New York City tries to be more bike friendly

An article in the Post recently made the point that NYC is trying to be a more bicycle friendly city (they're presently bronze according to LAB). One item they highlight is the award-winning Ninth Avenue cycletrack

City officials, hoping to make commutes like his less treacherous, have created a seven-block experiment of a bike lane on Ninth Avenue. Here, concrete dividers and a row of parked cars shield a bike lane from the street and its traffic. Low mini-traffic lights show when cyclists have the right of way. Bike commuters, messengers and delivery people peel down perfectly smooth paths.

The city is planning to create another protected lane on Eighth Avenue, part of an effort to encourage cycling in New York, where bike use has increased by 75 percent since 2000, to about 130,000 commuters a day. The city hopes to double current bicycle use by 2015 and to triple it by 2020

The city is installing covered bike racks, giving out free helmets and building 100 more miles of bike lane by next summer for a total of 400 (DC will probably be at 35 by then). The article mentions SmartBike in DC (coming soon?), and efforts in Chicago, Portland, Flint, Tulsa and Louisville.

NYC does not seem to be heading toward Velib.

"I don't think it'd work easily in New York City," [Mayor Bloomberg] told reporters recently. "We have some bicycle lanes, but it is such a culture of cars."

Despite the fact that

Manhattan is a flat, compact grid of mostly one-way streets, with ever-present views of city skyline and occasional sightings of water or parks -- in many ways, ideal for cycling. In fact, just over 100 years ago, bicyclists -- or "Scorchers," as they were called because of their speed -- were everywhere.

On bike lanes they add

But cycling declined with the rise of the automobile. Bike paths on bridges were closed. Cars took the streets. By the 1970s, bicyclists began to protest by painting their own bike lanes or riding illegally over the Queensboro Bridge.

Painting their own bike lanes? Yeah, they're still doing that as the video with this New York Times article shows (actually they're illegally stenciling information in the bike lanes). The NY Times article is about the city's bike lanes and the fight for them (sounds familiar n'est pas?)

Although city regulations forbid cars from blocking bike lanes — a violation that carries a $115 fine — those rules are routinely ignored by drivers who use the lanes as parking spots, loading zones and places to pick up passengers. Such maneuvers have enraged cyclists who say they are unlawful, rude and dangerous.

“A lot of drivers don’t think twice about parking in a bike lane because no one tells them not to.”

While the city is not enforcing the rules very well, it is trying to improve things

The Transportation Department has widened some bike lanes and added painted buffer zones to further separate vehicles from bikes. Some bike lanes in Brooklyn and Manhattan have been painted green to make them more visible.

And in a report last month, the department announced that it was continuing a project begun in 2006 to add 200 miles of bike lanes to city streets over three years. That plan would also create lanes that connect highly trafficked roads and lead to popular destinations, like parks and bridges. Agency officials said that 110 of those 200 miles would be finished by the end of June.

Cyclists appear - and the police claim - to be doing something about bike lane infringement

many complain that vehicles still routinely stop in other lanes around the city.

In response, some cyclists have handed out fake but realistic-looking summonses to drivers in bike lanes, leading at times to arguments. Others said they have slapped stickers on cars that look like those pasted on vehicles that fail to make way for the Sanitation Department street sweepers.

One cyclist has started a Web site, nyc.mybikelane.com, [WC: DC has one of these too dc.mybikelane.com where this photo came from] where people can post photographs of motor vehicles in bike lanes. Photos have shown livery sedans, armored cars, city vehicles and newspaper delivery trucks.

Paul J. Browne, the chief spokesman for the Police Department, said that there had been a significant increase over the last year in summonses issued to drivers for double parking and moving violations, and for standing in areas, including bike lanes, where that is not permitted.

“Motorists who park or stand in bike lanes can expect to be ticketed,” he said.

Still, in the city that invented the bike path "New York was home to the country’s first bike path, in 1894 — along Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn connecting Prospect Park and Coney Island" some people still don't get it.

Ms. Roman said she planned to be [in the bike lane] only briefly while a passenger ran an errand but added that she rarely paid attention to bike lanes.

“I have other things on my mind,” she said. “This is the city. Bike lanes belong in parks.”

Luckily not everyone feels that way.

Finally, the Brooklyn Bridge turned 125

The bridge now carries about 126,000 cars per day, at the city's last count in 2006, and is used by numerous cyclists and pedestrians.

If you've never biked or jogged across it, you're missing out on a real treat.

Comments

[Contrarian]

I have a hard time getting too excited about double-parking in bike lanes.

Double-parking is an accepted practice all over the city. Businesses need deliveries to be made, and there is just no other way to do it. The question is, if people are going to double-park anyway, where is the best place for them to do it? Even from the cyclist's perspective the bike lane is the best place. I would much rather pass a double-parked vehicle on the left than thread the needle between a car parked at the curb and a truck parked to the left of a bike lane. Especially when you consider that the truck is making a delivery, and the truck driver is likely to pop out any moment with a handcart full of Snapple or something.

As for the police car, where is the cop supposed to park when he's responding to a call? On the sidewalk? Should he find a space in a lot?

The reality is that even when you're in a bike lane, you're still in traffic. The notion that somehow a stripe of paint is going to isolate you from the practicalities of traveling in an urban environment is naive.

[washcycle]

I'd say a well-designed city would not require trucks to double park. That's what loading zones and loading docks are for. DC has allowed too many builders to build block-sized building that swallow up alleys with loading docks and force traffic into the alley.

If a cop is responding to an emergency, then yes. Parking in the bike lane or the fire lane, or handicapped space etc... is acceptable. But I can not even count the number of times that I have seen cops illegally park to walk into Chipotle for lunch or something. Also, it's impossible to tell if this police car is parked or moving, or if the lights on top are on.

[washcycle]

And no. Double parking is not an acceptable practice.

I don't care if people obey the law or not, as long as they're safe and courteous. And double parking is rude and dangerous.

[Contrarian]

I didn't say it was an acceptable practice, but an accepted one. But it's not just cyclists who have a problem with it, double-parking (and the lack of enforcement) is a staple of the Dr. Gridlock column.

John Allen has an entertaining take on the issue here: http://www.bikexprt.com/bikepol/facil/doublepark.htm

And sure, the city shouldn't be laid out the way it is. The problem is, we have to go to war with the army we have. I mean, we have to live with the world the way we found it.

[washcycle]

I feel this problem can be fixed. I'm just that naive. It involves high parking meter fees to institute high turnover, etc...Shoup stuff.

This reminds me of a story. Someone was telling me of finding an unattended UPS truck in the bike lane. Annoyed and with some time to spare he decided to wait for the driver to return when he would give him a piece of his mind. After some time it occurred to him that the driver may not want to listen to this and would drive off before he was done. Then he noticed the car keys still dangling in the ignition. So he grabbed them so the UPS guy could not leave. Time moved forward and after 25 minutes or so, no UPS guy and the guy telling the story had to go. While waiting he'd read the keys which had one of those "If found, drop in any mailbox" things on it. So he rode to the nearest mailbox and did just that.

It's funny, but I don't recommend it. It leaves the truck in the spot where it shouldn't be and the driver never even knows why he was punished. That's why you need to leave a note.