Running
Head: BIKE LANES VERSUS CAR LANES
IN NYC
Bike
Lanes Versus Car Lanes In NYC
Diane
A. Portillo
Molloy
College
Objective
The
objective of this study is to examine the issue of bike lanes versus car lanes
in New York City through the lens of urban sociology.
Introduction
There is an ongoing battle in New York
City between those who use bicycle lanes and those who drive cars. Chapter 1 of
the work entitled “NYC Cycling” on integration of NYC’s bicycle policy
emphasizes the need for “integrated, rather than piecemeal, transportation
planning.” (Transportation Alternatives, 2009) Stated as well is the need for
agencies to “work together” along with the bicycling community to bring about
an improvement in conditions so that bicycling in New York City will increase. (Transportation Alternatives, 2009) The
work of Forester (1994) entitled “Bicycle Transportation: A Handbook for
Cycling Transportation Engineers” reports that the first trouble occurring with
bike lanes in New York City is the congestion that was caused and the demand
for on-street parking, in combination to real estate costs and the costs
associated with conversion of older buildings that are so high that the
curbside truck and taxi and off street loading and unloading occurred in traffic
lanes and bike lanes were placed in the “conventional position between the
parked cars and the motor lanes.” (Forester, 1994)
I.
The First Troublesome Occurrence in NYC over Bike Lanes
An ordinance was enacted in New York
City that made a requirement that vehicles with authorization to double park
for loading and unloading purposes “continue to do so in the motor traffic lane
and not in the bike lane." (Forester, 1994) This created an unsafe lane for the
bikes since approximately 50% of the typical bike lane in Manhattan was not
usable due to double-parking. The whole affairs resulted in a transit strike
and a great deal of anger between cyclists, pedestrians, and cars. The result
was support by activists and the police department in New York City and the
benefit of bike lanes being proclaimed by the Transportation Alternatives and
American Youth Hostels.
Sociologists
analyze bike lanes through the lens of what is termed the ‘critical mass’ and
how the formation of the critical mass at some point in time serves to create
“new permutations of social space through collective mobility” and as well to
“open new possibilities that are both affective and political” and as stated by
Jeff Ferrel to put:
“…ourselves
and our bicycles on the line, confronting automobile dominance, through direct
action, we invent the impossible: an island of safety, calm, and conversation
in the middle of a busy street. And in reflexive fashion, we inhabit this
island with talk of Critical Mass rides in other cities, strategies for
surviving encounters with motorists, sabotage in the workplace, anarchist
history and other subversions.” (Furness, 1994)
II.
Bicycling Issues in NYC
It is reported that a bike lane that is
“ambitious” in combination with a “greenway program” will serve to expand the
interest and increase in cycling in New York City however, without safe bicycle
parking facilities that growth will not be as rapid as it could potentially be
with safe bike parking facilities. Also needed are bike lanes that are of a
better design and that bring about a reduction in the number of bicycle
accidents involving cyclists in New York City. These improvements are such that
should accompany “public education and enforcement of traffic laws.” (Transportation
Alternatives, 2009) Additionally required is an agreement by New York City
agencies such as the Department of Transportation in New York City to
restructure transportation in terms of both its priorities and its practices. (Transportation
Alternatives, 2009) The Bicycle Blueprint is stated to be much more than a set
of policies geared toward bringing about an increase in bicycling in New York
City, also presented in the blueprint is a “vision of New York City that is
people-oriented and refuses to accept the cynical trade-off of short-term
economic values for sustained human livability.” (Transportation Alternatives,
2009) Also needed is a “substantial transfer of street space from automobiles to
bicycles, in part through creating an extensive network of on-street bicycle
lanes.” (Transportation Alternatives, 2009)
Bicycling
is good for the environment and serves as well as “an active agent of
motor-traffic restraint.” (Byme, 2010) It is reported in the work of Byme
(2010) that Enrique Penalosa, the individual who “instituted bike and
pedestrian streets and rapid transit in Bogota when he was mayor” that the lane
that wasn’t safe for an 8 year old to ride in could not be considered as a bike
lane whatsoever.
III.
Bicycle Lane Design and Configuration
Designs such as those by Penalosa are
reported to bring about a reduction in traffic congestion, gird the economy,
and transform suburban areas into nicer places to reside. Another designer is
Jaime Lerner, former mayor of Curitiba, a city in Brazil that instituted recent
changes in traffic configuration for the city, which is experiencing rapid
expansion and growth and seeking urban planning that is low in cost. Although
Lerner originally designed a transit system that is bus-based, his concepts
could be applied in New York City for its bicycling lane configuration and
involves dedicating roads to bicycles akin to train tracks and “tube-shaped
stations, where riders prepay for lane access is accomplished quickly such as
in a subway transit system. Bike parking design that has been considered for
use in New York City is like that created by Penelosa and for the city of Tokyo
in a double-deck fashion and one originally used in Williamsburg in a parking
area located near the Bedford Avenue L-train station. The parking facility is
one that is of a good design holding a great number of bikes. The facility is
free and is considered as one that is highly functional and practical reducing
bottlenecking due to scattered and disorganized bike parking in the area. (Furness,
2010, paraphrased) Penalosa is stated to have written the following in the work
entitled “The Politics of Happiness”:
“One
common measures of how clean a mountain stream is to look for trout. If you
find the trout, the habitat is healthy. It’s the same way with children in a
city. Children are a kind of indicator species. If we can build a successful
city for children, we will have a successful city for all people.” (Furness,
2010)
Byme
reports that Penalosa held that pedestrian infrastructure that is well planned,
functional, useful, and safe “shows respect for human dignity.” (2010) This is
reported to result in the creation of a “different kind of society.” (Byme,
2010)
Summary
and Conclusion
In conclusion bike lanes do not seem to
be a subject in which public interest is waning in New York City but instead
bike lanes are at the forefront of discussion and planning for the city that
has a critical need to reduce traffic congestions and whose bike rider population
appears to have met a ‘critical mass’ demanding that bike lane planning and
construction be in earnest in the busy New York transit system.
Work Cited
Byme, David (2010) Bicycle Diaries.
Penguin 29 Sept, 2010. Retrieved from: http://books.google.com/books?id=5Ar9V-4z9PwC&dq=Bike+lanes+versus+car+lanes+in+New+York+City&source=gbs_navlinks_s
Forester, John (1994) Bicycle
Transportation: A Handbook for Cycling Transportation Engineers. MIT Press 30
Aug 1994. Retrieved from: http://books.google.com/books?id=Qz4kAulpimgC&dq=Bike+lanes+versus+car+lanes+in+New+York+City&source=gbs_navlinks_s
Furness, Zack (2010) One Less Car:
Bicycling and the Politics of Automobility. University Press, 28 Mar 2010.
Retrieved from: http://books.google.com/books?id=WV4QSnRqNwEC&dq=Bike+lanes+versus+car+lanes+in+New+York+City&source=gbs_navlinks_s
Managing Success in Center City: Reducing Congestion, Enhancing Public
Spaces. Center City District, Central Philadelphia Development
Corporation. Retrieved from: http://books.google.com/books?id=lmSGJgPm4CMC&dq=Bike+lanes+versus+car+lanes+in+New+York+City&source=gbs_navlinks_s
Transportation Alternatives (2009) NYC
Bike Policy. Street Design. Retrieved from: http://www.transalt.org/files/resources/blueprint/chapter4/chapter4d.html
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