By Bob Tannenhauser
The Community Board 7 Transportation Committee will meet on Tuesday, March 14, at 6:30 pm on Zoom to discuss a proposed resolution requesting that the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) install an “all ages and abilities network of fully protected, east-west bike lanes with appropriate pedestrian refuges and protections every 10 blocks between 60th and 110th Streets.”
The meeting promises to engender robust discussion among committee members and members of the community with conflicting interests, such as car owners concerned with traffic and parking, pedestrians concerned with safety issues, restaurants with outdoor dining sheds, deliveristas, and advocates for bicyclists’ safety and access. The possibility that amendments to the proposed resolution will be offered is likely.
All Upper West Siders who wish to attend and/or speak about this topic or resolution can register for the Zoom meeting here, and submit comments in advance using this form.
The proposed resolution is “a companion” to one passed in September 2022 by Community Board 8, which represents the Upper East Side, stating: “…be it resolved that CB8 Manhattan requests the NYCDOT provide fully protected bike lanes approximately every 10 blocks between 60th and 110th Streets (the whole length of Central Park) on both sides of the park, and a 2-way protected bike lane around Central Park, and present such plans to CB8 as soon as possible.”
This is not the first time CB 7 has addressed the topic of crosstown bike lanes. In September 2020, the transportation committee passed a resolution calling on DOT to present a proposal for protected two-way bike lane(s) on West 72nd Street from Central Park West to Riverside Drive (or Boulevard), and a safe connection to the Hudson River Greenway. So far, no action has been taken.
Whether the DOT will act on either of these resolutions remains an uncertainty. As CB Board Chair Beverly Donohue stated at the March full board meeting, with regard to another issue, “we are here before you to actually get public input and to make a statement back to the city on our view. But they have every right not to implement our decision.”
In a related project, WSR analyzed the NYPD crash data for the Upper West Side’s 20, 24, and Central Park precincts for last year through January 31, 2023. There were 1,876 vehicles involved in reported incidents resulting in 117 pedestrians injured, 3 pedestrian fatalities, 98 cyclists injured, and 190 motorists or passengers injured.
WSR also examined the 2021 crash data for 2021 (2022 was not yet available). In the 20, 24, and Central Park precincts, there were 10 crashes involving motorized bikes and scooters and pedestrians, and 42 crashes between bicyclists and pedestrians, resulting in 37 pedestrian injuries, 2 pedestrian fatalities, and 7 bicycle and vehicle rider injuries. In addition, there were 121 crashes involving bikes and motor vehicles in these precincts, resulting in 84 cyclist injuries and 3 fatalities, and 2 motor-vehicle driver injuries.
New York remains a walking city with pedestrians accounting for 41% of trips, according to Streets Plan, NYC, a recent DOT report. Cars account for 29% of all trips, the subway 16%, buses 8%, and bicycles 2%.
No. Cars are backed up idling and causing pollution. Enough with closing lanes for bikes already.
Yes! We need bike lanes. We also need more electric cars and buses and fewer NIMBYs.
I agree with Dav.
Will, the long-term goal is fewer cars and thus less pollution.
I agree about the cars being obnoxious part. Hopefully the congestion pricing goes through and then we won’t have to deal with as many cars in the first place!
The Congestion Pricing will not go through, because there is no congestion! Cars have been dwindling so there’s no need to punish people now.
if there’s no congestion, then surely adding bike lanes won’t cause any problems…
Agree the pollution from cars is a huge problem, the solution is fewer cars not fewer bike lanes…
This is a great idea to protect both bike commuters and deliveristas. More needed, perhaps, are protected lanes on the drives *through* the park — which CB is that?
In February 2020, in the wake of the death of a beloved pediatrician who was killed while cycling to work, CB7 unanimously (34-0-0-0) passed a resolution calling for safe, direct crosstown routes for pedestrians, cyclists, and others through Central Park.
