City Planning Pushing New Bike-Friendly Rules
Prompted by an email alerting us to the creation of a new Department of City Planning portal, we stumbled across an announcement from earlier this month of new regulations regarding bicycle parking in new building in the five boroughs. Citing a lack of adequate and safe parking as a major factor in people not biking…
Prompted by an email alerting us to the creation of a new Department of City Planning portal, we stumbled across an announcement from earlier this month of new regulations regarding bicycle parking in new building in the five boroughs. Citing a lack of adequate and safe parking as a major factor in people not biking to work, City Planning approved a text amendment on March 4 that would “require indoor, secure bicycle parking in new developments, substantial enlargements, and residential conversions.” In addition, “the regulations would apply to multi-family residential, community facility, and commercial buildings, including public parking garages, in all zoning districts.” For more details, check out the slide show presentation or the text amendment. As Streetsblog pointed out at the time, the City Council has until late April to vote on the measure.
I topped out the age limit at 55 somewhat arbitrarily. There are plenty of 60 year olds who could handle it, but there is a loss of twitch reflexes and vision as people age. They still might be fine for getting down a bike lane on a quiet street but probably should not be riding down Flatbush during rush hour.
As for children under 16, that’s up to their parents. I went everywhere on my bike from age 12-16, but I grew up in a much more suburban area where drivers were use to watching out for kids rather than struggling to get home through this @#$2ing god awful rush hour traffic.
Some of the maneuvers I’ve seen drivers make on flatbush would make me very worried about letting a 14 year old bike around there.
The problem with the bridges are they bottleneck the city badly and are a rate limiting factor on all transportation and also concentrate traffic (bike and auto) in a complex and dangerous way. They are also part of the reason that flatbush is such a nightmare.
As for weather…
The issue isn’t weather or not Captain Bikerdude is brave enough to ride his bike when it is 22 degrees or 88 degrees, the question is will a significant enough number of citizens be out riding their bikes in that type of weather to warrant city planners to allocate significant (and limited) resources to the encouragement of bicycling.
I say no. Put more energy into finding ways to avoid MTA fare increases or train reductions.
also when you get hit by a bike, who the heck do you sue? when you get hit by a car at least you have definite money coming to you from a lawsuit to their insurance company right? cyclists should be forced to have insurance if they drive on city streets.
*rob*
“Why should bicyclists be singled out for more traffic enforcement when motorists and pedestrians are to blame for the vast majority of bad behavior? ”
I don’t see bikers getting singled out for ANY traffic enforcement.
Northslope renter:
weather: On a handful of days each year, the roads are snow and ice covered and therefore not suitable for riding. In places where bicycles (and motorcycles, for that matter) are treated as transportation, not toys, a little cold, heat, or rain is shrugged off.
Your 16 to 55 comment is simple misinformed ageism. My kids are in middle school and routinely ride three or four miles to their friends’ houses. My mother is in her seventies and rides centuries. Bicycling is very easy on the joints, and of course have gears that let you set your level of resistance.
My bike works just fine on bridges, with the exception of those like the VN that don’t accommodate bikes. But that’s the bridge’s fault.
Safely operating a bike does take more skill than driving a car, but you see relatively few cyclists talking on the cell or texting or putting on makeup.
I don’t ride the wrong way, but I do run red lights. Probably about as often as you jaywalk, and with the exact same cost to society.
northsloperenter- I think you forgot to mention “weather.”
Joking aside, I have to agree (altough the topping out at age 55 seems a little odd. I know quite a few people in their 60’s and 70’s who are more physically fit than a lot of younger people.)
I really do have to say that bikes are visually more difficult to see- its a fact. It’s not a choice car drivers make, or a determined ignorance. Speaking as an artist, (and much beloved back seat driver)- bikes are visually more difficult to see and especially in a visually complex scene.
More than that, the argument of cars vs bikes is a distraction from the real issue- the public transportation system. That needs to be addressed before we see any benefit. Bikes are not a stopgap measure or a solution to the transportation problem.
Obviously there are stupid bicyclists. There are also stupid pedestrians and stupid motorists. Why should bicyclists be singled out for more traffic enforcement when motorists and pedestrians are to blame for the vast majority of bad behavior? Safety is my foremost thought when cycling, and I’m continually dodging goofball in cars and on foot who jaywalk, u-turn, yammer mindlessly on their cell phones, and otherwise disregard the safety of everyone around them.
PS to *rob* and daveinbedstuy: I suspect that the two of you are just indulging in fantasy, but what you’re describing is criminal behavior, akin to tossing a TV set off of a highway overpass into traffic. There is absolutely no justification for it, and if you were to try stunts like that on me when I’m on my bike, you’d better hope that I don’t get back up.
More indoor bicycle parking is great, but I wish it was easier to get a bike rack from the city for areas that need one. I can’t get a free bike rack in front of my 5th Ave home, despite the fact that will be heavily used by bar and restaurant patrons. The restaurant next door, however, can get one, but doesn’t seem interested.
As for cyclists ignoring traffic lights, traffic laws, and pedestrians, don’t get me started. As a pedestrian who actually does not jaywalk and spends time standing and waiting for lights to change, it infuriates me that I constantly miss getting mowed down by inches when a cyclist runs a red light.
“your statement that it’s harder to see a cycle than a car is difficult to swallow”
Your difficulty swallowing this basic fact confuses me.
When people say things like this (i.e., deny basic physics because it doesn’t support their cause), it inclines me to treat all of their commentary with extreme suspicion.
I have 2 problems with cyclists in the city: (1) they are not a viable transportation alternative and (2) as a group they make the streets more dangerous.
#2 would be possible to fix, but I’m not sure about #1. There are some very basic and difficult to resolve problems with biking becoming a significant form a transportation in this city:
1. Weather.
2. Only healthy people between 16 and 55 should be biking any significant distance on city streets.
3. Weather.
4. Bridges.
5. Weather.
6. Lack of secure bike storage at most destinations.
7. Weather.
8. Insistence by bikers that they can ride the wrong way down one way streets.
9. Weather.
10. Safely operating a bicycle is more difficult than safely operating an automobile (although non-safe automobile operation is significantly more dangerous to the general public).
11. Weather.
Did I mention weather?
People who are bikers: have you ever been about to cross a street or to turn to enter a store when a biker passes you suddenly from behind your field of vision? The biker approaching you sees you and anticipates their move; but the walker is treated like a potted plant when they can move suddenly or do something unexpected. I’ve only once had someone ring their bell from behind me; usually they swoop by and in my shock at the near-collision I don’t think to yell at them.