Bike Lanes in NYC: The Good, the Bad, and the Congested

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BIKE LANES IN NYC: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE CONGESTED

Transcript of Bike Lanes in NYC: The Good, the Bad, and the Congested

Page 1: Bike Lanes in NYC: The Good, the Bad, and the Congested

BIKE LANES IN NYC:THE GOOD, THE BAD,

AND THE CONGESTED

BCB PROPERTY MANAGEMENT

Page 2: Bike Lanes in NYC: The Good, the Bad, and the Congested

There is a renaissance of cycling across the

country, and New York is no exception.

Page 3: Bike Lanes in NYC: The Good, the Bad, and the Congested

After cars became

affordable, New York's

streets were designed

strictly for motorized

vehicles. The main

island’s narrow streets

and heavy traffic, both

vehicular and

pedestrian, have since

made cycling a hazard.

Page 4: Bike Lanes in NYC: The Good, the Bad, and the Congested

Since 1990, biking in NYC has

increased by 320 percent, and 68

percent between 2010 and 2014.

Now that biking is returning in a big

way, the trend has to reckon with cars’

legacy in an increasingly crowded city.

Page 5: Bike Lanes in NYC: The Good, the Bad, and the Congested

Depending on who you ask, modern

bike lanes are either a blessing or a

curse, as balancing the needs of

different types of commuters has

proven more difficult than anticipated.

Page 6: Bike Lanes in NYC: The Good, the Bad, and the Congested

Veteran taxi drivers and residents will tell

you how different city streets were just 20

years ago, and their opinions are by and large

the same: bike lanes make things worse.

Page 7: Bike Lanes in NYC: The Good, the Bad, and the Congested

While helpful for bikers and good for energy

efficiency, they complicate the rules of the road.

Page 8: Bike Lanes in NYC: The Good, the Bad, and the Congested

Drivers get confused, slow down, and

traffic gets backed up.

Smooth sailing?

Page 9: Bike Lanes in NYC: The Good, the Bad, and the Congested

Not unless you’re a biker, and even

then, you might still get hit: biking

fatalities number in the hundreds each

year, and even spiked in 2014.

Page 10: Bike Lanes in NYC: The Good, the Bad, and the Congested

Bike lanes should in theory

make things safer, but anti-

bike advocates have called

their implementation

“monstrous” and “truly

offensive”, with some

claiming that the Department

of Transportation has vastly

overstated their benefits.

Page 11: Bike Lanes in NYC: The Good, the Bad, and the Congested

They take up valuable road

space, cut lanes of car

traffic from three to two

and make it difficult for

taxis to pick up customers

without getting ticketed.

Page 12: Bike Lanes in NYC: The Good, the Bad, and the Congested

Drivers say that in spite of lanes, many

bikers don’t follow the rules.

Page 13: Bike Lanes in NYC: The Good, the Bad, and the Congested

Those in favor of bike lanes, including

Mayor Bloomberg, who made them part of

his legacy, argue that they don’t increase

congestion and actually stimulate the

economy, since pedestrians and bikers are

likely to patron local businesses.

Page 14: Bike Lanes in NYC: The Good, the Bad, and the Congested

Further, the implementation of Citi Bikes

across the city has enjoyed immense

popularity in spite of some problems.

Page 15: Bike Lanes in NYC: The Good, the Bad, and the Congested

It seems like drivers and bikers will never agree

on the merits of bike lanes, but one thing is for

sure: the city’s many pedestrians are neutral as

long as there are no bikers on the sidewalk.

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