In addition to better signage and enforcement, the resolution called for a cross-agency task force with a representative from each agency (DOT, Parks , Central Park Conservancy & NYPD) to be set-up as soon as possible, and asked the task force to return to CB7’s Transportation and Parks & Environment committees no later than March 2020 “with proposed solutions for allowing cyclists to cross Central Park safely and legally. https://on.nyc.gov/3mRFohL
The pandemic set things back. But has anything happened since? If not, why not?
Richard,
Very sad about the pediatrician’s death.
However, the crosstown bus should be the primary transit across and must be the priority – always.
As a frequent bicycle rider and pedestrian throughout the UWS and in Central Park, I agree that what is more needed is more ways to get across the park legally on a bike. I always take the legal way across when I cross via bike; however, when I take a walk in the park, it is dismaying how many people there are biking on the pathways. While there are some who likely won’t ever make the effort to ride only where it’s allowed, the current situation is a direct result of the fact that there are too few places to get across town on a bike over the 50-block span of the park.
This isn’t a great idea assuming you care about pedestrian safety.
I sense you’re not interested in a conversation. Nonetheless, maybe you’ll consider this: I am a pedestrian more often than not. But when you’re a biker or a driver, you see how little many pedestrians look where they’re going, or mind the “don’t walk” signs and red lights. Pedestrians have right of way, but if we don’t even look that’s hardly others’ fault.
The City, the NYPD, various pro bicycle groups, a small fraction of bicyclists, and a large percentage of delivery guys driving throttle e-bikes said: “We don’t want to talk about the problems we’ve created” years ago.
Stop blaming pedestrians jay walking with next to no momentum for the huge failure that is “bike” lanes.
You would not say that if you were on the receiving end of a pedestrian walking into the bike lane and causing you to fall. All sides to blame for jaywalking – running lights and going the wrong way – not to mention cars – no side is perfect – from someone who belongs to all categories . However to address the issue – would love more cross town bike routes instead of battling cars and trucks to stay alive
There are no cars in the park! This is completely unnecessary and there is no danger on residential streets to bikes. If anything bikers need to slow it down.
They are referring to the 4 transverse vehicle roads at 66th St, 79th St, 86th St, and 97th St. There has been much advocacy for a protected bike lane on at least some of those roads, which would not take away from car throughput but rather adjust the existing channels.
exactly! It’s unsafe to cross the park on the transverses on bike. (And unpleasant on foot)
The only ways to fit bike lanes in the transverses would be to eliminate the sidewalks or make them one way. The latter would lead to rerouting of the buses and adding to the commuting times of tens of thousands of people.
Sure isn’t about protecting pedestrians though.
I strongly oppose this but here’s a deal we can make to even consider it: dining shacks make it much more difficult to get around town. Eliminate (or greatly reduce) dining shacks and that will help free up room for potential bike lanes.
I am tired of people trying to ram through their self-interested ideas. Time to learn to compromise. I am suggesting a compromise. What say you?
And I can’t wait for the anti-car brigade to rear its ugly head. The simple compromise on that issue is charging a small fee for those who live or work on the UWS to park here. Those who think there should not be any cars in NYC and it should only be bikes and pedestrians are not being reasonable.
Nothing inflames the WSR comment section like an article on proposed bike lanes. I say protected bike lanes or don’t bother.
I commute by bike every day and have biked 5,000+ miles in NYC. I don’t think crosstown lanes are necessary – the east-west streets are low-traffic and not particularly dangerous. If anywhere, I think two-way protected bike lanes should be provided on wide streets (e.g. West 72nd Street) to avoid the reduction of (non-metered) parking spaces that residents rely on. A two-way bike lane on 72nd Street would also provide direct access from Riverside Park to Central Park.
This is about the transverse roads. Have you biked on those? They are all dangerous.
I don’t think this is about the transverse roads. I have rode through the transverse roads many times and they are treacherous.
Interesting – I do think you will likely need to have dining sheds removed from 72nd Street in order to accomplish this objective.
Totally agree on the cross streets. Biking them is easy, there isn’t much traffic on them and it’s safe.
