A couple of articles in the NY Times Complaint Box were about bike lanes. Robert Sawyer finds them as an affront to the real New York.
The bike lane — like the streets the mayor and his friends have turned into faux piazzas and yes, even the celebrated High Line — is an insult to those of us whose notion of New York City still includes dark corners and hard surfaces.
And Leah Daskalakis Casner wants non-cyclists to stay out of the West Street bike path (pictured), which I believe has a parallel pedestrian path. Via GGW.
These aren't even really bike articles. Bike champion Rep. Earl Blumenauer was profiled by the NY Times (including a long video interview) as a member of the frustrated left. And he started the Livable Communities Task Force "to improve community livability and Americans’ quality of life."
GGW (via DC Downshift) has more links to stories about the Google Trike.
Google will drive a Street View trike around no-car areas like parks, university campuses, and even zoos to capture images from those areas. Nominate your favorite locations and Google will run a public poll to pick some.
The NY Times also has a story about business travelers who bike while on assignment (I spent much of a recent summer in Phoenix and kept a bike I bought out there in the hotel). This article actually has something to do with the DC area.
But Eric V. Swanson, program manager for the World Bank, said he had trouble in Europe because the machines at the kiosks could not read his American credit card. “I became frustrated on several occasions,” he said. He was in Paris during the transit strike two years ago and “there were bikes in stands all over the city, and I couldn’t do it.” He ended up walking the three miles to his meeting and back.
A bar in Oak Cliff has an innovative bike parking system.
Streetsfilm on NYC bike lanes.
Next entry here
I enjoyed the NYTimes Complaint Box article about bike lanes. Not because I agreed with it, but because it was refreshing in it's intellectual honesty. His thesis was that bike lanes depend on a level of civility that doesn't exist in the real world. In short, bike lanes are a bad idea because motorists are such scofflaws. You might not like his conclusion but at least you respect how he got there.
One of the things I find tiresome is that most anti-bike screeds are just so devoid of fact or logic. I believe that it is possible to make a reasoned argument for limiting the rights of cyclists in certain situations, but you never see it happen in print. Rather you get stuff like the blather that was in USA Today this week, where the columnist couldn't even be bothered to find anecdotes that support his thesis or advance any argument beyond the level of name-calling.
Posted by: Contrarian | October 26, 2009 at 01:32 PM
painted cheapo bike lanes that force cyclists to "share the road" with cars are DANGEROUS.
Dedicated and physically separated bikeways that are protected from traffic are the wave of the future.
Posted by: W | October 26, 2009 at 02:33 PM
nyc's bike lanes are too good for its people. yeah, i went there. they don't deserve them and nobody bikes, contrary to what the bikesnob would have you believe. bunch of spoiled brats. Let's get Sadik-khan to DC to do some real work!
Posted by: anonymous | October 26, 2009 at 05:32 PM