NYC Citi Bike Expanding – The Horror

[sjclaeys]

Wealthy upper east side and west side New Yorkers aghast about Citi Bike expanding to their domain: http://www.wsj.com/articles/residents-wary-as-bike-share-expands-1436489556. I’ll leave the political and social commentary about this to others. :rolleyes:

Topic

[Henry]

My favorite comment to the story was that European city streets were designed for bikes, where are US city streets are not.

Well, European city street weren’t either, until they were. Same goes for the US.

Which leads to the classic Yogi Berra logic loop (nobody goes there, it’s too crowded): Nobody rides the streets, too dangerous; so redesign them to make them safer; No, that would be a waste of money b/c nobody rides on them.

[Steve O]

@Henry 119875 wrote:

My favorite comment to the story was that European city streets were designed for bikes, where are US city streets are not.

Well, European city street weren’t either, until they were. Same goes for the US.

For NYC and many European cities they were originally designed for horses, mules, pushcarts and the like. Cars and bikes weren’t even invented when the roads were laid out.

[lordofthemark]

Re riding in Manhattan (my ownly recently experience of doing that since the Ford Administration was one day on CitiBikes, but it was quite a day so hear goes) There are some E-W streets in Manhattan that are not bad to ride on, though less so in midtown due to sheer traffic volumes, and the behavior of , well, everyone. The N – S avenues are very wide and surprisingly fast (well on Christmas day, which is when I rode) – on the one hand there are a lot of lanes for folks to pass you in – but making a vehicular left is still torture. OTOH there are plenty of painted bike lanes and a couple of PBLs on the avenues which adds to the comfort factor, though making a left is generally not any easier. All in all, plenty of biking is happening all over Manhattan – and a very large amount is delivery bikes, which play an important role in the life of the City, AFAICT. Introducing CitiBikes to an area is not the same as adding biking.

It does seem like the opposition is mostly to specific dock locations – whether that opposition is reasonable or not I can’t say – but it is no longer the kind of panic about bike share we had been seeing.

[kwarkentien]

I’ve ridden CitiBike several times and found it pretty damn easy to get around through Manhattan. Of course I must caveat that I’ve done so on weekends and right after Christmas so traffic was certainly less than during full-on rush hour. Riding crosstown is certainly easier than riding uptown or downtown as traffic volume is less on the crosstown streets. But there are some nice bike lanes in place on Broadway and elsewhere that do make the trip easier. Plus, riding on the east- and west-sides is facilitated by some nice bike paths adjacent to West Street and below the FDR Drive. I haven’t ventured up above Times Square much so I can’t speak to how it is up there but I would guess it wouldn’t be too bad as most of the traffic is centered around midtown and lower Manhattan. Haven’t ridden over in Brooklyn or Queens either but know from experience that there is a broad bike lane running along the Belt Parkway that seems to get a fair bit of use from bikers, walkers, and joggers. And I know folks like to bike through Prospect Park although there has been a bunch of hullabaloo from neighbors complaining about the bike traffic. Oy, you just can’t please all of the meshugenah people all of the time.

[PotomacCyclist]

But many of those residents have also been asking for bikeshare stations in their neighborhoods. People in other NYC neighborhoods have also been seeking bike stations, according to statements from local representatives. It’s only natural that the WSJ would emphasize opposition. Dorothy Rabinowitz (WSJ opinion writer and board member, at least in the past) is the person who infamously described the bike lobby as “all-powerful” and “totalitarian.” Despite that, the WSJ has been known to include some positive stories about cycling, from time to time. I think the night office manager might be sneaking those stories in overnight when Ms. Rabinowitz isn’t looking.

[mattotoole]

Note that CitiBike doesn’t go above 60th St. ie, Columbus Circle and Central Park South. Most of Manhattan, let alone the rest of the city, is still left out. Looking at the map, it seems to have expanded into Brooklyn, if anywhere, since I was there last year.

NYC is great to ride around in.

[Author]

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