Paper #2 New York City Bike Lanes

Paper #2 New York City Bike Lanes

            With the amount of travelling people do in the city it is easy to see why people get so angry when pedestrians do not follow the street light signs. The lights tell the cars when to go and the red hand or white image of a walking pedestrian tells the walkers when to go. But what about the people who ride bikes? In New York there are tons of bike paths on the streets that help those people that ride their bikes. These bike paths are supposed to assist in the safe transportation of bikers.

            Although these bike lanes are placed along streets to help bikers get from one location to another, these bikers must ask themselves if they are safe. Studies show that “dying while cycling is three to five times more likely in America than in Denmark, Germany or the Netherlands.”  (“Calm Down”).  There is a white line that protects bikers from traffic but it is rarely enforced by police. Most of the time it is just there to make the bikers feel safer. The article, titled “Calm Down” shows the difference that 10mph can make when a car hits a biker. For instance, “a pedestrian hit by a car moving at 30mph has a 45% chance of dying; at 40mph, the chance of death is 85%, according to Britain's Department of Transport” (“Calm Down”). This means that even the slightest change in speed can make an injury to a biker that much more significant. A safer speed to travel when near cyclists would be 19 mph. In a collision where the car is moving 19 mph and hits a biker the risk of death goes down significantly to 5%. In places where cycling on main streets is encouraged by the city the city must do a good job at protecting its bike commuters.

            Other articles, including “Evaluating the Safety Effects of Bicycle Lanes in New York City”, concur with “Calm Down” stating that “safety is a major concern that discourages people from bicycling” (Roe 1). People are not willing to do something that could help themselves and help the environment if they know that they risk injury. It is as simple as that. More people would bicycle if less people drove and the injury rate went done. When a bicyclist gets into an accident it is more likely that their injury will be more severe than the injury the person suffers in the car. Cyclists must come to a full understanding of the factors associated with cycling safety.  Cycling lanes are appearing in all major cities across the United States and learning the rules of the bike lanes can only benefit you as a citizen.

            Studies of the safety effects of bicycle lanes in the United States date back to the 1970’s. Some of these studies were based off of bicyclists or police reports. They compared the amounts of crashes on roads that had bicycle lanes vs. the roads that did not have lanes for bicyclists. What these studies found was “lower bicycle crash rates on roads with bicycle lanes than on roads without such lanes” (Roe 1). These studies prove that while bicycling in New York City it is safer to have the bicycle lanes for those people who chose this type of transportation.

            Many communities around the United States lack sidewalks and bike lanes. This makes it difficult for pedestrians and cyclists to get around safely, especially where cars travel heavily on streets. All across America citizens groups challenge their city’s government to make what one author calls Complete Streets. Complete Streets “promote pedestrian-and bike-friendly design in urban centers. Barbara McCann, head of the Coalition, reports that as of July 2007, ‘complete streets policies are in place in 14 states and 52 cities.’” (Brown 1). With these complete streets all over in major cities this allows for pedestrians to walk and cycle freely, worry free about cars.

            From my experience in the city cars think that they rule the roads and that everybody else has to get out of the way. A taxi whizzing down a street will lay his hand on the horn before he lays his foot on the break. That is his way of notifying people in his way that he is coming whether you move or not.  Large parts of the city population ride their bikes to get where they have to be. Maybe if it was easier and safer more people would ride their bikes too. This would help unclog the streets a little bit causing the street traffic to be lighter, ultimately making the streets safer.

             On one of our tours of The Museum of the City of New York, there was a section of the museum dedicated to cyclying advocates. In addition to helping shape bicyling policy at City Hall, they have also encouraged many New Yorkers to join the cycling world. They are called the Five Buro Bike Tour, which was created in 1977 with only 200 riders has now grown to 30,000 riders to present day. They fight for reduced automobile traffic and support the buildig of more bike lanes.  Mayor Bloomberg, a cycling advocate, has committed his administration to an expansion of the city's bike lanes. He is responsible for creating over 250 miles of new lanes for cyclists in a span of only four years. Although these bike lans are fought in some neighborhoods because of they are underused and aggrivate traffic, the cycling advocated fight hard to protect these lanes and promote them with demonstrations of real life senarios in the bike lanes to involve the community.

            Through their many years spent in the big apple cyclists have come up with many strategiesto promote their cause. Groups such as Bike for a Better City and Action Against Autos have come up with many strategies to promote bike lanes.  They organize mass rides to raise knowledge to the public about bike lanes and how popular they have become. They also use these rides to put pressure on the politicans to make them pay attention and fulfill the needs of the bikers. Fortunately these bikers have always held a soft spot in politicians hearts. For example, Edward Koch who was mayor from 1978- 1989 helped bikers make great strides in the city. He was responsible for appointing a bike advisory committee to be responsible for all cyclists needs in the city.

          Below is a video of a man who was fined $50 for not riding his bike in the bike lane. Because he thought this was so ridiculous he created a video to prove to the city of New York that the bike lane is not always the safest place to be.

Cyclist Fights Back Fine

Work Cited

"Calm Down." Economist 400.8749 (2011): 32. Education Full Text (H.W. Wilson). Web. 23        June 2012.

Brown, Lester R. "Cities Battle Auto Dominance: Car Taxes, Alternative Transport, Better           Design Will Curb The Car." Futurist 42.6 (2008): 10-11. Education Full Text (H.W.    Wilson). Web.  23 June 2012.

Matthew Roe, et al. "Evaluating The Safety Effects Of Bicycle Lanes In New York City."           American Journal Of Public Health 102.6 (2012): 1120-1127. Education Full Text (H.W.       Wilson). Web. 23 June 2012.