Bicycle Lanes NYC
New York has always been known as “the city that never sleeps.” When walking in the city, one can clearly see the busy streets filled with cars, trucks, carriages and bikes being used by commuters. Since the Bloomberg administration there have been many things done to improve bicycle commuters. Bike lanes have been added to many parts of New York and its boroughs. According to the New York Post, Bloomberg proposed a plan that would add “lanes for bicyclists at a pace of 50 miles a year.” (New York Post) Although there have been disagreements from residents regarding the influx of bicyclists, the addition of bike lanes have also proven to have much more benefits. Bike lanes have become a big part of New York’s culture and it will continue to grow as years progress. “In the New York metropolitan area more than 130,000 people commute on bikes, and 12 of the more than 20 bridges and tunnels into the city have bike lanes” (McCormick, 2009). Bicycles and bike lanes have had a very positive impact on New York, but there has also been a lot of conflict involving the drivers of New York City.
Commuting through the use of bicycles provides both a less expensive and a more environmentally friendly form of transportation: “And getting millions of us out of our cars and onto our bikes will cut down on congestion, pollution and consumption of fossil fuels” (McCormick, 2009) Bikes are first thought of merely for recreational purposes; being used by mostly children and adults that are in shape enough to ride them. “This country spends nearly $6 billion annually buying close to 20 million bicycles and worldwide production of bikes continues to exceed production of automobiles.” (McCormick, 2009). After gas climbed up more than $4 a gallon, “sales were up between 15-20%, especially among models built for touring and commuting” (McCormick, 2009). An average commute is about 3 miles and the average cost to maintain a small car costs roughly $8000. The use of bicycles would help not only be beneficial for their health, but for their wallets as well.
In an article from the American Journal of Public Health, a study was done to assess the safety of the bike lanes in New York City. It was stated that “bicycling is primarily considered a recreational pursuit rather than a means of utilitarian travel.” (Chen , Chen, Srinivasan, McKnight, Ewing & Roe, 2012 ). It was also stated that an average commute lasted 3 miles . The study showed that 25% of the trips were less than 1 mile . Although bicycles integrate physical activity into daily routines, “bicycles are vulnerable in that they share the same roadway with motorized vehicles” (Chen , Chen, Srinivasan, McKnight, Ewing & Roe, 2012 ).
During the event of a crash, the one riding on the bicycle is more likely to sustain a severe injury. In the study, researchers looked at the type of crashes that were suffered and where the crashes took place. The crashes were categorized into five types: total crashes, multiple-vehicle crashes, bicyclist crashes, pedestrian crashes and injurious or fatal crashes. Results showed that intersections were “high-risk locations for bicycle-vehicle collisions as a result of conflicts between bicyclists and motor vehicle users” (Chen , Chen, Srinivasan, McKnight, Ewing & Roe, 2012 ). At the end of the entire study, after the installments of bike lanes, “studies reported lower bicycle crash rates on roads with bicycle lanes than on roads without such lanes”.” (Chen , Chen, Srinivasan, McKnight, Ewing & Roe, 2012 )
An article written in the New York Post, wrote about the new bicycle sharing and renting programs being implemented in other cities such as Washing D.C . and Miami beach. In New York, “the program will start with 7,000 bicycles people can rent for quick rides or day trips and expand to 10,000 bicycles in 600 self-serve stations from Manhattan to Brooklyn and Queens.” (Gomez, 2012). The one disagreement from the cities that are implementing these new bike rentals are between the cars that wish to drive freely and the bicycles and pedestrians that want to commute safely. New York has also been known for its bike commuters so New York has hopes that the increase of bicyclists will not have that much of an effect on the city and its commuters.
Other than accidents, crashes and some minor altercations between the drivers and cyclists, there was one major incidence involving a religious community in Brooklyn. A neighborhood belonging to a majority of Hasidic Jews complained if a group of hipster cyclists. These hipsters were accused of disobeying the laws of the bike lanes and traffic laws. As a result, the city had the bike lanes covered up only to find that the next day, the cyclists group repainted the lines. Whether the city enforces the use of bike lanes or not, there are always going to be cyclists out there.
“In the United State bicycling is primarily considered a recreational pursuit rather than a means of utilitarian travel” (Chen , Chen, Srinivasan, McKnight, Ewing & Roe, 2012 ) While this may be true, more people are being seen commuting in New York with bikes; whether it be from high gas prices or for exercise. Research shows that there has been an increase in amount of people riding bikes. With the increase in cyclists, there has been an increase in bike rentals and bike lanes. Although this may cause some conflict with drivers and residents, most New Yorkers believe that this movement is one of more positive ones to happen for the city.
References
Associated Press.
(2012, August 21). Bloomberg wants to expand bike lanes, meets resistance from city council. New york post . Retrieved from http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bloomberg_wants_council_expand_bike_mGZmpE 8H9V dJPcZr8A25TO
Chen , L., Chen, C.,
Srinivasan, R., McKnight, C., Ewing, R., & Roe, M. (2012 ). Evaluating the safety effects of bicycle lanes in new york city. American Journal of Public Health, 102(6),
Gomez, A. (2012, July
11). Drivers, cyclists face a 'sharing' learning curve. USA today . Retrieved
from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/NEWS/usaedition/2012-07-11- Bike-Share- programs_ST_U.htm
Grynbaum, M., &
Connelly, M. (2012, August 21). Bicycle lanes draw wide support among new yorkers, survey finds. The new york times . Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/22/nyregion/most-new-yorkers-say-bike-lanes-are-a- good- idea.html?_r=0
McCormick, P. (2009).
Re-cycle yourself: its time we started thinking of bicycling as a serious business instead of just child's play. . Culture in Context ,
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