:40 PM UTC

santaclaus wrote: post #147

CydeWeys wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

My understanding is that NYPD stopped going after frivolous violations after the Eric Garner incident a few years ago. I myself was ticketed ($40) once for wearing headphones on both ears, but I haven't seen cops enforcing such rules recently.

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

#205

Post by mmirate » Tue, Sep 26, 2017, 4:41 PM UTC

marak830 wrote: post #3

Do people use bikes to get anywhere faster? I would use one to save on emissions and/or get some much needed exercis edit: so many replies! I guess I stand corrected, although the more I think about it, the less I'm surprised. I live in Japan, obviously known for its public transport. Interesting to note though once I travel abroad, thanks for the replies everyone :-)

At a medium-sized, college campus with no internal roads, my bike is the only way I can reliably travel the 1.5 miles from one side of campus to the other, in less than 15 minutes, laden.

And generally speaking, bikes are just like any other non-public transit method: the purpose is to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible, fsck everything and everyone else.

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

#206

Post by pg314 » Tue, Sep 26, 2017, 4:45 PM UTC

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…

You're right, it stops some. But only a minority.

> 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.

Not necessarily. If you don't have (enough of) that infrastructure, less people will be tempted by it. I imagine the 20% in Copenhagen switch to public transportation because it is well developed and convenient. When I commuted by bicycle, weather wasn't a factor because I had no convenient alternative. Ditto for my colleagues who commuted by bicycle.

I agree that the biggest problem is cultural.

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

#207

Post by crispyambulance » Tue, Sep 26, 2017, 4:47 PM UTC

eertami wrote: post #117

crispyambulance wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 de…

    > quick to disregard even the most fundamental rules of the road and worse yet aggressively defend your anti-social behaviour.

Such behavior is, actually, the norm. It has been going on since the dawn of traffic control. Cars and bikes are intrinsically different. Traffic laws can't address everything and are broken (or deliberately not enforced by police) for pragmatic reasons all the time.

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

#208

Post by ihaveajob » Tue, Sep 26, 2017, 4:48 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.

That reminds me of my times riding the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco, coming back south against the flow of hundreds of rental bikes. It's great that they chose an outdoor activity over riding taxis everywhere, but please stay on the right, and DON'T RECORD THE WHOLE THING ON YOUR PHONE! Wind is often strong and gusty, and there are lots of people...

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

#209

Post by pcsanwald » Tue, Sep 26, 2017, 4:51 PM UTC

jdanp wrote: post #44

ghaff wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I don't think you're being too harsh, but the point is that a lot of the worst problems are relatively recent: This past year has apparently been horrendous, but I lived in NYC from 2000-2016 and the subway was consistently way more reliable than cab for getting anyplace, especially during the workday in midtown.

Every time I took a cab to an important meeting in manhattan, I regretted the decision. Whereas I've taken the subway to hundreds of meetings/appointments and really only gotten delayed impactfully a handful of times.

No doubt that things have declined significantly in the past year, but I do think that saying NYC is a "driving city" is overstating.

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

#210

Post by kpmariner » Tue, Sep 26, 2017, 4:51 PM UTC

Sir_Cmpwn wrote: post #200

kpmariner wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd rather not die.

Don't be so dramatic. Waiting at red lights isn't going to kill you, in fact it may do the opposite.

I do stop at red lights or at least slow down and make sure the way it is safe to cross, that isn't the problem. I just have to constantly jump up onto sidewalks. After stopping at the light - especially if there are cars trying to take a right and the way is clear - I will go before it turns green. I rarely stop at stop signs for four way stops.

In general, traffic isn't paying attention. They will swerve blindly into the bike lane to get around other cars to take a right and I can't depend on them to be watching out for me.

Once I stop moving I remove the option of swerving out of the way. After my first month of biking here and almost getting hit several times, I just gave up and I ride as aggressively as everyone here drives. I hate it. Biking in New York, Portland or anywhere else I've lived is just a different game. Philly is the most stressful place I've biked.