I don’t agree that biking on commercial streets is a great approach. Too much interaction with trucks and buses, especially bus passengers entering and exiting.
The approach taken on the avenues is correct, the bike lanes on Columbus and Amsterdam make total sense. Because they’re one way the buses and bike lanes use the opposite sides.
Amsterdam Avenue may be one-way, but its bike lane sure isn’t. And if you don’t look both ways before crossing it, good luck.
I totally get that, and I would agree with the argument that there should be NO new bike lanes until we get the ones that exist right. The fact is that abuse of them is the norm, and that has to stop.
Good point!
Please go to the meeting
I will be attending!
I worry that two-way bike lanes would be extra confusing for pedestrians. But two one-way lanes would be grand…
No bike lanes at all until the City requires the bikes to carry identification easily visible to a traffic camera and the City begins to fine riders who break traffic laws.
I’ve been wondering for decades why bicycles aren’t licenced with identifiable licence plates. motorbikes sure are motor vehicles and ought to be recorded on public cameras and held to traffic laws. Pragmatic.
Maybe you should be more worried about the thousands of motorbikes and emotorbikes that have no plates in this city and are more likely to kill you than some bod peddling down the bike lane. Get real people
Why not both, Raj?
And then pedestrians should carry license plates next? Stop those jaywalkers!!!
That would contravene the Bill of Rights.
No surprise that defenders of bicycles and e-bike drivers are so authoritarian.
Great idea –
I am dismayed and disgusted with the constant addition of more bike lanes. The bikes, motor bikes, ebikes, “deliveristas” and pedal-assist bikes have already taken over most of the sidewalks on a daily basis. They go in any direction they please in the bike lanes and the car lanes. It is impossible to hear the approach of the ebikes and mopeds, PUTTING OUR OLDER, VISUALLY IMPAIRED, AND HEARING IMPAIRED NEIGHBORS AT RISK OF SEVERE INJURY AND DEATH.
WHY CAN’T WE TIE THE INCREASE IN BIKE LANES TO ENFORCEMENT OF LAWS AS TO WHERE AND HOW THEY CAN RIDE??? IT SEEMS TO ME THAT WITH INCREASING “RIGHTS” SHOULD COME INCREASED, AND ENFORCED RESPONSIBILITIES.
Tickets are completely ineffective and not enough of a deterrent!!! Put some police officers back on bicycles so these offenders can be caught!!!
Pedal-assist bikes are not the problem (I ride one); they rarely reach speeds anything near those of the throttle-controlled e-bikes that speed along recklessly, largely ridden by delivery people (I don’t use the term “deliverista” which sounds like something New York Magazine would have penned).
Email Gale Brewer and go to the meeting!
Agree completely
This whole let’s turn NYC into a bicycles-only city has to stop!! Why have all our representatives given so much power to these TransAlt and other special interest groups who are really bullies in disguise and have a hidden agenda. One hidden agenda is to help Uber and Lyft become our only means of car transportation. Sounds very communist and undemocratic to me. There’s something really fishy and scary about how they are shoving this down our throats day in and day out!
Have you ever been to Amsterdam or Utrecht? New York City, bike city, minimal private car usage would be pretty cool point-of-fact.
Matt,
If you’ve been to Amsterdam and Utrecht then you know that neither place is easy for pedestrians.
Not to mention that they are very small cities with low-rise buildings.
And Utrecht is a university city with a young demographic
Those cities are a fraction of our size. Studies show that the length of the average bicycle commute in Amsterdam from home to work isn’t long enough to get a resident of 95th street out of the Upper West Side.
Bikes here replace transit, not cars.
These types of mathematical comparisons are not meaningful. Absolute size of a city is not as important as the proportion of a population engaging in an activity since a city’s size is determined by the size of its population. The length of an average commute is also insignificant because it doesn’t take into account the total distance traveled by all commuters. It’s meaningless whether one commuter pedals 3 miles or 3 commuters pedal one mile on each segment.
