New York City To Break 'Car Culture' And Build 250 More Bike Lanes

[appalachiablue]

Source: The Guardian

New York is set to build more than 250 new bike lanes and add 1m sq ft (92,903 sq meters) of pedestrian space in a landmark move designed to “break the car culture” of the city.

The city council passed legislation this week that will see $1.7bn invested in road infrastructure over 10 years in a move that it is hoped will transform city streets and dramatically improve safety for cyclists and pedestrians.

The New York city council speaker, Corey Johnson, who introduced the “streets master plan” bill and is anticipated to run for mayor in 2021, said after the vote: “The way we plan our streets now makes no sense and New Yorkers pay the price every day, stuck on slow buses or risking their own safety cycling without protected bike lanes … I want to completely revolutionise how we share our street space, and that’s what this bill does. “This is a roadmap to breaking the car culture in a thoughtful, comprehensive way, and I am so proud to pass this bill today.”

While cycling is on the rise in New York – the number who ride several times a month grew by 26% between 2012 and 2017, according to the city’s most recent cycling trends report – more cyclists are dying. So far this year there have been 25 cyclist deaths, the highest number in 20 years, and pedestrian and cyclist fatalities have risen by 24%... -More...


Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/01/new-york-city-bike-lanes-car-culture

[mopinko]

1. if they build it, they will come.

bike culture in chicago is huge. daley was a bike enthusiast, and bike infra is cheap.
downtown festivals bring hundreds and hundreds of bikes, and the tourists love the divvys.

[Historic NY]

2. Its kind of hard when you live outside the city to ride a bike to Manhattan.

yeah their are trains and we are taxed by NYDMV on our vehicle registrations also. NY City takes but gives nothing, so now I rarely go. Note you have to drive to a train station and then pay to park there too.

So were held up at the NY bridges 15.00 at the GW
Pick-pocketed by the NY Thruway 17.88
Hijacked at the DMV 50.00 per vehicle & 16.00 for drivers license this is MTA (even if we don't go to the city)
Whacked by Metro-North - parking permit 322.21 its taxed too for a yr, but none are available
Metro-North again Rt 25.00 for the day.
Hit again by the city if you drive into Manhattan Congestion pricing 12.00

So tell me why would I even go there.

[appalachiablue]

3. That is pricey. I'd never drive to NY anyway, no real need for a car.

How about the train? I took it all the time from DC, it was fine. Even took a taxi in a rush to LI once, long story. Lol.

[erlewyne]

6. I wish my town of a thousand people had bike paths.

People that do not live here drive thru constantly. They always exceed
the speed limit because they are either on their way to work, Wal-Mart, Sam's,
MacDonald's, Court, Jail, etc. We have a K-12 (school) and a 7-11 (all night gas
station). The country trails are only a half mile out of town but it is a bitch getting
there whether you are hiking, biking, or walking your dog, crossing the road
is always a challenge - bike trails built along the highways would be a bonus.
Everybody is in such a hurry, and yes, we have buses and trains passing
thru but not stopping. We need more bike trails and pedestrian walks, in our little town.

Go bikes, I am too old (fat) to enjoy riding (but I do) and love walking.

[Sapient Donkey]

12. I used to take the LIRR into Manhattan a long time ago when I lived out on Long Island

if I recall correctly, the monthly pass was several hundred dollars back then. I was coming out from the middle of island, though. I can only imagine it costs more now than it did when I took it. I ended up quitting a job just because it simply wasn't cost effective for me to work out there.

[Miigwech]

4. NYC should be a great biking city

The terrain is fairly flat, especially in lower Manhattan. The city's first name was "New Amsterdam" ... OK, now we present ...

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/may/05/amsterdam-bicycle-capital-world-transport-cycling-kindermoord

[LarryNM]

5. Cars for the 1% only. None for the riffraff middle class and poor,

let them get through the elements as best they can. What needs "thoughtful" breaking
is the living in highly congested areas.

[rocktivity]

7. DING DING DING! LarryNM, you're our grand prize winner!

Cars for the 1% only. None for the riffraff middle class and poor...

Yep, just like planes when I was a girl. But back then, you had cars to fall back on.


rocktivity

[Lucky Luciano]

9. It's like that anyway.

Parking for $450/month means you have money and that your car is at least 40K new.

I have a car, but only use it to leave Manhattan on the weekends. Only rarely do I use it for intra-city driving.

[Devil Child]

15. Bingo!

Those enforcing the “solutions” will never be burdened with the changes they demand.

[abqtommy]

8. That sounds like a good move to me. Contrast that with what I saw when I traveled to China

in the early and mid-1990s on business: My business was centered in Beijing and during my first two
trips the number of bicycles on the streets easily outnumbered cars. During my third trip I noticed that
the number of bicycles was vastly reduced and the whole city of Beijing suffered from traffic jams and gridlock. I didn't think that indicated progress for China but I do think that New York expanding the
use of bicycle lanes certainly qualifies.

[Igel]

13. In a true democracy,

it's the role of the leaders to impose the correct views and proper culture on the citizenry.

A democracy is best governed from the top down. Otherwise it might not be a true democracy (tm).

It's often the same with true democracy (tm), in which only those views officially tolerated are permitted.

[AllaN01Bear]

10. put back in the trolleys and the elevated that la gurdia and othrs took out .

[Duppers]

14. Yes! These too. nt

[Sapient Donkey]

11. I hope they plan it better than what they have now

I was watching youtube videos of people biking through NYC. Oh man, I thought driving down there was the ultimate at causing anxiety. Just total madness. It seemed like the majority of drivers, pedestrians, and bike riders had zero sense how to all interact with each other.