Bike Lane Wars Abound
The Brooklyn Paper is chock full of stories about bike lane conflict today. First up is more drama surrounding the new lanes on Prospect Park West. As you may recall, DOT’s decision to axe one lane of car traffic to make way for a two-way bike lane was done despite opposition by Marty Markowitz and…
The Brooklyn Paper is chock full of stories about bike lane conflict today. First up is more drama surrounding the new lanes on Prospect Park West. As you may recall, DOT’s decision to axe one lane of car traffic to make way for a two-way bike lane was done despite opposition by Marty Markowitz and many others in the driver camp. Now, it turns out, some pedestrians who are used to only having to look one way before crossing are up in arms. Meanwhile, down in Bay Ridge, Community Board 10 voted earlier this week against two new proposed bike lanes. “The city is bent on taking away driving lanes for cars,” said Allen Bortnick, a member of Community Board 10. “We are not going to be able to live with this comfortably.”
It’s disheartening and scary that whenever I click on the Open Thread, I’m at the mercy of such self centered, irrational people.
“and it’s disheartening and scary that whenever I get on my bike I’m at the mercy of such self centered, irrational people.”
I think that about cyclists when I’m trying to walk over the narrow shared path over the Pulaski bridge and cyclists coming whizzing by
M4L,
I didn’t make the list myself, it was from Forbes.
My main point though was Minard’s ridiculous assertion that people who bike can’t afford a car and given the list above has some of the most expensive places to live in the world on it, it’s simply not true. I’m pretty sure most people in Copenhagen and Basel don’t ride bikes because they can’t afford a car.
They do so because in many ways, the people who live in the cities on that list are more progressive than we are in NYC. And that is evidenced by the comments of drivers in this city who act as though the world is coming down because they only have 2 lanes to drive recklessly instead of 3.
Or those that simply don’t care about the environment and protecting the health of future generations.
These comments also prove that bikers have a serious public relations problem. Bikers, most NYers hate you. Every wonder why?
Many people perceive bikers as being more dangerous than they actually are. Bike discussions inevitably bring out stories about people “almost hit” by bikes. We all know that cars are much more dangerous than bikes and that there are virtually no deaths due to pedestrians being hit by bikes.
Rather than dismiss these comments as unrealistic, bikers should address the very real fear and distrust that they have created among the general public.
Risky behavior like running red lights and biking against traffic creates an atmosphere of mistrust. The meager benefit to these shortcuts, a few minutes less commuting time, must be balanced by the poisonous atmosphere that the behavior creates.
Many bikers run reds and “swim upstream” out of sheer laziness. It takes more energy to come to a stop and then start up again. Likewise, going around the block to obey one way signs takes more energy. Aren’t we riding, at least in part, to get exercise? C’mon, all you macho riders. Burn a few extra calories. The public will gradually trust you for it.
Does anyone know how Portland, Boulder, et al became such bike riding cities? What’s there that’s not here? Serious question.
From casual observation, it seems that most of the bike riders I see are under 35 and Caucasion, excepting messengers and food delivery people. On weekends I see families and people of all persuasions biking around, but that’s for recreation, not transportation. If they are the only ones biking, and not much of everyone else, it seems that this will always be a mode of transportation more associated with granola and college grads, rather than a serious across the board transportation alternative, no matter how many bike lanes are drawn.
How does this city go about promoting bikes to the masses? ‘Cuz I don’t see any of that, I only see more lanes pissing off more people, and no real efforts made to explain existing traffic laws and rules of the road to either bikers or drivers. Everyone is just tossed into the road to interact at will.
DH, there are tons of assholes around in NYC. some on the subway, some on the sidewalks, some on bikes, some in cars,… there’s not necessarily less assholes on bikes vs cars or vice versa. rather the difference is an asshole in the car can do more damage
11217, trust me. when you see the rush hour traffic in hanoi, beijing,… vs. your city list, I’ll be super shocked if hanoi, beijing doesnt trounce your city list as far as bike usage% and I bet up there’s a ton more cars in use in your city list vs. those Asian cities. % of population is not accurate measure for this context – it’s missing the car usage (ie folks who dont use bikes in Hanoi, beijing might walk, public transport vs. that city list has more folks choosing to drive cause car is an option vs. car being too expensive to own in hanoi, beijing).
The Prospect Park West bike lane was already a done deal when Marty Markowitz moved to Windsor Terrace. He started complaining about it after the DOT had already signed off on it. Surprise: he commutes by car to work.
Don’t people want less cars? 20% of New Yorkers commute alone by car to work. Couldn’t that be less? For those of you who drive, imagine the reduction in traffic if only 10% of New Yorkers commuted by cars.
The issue is really one of unsafe driving. I love the campaign telling drivers to LOOK. Bikers should too, far too many run stop signs, go up one way streets, blow lights and just plain don’t LOOK.