“All ages and abilities”…so from 5-yr-olds learning on trikes, to the lycra-clad Tour-de-France wannabes to the e-bike deliveristas going to 45mph in under 3 seconds?
That sounds like a feasible proposition.
Great comment 😂
Cops need to start in enforcing rules for the bike lanes. In 2021, during the pandemic, when everything was semi quiet, there were 42 crashes between bicyclist and pedestrians in our area. I hate to see the figures now. It’s like calcutta out there.
You’ve spent a lot of time in Kolkata? I personally wouldn’t cycle in that city – I love the place but there’s no way I’d bike anywhere near Howrah or the bus terminal.
Nice in the Maidan, though, and Victoria Gardens
Enough – Make the park drives 2 way if that is needed and take off the lane on CPW. The issue with bus stops was not solved and 400 parking spaces eliminated. So interesting that where the police need to park near Columbus Circle they managed to have both the bike lane AND parking. There is plenty of room in the diagonally striped area next to it. However I still think it is bad news to have a bike lane on a bus street.
Adding to that the number of bikers/scooter/vespa et c riders that don’t even use them. When will they do something as simple as random corner policing with strict enforcement of traffic rules for EVERYONE on a wheeled vehicle. I am more afraid of bikes,,scooters etc when I cross the street than I am of cars and trucks. CB7 is our community board too.
Putting bike lanes on W. 72nd will be a complete disaster. Buses run both directions and there is a ton of truck double-parking (UPS, delivery trucks servicing the stores and restaurants, etc). The only way to make this work would be to eliminate street parking and restaurant sheds.
Yes, it’s the bikes and smaller vehicles that don’t obey laws and come out of nowhere, often the wrong direction. Harder to see them coming, and to gage the speed. Impossible to predict whether or not they’ll stop when I have the light. Nerve-wracking as hell, in what used to be a pedestrian-friendly city.
Would be greatif bikes used only those streets set up for them rather than being… everything, everywhere, all at once
I ride citibike almost daily. I also have a car because of my profession, needing to travel around the tri-state and bring my family places. I want to continue calling UWS a home but it’s getting impossible with the all out assault on cars. Garages near me already cost $1300! Up from 800 5 years ago. NOBODY except Uber lobbyists are calling for bike lanes on residential streets. I’ve NEVER felt danger riding a bike east to west on the UWS and this would be massive waste of space that would directly harm hundreds of residents. It would turn parking into the Hunger Games (as if it already wasn’t!).
PLEASE STOP THIS assault on your neighbors with these crazy ideas that benefits nobody.This is a solution for a problem that doesnt exist and would create many new ones.
Please voice your concerns at the meeting and on the form.
Dan,
TransAlt – powerful and well-funded – has been lobbying for more bike lanes, more street closures and more removal of parking (which is why TransAlt suport restaurant sheds).
TransAlt does support Lyft as Lyft is Citibike. Uber is also a big contributor to TransAlt
CB 7 seems to have zero interest in bus and subway riders – CB 7 seems to care only about bicyclists.
CB 7 has done nothing about decrease in West Side bus service. And incredibly CB 7 has approved bus rerouting for “open streets”.
CB7 seems to be in the pocket of TransAlt. TransAlt seems to be “owned” by Uber, Lyft and other for profit entities. This city needs to improve public transportation. With an aging population, more buses are needed. If you want to take away parking, make dedicated bus lanes. Stop with the Open Streets which will not benefit anyone. Improve PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION.
So important Barbara – “Improve Public Transportation” – bikes are used by a small segment of the population (typically men – women are more sensible) and younger. Also – no one bikes when it’s raining, freezing, or snowing. Improving the bus system is a much higher priority and would better serve the population of the UWS which skews elderly.
Lisa, you need a new circle of friends. I am a woman riding a bike every day, all seasons. Know plenty of other women who do, or who would ride more if they were safer from cars. The only time I don’t ride is when it snows, and only because nobody cleans bike lanes of snow. Please don’t tell me I am not sensible or do not matter because your life is different. Transit most definitely should be improved, but I don’t see why it has to be a battle between pedestrians, bikes and transit users for the scraps of space left over after every drivers gets a nice free parking spot that we all pay for. Drivers in Manhattan are <20% of total residents, so I don't see why they get most of the road space, kill and maim people, and are rewarded with free parking.
