New York City… honored for bike friendliness? I thought I had heard wrong, or perhaps, the guy on the news had made an error. However, upon further viewing I realized that someone (actually, an entire group of legitimate someones) really believes that the concrete jungle with its convey of yelling yellow cab drivers, take no prisoner pedestrians, and hordes of hassled truck drivers is a premiere place to travel on two wheels.
Believe it or not, the League of American Bicyclists just awarded New York City a medal for bike friendliness. Okay, it’s a bronze medal, but considering it ranked up there with college town Davis, California, this is big news.
The biking group applauded the city’s efforts to promote cycling for a cleaner environment and a healthier population. Especially the mayor’s recent move to install 400 to 500 bike racks a year and the plan to add more than 400 miles of bike lanes and paths to the booming metropolis by 2009. When all is said and done New York City will have 1 mile of bike lane for every 10 miles of road; the ratio is now 1 to 15. In San Francisco, it’s 1 to 7. In addition, the mayor has also proposed legislation to make it easier to bike to work by requiring commercial buildings to provide bicycle parking.
The changes can already be seen around the city. For example, a seven-block length of Manhattan’s Ninth Avenue is currently being transformed into the city’s most bicycle-friendly stretch of roadway ever, with a bike lane separated from car traffic by a paved buffer zone and a lane of parked cars. It would probably be the only stretch of roadway I would feel safe pedaling in the Big Apple.
Between the traffic, the potholes and the bike-hating pedestrians, traversing the city on two wheels is a challenge. And forget about taking a leisurely ride through Manhattan. If you don’t want to get “doored” you constantly have to be aware of your surroundings because no one is looking out for you.
City officials recognized that safety issues were a major concern with bikers and recently launched a $1 million public service ad campaign to remind drivers and bike riders to watch out for each other. The city also gave out thousands of free bike helmets to encourage commuters to take their bikes to work instead of their cars.
According to city statistics, there about 130,000 bicyclists who take to the road in New York City’s five boroughs on a daily basis—-that’s more total cyclists than any other U.S. city. The mayor attributes the high numbers to the city’s relatively flat streets and the fact that the city allows bikes on the subway. What’s more, according to bike messengers who have no choice but to battle gridlock every day, biking is the fastest mode of transportation in New York City.
Would you dare commute to work by bike if you lived in New York City?
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