As a bicyclist in NYC for ten years, I've been thrilled to watch the increase in bike lanes and the growth of the Citibike program. For the people I know, bike lanes & bikeshare have meant a lot more bicycling throughout NYC - I'm wondering if the body of empirical research suggests that dedicated bike lanes do indeed have this effect broadly. It certainly feels safer to be separated from traffic, though sometimes pedestrians will feel bolder stepping in to a bike-lane without the traffic light permission, but overall seems very worth it to me. Would like to see more East-West protected bike lanes (there are a few, Grand St. comes to mind, but currently mostly north-south of course on the avenues) and would like to see overall amount of bike lanes increased (right now an East-West bike path is avail. around every 15 blocks in Manhattan under midtown). I think it's increased drivers' awareness of bicyclists generally, and hence bike & overall safety. My top priority is a protected bike lane on Christie Street by the Manhattan bridge, where traffic snarls and cars idle in the lane in Chinatown near bus stops and stores for deliveries, that's a real pain point on my commute and general cyclists headed to Brooklyn.
As a bicyclist in NYC for ten years, I've been thrilled to watch the increase in bike lanes and the growth of the Citibike program. For the people I know, bike lanes & bikeshare have meant a lot more bicycling throughout NYC - I'm wondering if the body of empirical research suggests that dedicated bike lanes do indeed have this effect broadly. It certainly feels safer to be separated from traffic, though sometimes pedestrians will feel bolder stepping in to a bike-lane without the traffic light permission, but overall seems very worth it to me. Would like to see more East-West protected bike lanes (there are a few, Grand St. comes to mind, but currently mostly north-south of course on the avenues) and would like to see overall amount of bike lanes increased (right now an East-West bike path is avail. around every 15 blocks in Manhattan under midtown). I think it's increased drivers' awareness of bicyclists generally, and hence bike & overall safety. My top priority is a protected bike lane on Christie Street by the Manhattan bridge, where traffic snarls and cars idle in the lane in Chinatown near bus stops and stores for deliveries, that's a real pain point on my commute and general cyclists headed to Brooklyn.
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