Lisa,
Right, lots of people – residents, visitors, workers – use buses to travel to/from the West Side.
At the same time that the City has been spending huge amounts growing the bike infrastructure, State MTA has been reducing bus service – cutting routes, reducing frequency and eliminating bus stops.
Pretty clear message about which demographic is getting “priority”
It’s quite unfair. But follow the money. Bikes don’t cost the city money on an ongoing basis. Buses do. That’s why the city supports bike lanes at the expense of bus riders.
And so is our horrible Mayor and most members of City Council. Don’t you find this weird and strange?
I AM AN ELDERLY BUS RIDER! OUT OF NECESSITY! WHEN WILL WE GET MORE BUSES ON BWAY AND RSD?
Bicyclists should walk or take a bus or subway
congestion-creating, fume-blowing, noise-making, pedestrian-endangering, quality of life lowering CAR DRIVERS should ride bikes, take the bus, or subway.
Nick:
I don’t know how to drive.
Bicycles especially Citibike endanger pedestrians.
And in NYC bicycles also siphon from mass transit
They sure don’t know about walking, as in how to. If they did, they’d obey traffic laws that apply to bicyclists.
My understanding is that at least 3 people on CB 7 are affiliated with bicycle lobby Transportation Alternatives/Streetsblog/Open Streets.
Also a principal funder of the bicycle lobby lives on the West Side and is especially focused on expanding the West Side bicycling infrastructure.
Subways and buses are not his thing at all.
Will anyone be speaking up for pedestrians?
Enough.
it appears that bikes are getting more and more consideration while pedestrians are ignored and continue to be hit by bikers not observing traffic laws … going against one-way street signs, not stopping at crosswalks and traffic lights, & speeding. At the very least, bikes, e-bikes and motor bikes should be licensed with identifiable license plates & carry insurance. I personally am sick and tired of this city pandering to bikers.
Pedestrians need to get together and form their own advocacy group. And I’m not kidding! I have lived on the UWS for 40 years and apart from the sidewalks and streets being in fairly miserable condition, we in recent years have had to contend with thousands of bikes and deliveristas. It’s something not just being pushed by bicyclists-it’s the corporate companies who have commoditized biking for profit and fueled this explosion. It is really very difficult to walk now on the UWS. One has to be so careful to avoid being hit! Who is it representing pedestrians?? In my opinion-absolutely no one!!
How often have you seen a Citibike or a deliverista riding on the sidewalk which is supposed to be prohibited?? How about our two wheeled friends obeying no traffic laws and speeding right through red lights whether someone is crossing the street or not. And now a push to create bike lanes crosstown too? Have you ever noticed that traffic is the slowest when traveling crosstown??
I think this city has truly lost its common sense. Or it doesn’t give a whit about how functional its streetscape is or how safe its residents are. Residents who pay taxes I might add.
Can this city be saved??? Not with the current leadership or that of the last 10 years.
I totally agree with you. Maybe you, and I and others who agree with us should form some type of movement or group to make our feelings known about what specific actions should be done, such as regulations and fines. I have experience in dealing with the media.
Who will enforce laws passed for all these dangerous vehicles?>
Traffic cameras? Speed traps?The police, or meter maids-will they run after the offenders, how will they apprehend them?
The scooters that drive in the middle of lanes, the sidewalk drivers, the wrong way folks?
Are the speed limits that these bikes etc are capable of enforcesd Is there any investigation of what the retailers are selling?
If I am run into, what avenues are available to ID the offender-no license plates, no registrations. Do they have insurance?
I am fed up.
All for 2% of trips???
If they’re delivering food then they are required to wear a tabard with the name of the restaurant they work for and an ID.
Frankly I’d be more concerned with the dirt bikes and quads that show up as soon as the weather’s nice – far more danger of being hit and damaged by one of those, and they have no registration or insurance. And the NYPD won’t chase them.
“There were 1,876 vehicles involved in reported incidents resulting in 117 pedestrians injured, 3 pedestrian fatalities, ”
“ 10 crashes involving motorized bikes and scooters and pedestrians, and 42 crashes between bicyclists and pedestrians, resulting in 37 pedestrian injuries, 2 pedestrian fatalities, ”
“Cars account for 29% of all trips, the subway 16%, buses 8%, and bicycles just 2%.”
So for every bike used there are 4 buses and 15 cars, but bikes account for one fourth of pedestrian injuries and deaths.
Sounds like the fear of bad bike riding isn’t irrational or overblown after all.
Here are the vehicles implicated in the report “Motor Vehicle Collision Report Statistics Citywide”:
ALL-TERRAIN VEHICLE 2
AMBULANCE 79
BICYCLE 298
BUS 259
FIRE TRUCK 8
LARGE COM VEH(6 OR MORE TIRES) 515
MOTORCYCLE 120
PASSENGER VEHICLE 5927
PICK-UP TRUCK 338
SMALL COM VEH(4 TIRES) 79
SPORT UTILITY / STATION WAGON 4286
TAXI VEHICLE 264
VAN 91
UNKNOWN 1
Doesn’t look too bike-heavy, relatively. If these were separate incidents (they don’t clarify), bikes were involved in just under 2%.
Sorry if I wasn’t clear.
The car/bus trip ratio to bikes is 17.5 : 1
but the pedestrian injury ratio is only 3 : 1.
Bikes are causing a disproportionate number of injuries to pedestrians.
But the bike lobby consistently claims the opposite to be true
Paul – how does that square with the numbers Alex provided, which show that motor vehicles cause a much greater percentage of collisions than bikes? Rounding, it’s 300 bike incidents compared to about 11,000 vehicle incidents, or less than 3%, so not terribly far off from their percentage of trips. Yeah, plenty of bikers do stupid stuff, and happy to see the police crack down on dangerous riding, but everyone is kidding themselves if they think that it’s the bikes that should be getting disproportionate attention when it comes to safer streets.
What you are missing in those numbers is those statistics are “citywide.“That includes areas such as Staten Island, Queens, and the upper Bronx. What life is on the Upper West Side is a completely different thing. Show us the statistics for just the Upper West Side, not “citywide“ and that will be more indicative of where the problem really lies.
Also, remember that we live in a city. Lots of moving people by lots of moving parts. Very few situations are similar to other situations.
You have elderly who are going to doctors appointments, children, who are going to school, somebody getting a bed, delivered by a store, someone else wanting a taco delivered at midnight. These are the stories of the city, and no one solution fits them all, which seems to be the narrative that the “bicycle lobby” is trying to portray.
I love Amsterdam as much as the next guy, but this is not Amsterdam this is New York City, and it requires specific solutions to fit a multitude of problems, issues, and circumstances.
Please everybody get off your high in horses.
(Speaking of which, horses were indeed the big problem at the turn of the century. Kind of makes you think? What were the “deliveristas“ doing then?)
Let’s try to be even clearer:
For every 2 bike trips there are 37 car and bus trips.
That’s 6% of all trips.
Yet bikes are the cause of 25% of pedestrian injuries and deaths.
Get it now?
how many more things are they going to put on our streets. !
This idea is ridiculous!
Sorry if I wasn’t clear.
The car/bus trip ratio to bikes is 17.5 : 1
but the pedestrian injury ratio is only 3 : 1.
Bikes are causing a disproportionate number of injuries to pedestrians.
But the bike lobby consistently claims the opposite to be true.
Others have probably already mentioned this, normal bikes are fine. But E-bikes are basically silent motorcycles that are probably at this point more dangerous to pedestrians than cars are! Add to that the increase in the batteries in buildings all over the city creating a massive fire risk and you have a terrible situation. I will take cars over E-bikes all day long!
I walk, drive and bike all over the UWS. Two-way protected bike lanes are desperately needed on Riverside, WEA, Broadway and a southbound lane should be added on CPW. Some serious enforcement would be great on Columbus. The bike lanes on 77th and 78th are great, although dicey around Broadway where they should be colored differently to protect from left turning vehicles. A change in the law permitting bicyclists to take the entire lane on other single direction crosstown streets would be nice (this currently exists around construction zones). Otherwise, I do not believe additional cross town lanes are necessary right now.
Why does every street need a bike lane? if you are biking what is the big deal about using one of the designated north south avenues? on the west side there are bike lanes on CPW, Columbus and Amsterdam. We do not need a bike lane on RSD when there are paths in the park. We do not need one a WEA because it residential and one of the few streets to park a car for free (yes, we do still need free car parking). This city needs to accommodate ALL people that live and work here. enough bike lanes!!
1. Bikes have full rights to take the lane where there is no bike lane.
2. Riverside Drive parallels the Greenway and on both Riverside and West End the 12 foot parking lanes make biking easy.
3. The existing lanes on 77, 78, 90 and 91 are invitations to wrong way riding, which is why I prefer crosstown streets without bike lanes.
4. Ask any pedestrian how they feel about two way bike lanes, especially on bus routes.
Exhibit A is the protected bike lane on CPW northbound. If you take the total time available (nights, winters, etc.), the path is used maybe 5% of the time (even that is generous). For that, they took away the entire parking upto 110th st, instead of using a combination parking/bike lane like on Columbus or Amsterdam.
Nah. If you actually do a count of bikes riding up the lane on CPW (maybe not in rainy 35 degree March, let’s pick an average sort of day in May) and compare it to the number of northbound private cars/drivers, the numbers are pretty close to each other. Cars are big honking things that are mostly chrome glass and empty space, with a lot of empty gaps around them when they’re moving so they don’t constantly crash. They don’t use the lanes nearly as well as you think they do.
I obviously wasn’t clear. My point was that if you want to maximize use of the space, instead of taking away all the parking and putting a bike lane in which is NOT used a majority of the time (nights, winters, mornings, etc. … I live very close to the bike lane and have seen how little overall it is used) it would make more sense to have a combined use area which accommodates BOTH bikes AND parking would be much better use of the space.
Nah, this isn’t actually making a persuasive argument, it’s just contradiction. Actually do the count fairly, clear your mind of biases and preconceptions, and you’ll find I’m right.
I think there would be space to have the protected lane, and parking both sides, but you’d have to take away a moving lane. Maybe do a 4-to-3 conversion so there’s one ordinary traffic moving lane each direction plus a center turn lane. DOT doesn’t seem to want to do that.
haha, you are obviously not an engineer or data scientist since you don’t understand basic math, but you are entitled to your opinion.
A more efficient use of space which allows for both bikes and cars to co-exist would be to implement CPW bike lane in a form that is similar to Columbus or Amsterdam. Not sure how you argue against that. You don’t need to take away a lane.
This is a fantastic bike lane, probably the only place I feel safe(ish) on my bike. A sidewalk is not removed because no one is on it at that moment; similarly, a bike lane that’s not full is still useful for its riders.
I suggest making this comment at a meeting. This is an issue of implementation, not whether or not a bike lane is needed. Anyway, my experience is that the CPW bike lane is used quite frequently during the day, with reduced usage comparable to car traffic at night. I am fully aware of this since I have run along CPW at all hours of the day and night, for years, and have to cross the bike lane, looking both ways, just like I need to cross the car lanes.
Problem is, you have to look both ways even if you (the pedestrian) have a green light. Bikes don’t respect lights.
So, look both ways and move on. That has been a sensible approach taught for decades. There’s no point having so much angst over something not terribly difficult to deal with. It just takes a little more situational awareness.
“I have noticed that even those who assert that everything is predestined and that we can change nothing about it still look both ways before they cross the street.” ….Stephen Hawking
Oh well I guess if a bike lane isn’t packed 24/7 it’s a waste of space _ I love that CPW bike lane – no sheds – clear view and pretty safe – use it a lot to get around
By far one of the best bike lanes in the City.
I agree completely.
The bike lane on CPW is not only unnecessary, it is a major contributor to congestion and stress.
The evidence is in: Remove it!
The Columbus Ave. “bike” lane takes up the old parking lane on the east side of the avenue, then there’s a new parking lane to the west of the “bike” lane that then takes up a lane of Columbus.
Any two-wheel vehicle with a motor should have to obey the same traffic laws as cars. Currently they obey none. It’s dangerous.
There should probably be protected pedestrian lanes in the park for all the cyclists who don’t seem to realize or care that the “no bicycles” signs on some trails apply to them. Entitlement and cyclist became synonymous decades ago in NYC. John Guare illustrates it perfectly in his portrait of the city’s bad old days, Landscape of the Body.
This is outrageous! Why only every ten blocks? Entitled car owners have had it too good for too long, to the detriment of the entire city. These lanes need to be on every block.
Did you read the part about 2% of trips being on bikes?
I think you’re trying to be over the top satirical, but this isn’t in fact the worst idea. 😉
As someone who bikes, I would love more bike lanes. Problem is, I am terrified to use them. The electric bikes go way too fast and are a menace and now we have many scooter type vehicles that think it’s ok to use the bike lane. And as someone who had an accident with an eBike who was wreckless and hit me causing much damage to my person, I would like to see some limitations on them and scooters in the bike lane. Bike lane is for a bicycle not for speeding motorized vehicles who move faster than cars. I would rather ride in traffic than in the bike lane. I think that’s pretty sad. Thanks for letting me express myself.
You nailed it. It’s “The tragedy of the commons” with every “bike lane”! Blind progressives built them and “deliveristas” and the lawless have taken them over. Hardly the fantasy of the middle class pedaling to jobs in midtown that Howard Yaruss and CB 7 imagined!
Exactly. The closest I’ve come to being hit on a bike was an ebike hurtling downtown on the northbound only CPW lane. The idiot on the seat ended up crashing and, luckily, not getting hurt.
Bike lanes were designed before the explosion of powered micro mobility and are not suitable for both pedaled and powered vehicles.
You mean delivery scooter lanes right?
It is already a total free-for-all with scofflaw pedestrians, bikes, scooters and cars. Until people are responsible for their own actions, pedestrians cross at crosswalk with green light, bikes ride with traffic and obey all rules of the road same a s cars, scooters and bikes stay off sidewalks, cars obey rules and be aware of others sharing the space, there will never ever be a safe situation for all. These forum boards complain, but offer no solution.
The solution is law enforcement.
As an avid pedestrian, I think this is a good idea, provided that the cyclists follow the correct direction of the street, and obey traffic lights. This, of course, will never happen. I have been struck by Citidiots going the wrong way and ignoring traffic lights.
We live on Riverside Drive and the vast majority of bikers do not obey any of the traffic signals. My wife has MS and thus crosses the road slowly. She has been nearly hit dozens of times by people on bicycles who are running a red light. When I yell at them, they just give me the finger.
Also, let’s call these lanes what they are – motorized cycle lanes.
Instead of spending money to make more bike lanes – let’s spend it on traffic law enforcement and see if bicyclists can be respectful in the lanes and streets they are on already.
Bikes don’t obey any traffic laws – they go in whatever direction they wish, rarely stop for red lights,, etc.
So, traffic enforcement of bikers first. Then license the electric scooters, bikes, etc.
once the chaos is controlled then discuss what comes next.
Get the motorized bikes off the sidewalks. Get the motorized scooters off the sidewalks. Get the regular bikes off the sidewalks. Full Stop.
Walk, Bus, Subway.
The crosstown buses should be used to go crosstown.
Priority in policy and funding must be for mass transit – bus and subway.
No more expansion of the bicycling infrastructure.