6 ms·

So living in NYC for almost 8 years now I've become pretty anti-cyclist. Here's a short list of beefs that spring to mind: - Cyclists riding on sidewalks. Apar

by cletus 8y ago

So living in NYC for almost 8 years now I've become pretty anti-cyclist. Here's a short list of beefs that spring to mind: - Cyclists riding on sidewalks. Apart from delivery people, a cyclist should never ride on the sidewalk in Manhattan. Ever. If you find yourself riding on the sidewalk, just don't take the bike out. Bikes are for roads. The article even mentions how sidewalks are narrow. - Bike lanes (IMHO) have made traffic significantly worse because they're thoroughly underutilized and basically kill a lane of traffic (on the avenues at least). - The article also mentions how pedestrians spill over to the streets and bike lanes. Yep, that'll happen. Particularly if the city fills the sidewalk with more newsstands and allows businesses to spill out onto the sidewalk. There should be a rule that there can be no obstruction on an avenue of major street (think 14th, 23rd, 34th, 42nd, 57th, 59th, etc) that reduces the clear space to anything less than ten feet. On other streets? 6-8 feet. - I generally find the delivery cyclists are fine. It's the commuters and tourists who need to be removed from the road. Why? Well tourists are just oblivious and will ride down a bike lane 3 abreast at 6 miles an hour. But the commuters are just plain assholes, as a whole group. Go see this for yourself on the Brooklyn Bridge. This is a place that at any reasonable time is going to be packed with tourists. And just count (it won't take long) how often you see a cyclist knock a pedestrian who has "dared" to spill over into the bike lane. Honestly, bikes should just be banned completely from the Brooklyn Bridge. - Cyclists will ride down bike lanes and streets the wrong way (yes bike lanes have directions) and run red lights and give you attitude if you're in the way as a pedestrian even though you have right of way. So am I excited about the prospect of scooters? Hell, no. I've been to SF and seen these littered all over the place. The sidewalks in Manhattan (in particular) are congested enough that we don't need scooters littered on them. At least Citibikes have to go into bays. But above all of this the biggest problems in NYC are the continued subsidization of car ownership. If it were up to me I would: - Eliminate all street parking - Loading zones only - Tax private car ownership for anyone living below 125th street. - Have congestion pricing (the article mentions this too). - Get rid of the stupid turn lanes (where pedestrians have to take turns with cars turning crossing the street so as a pedestrian you only get to cross 1/4 of the time instead of 1/2). But please just say no to scooters.

deleted 8y ago
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magnusss 8y ago
Electric scooters, bicycles, powered bicycles, and ewheels are all terrific ways of getting around NYC (and, I imagine, other dense urban areas). Enlightened regulation coupled with education (and a little common courtesy) would ameliorate most of the issues you mention. Cars are the enemy, as they consume far more resources (space, traffic control, etc.) than they pay for. Shifting riders out of cars into any other mode of transportation (including mass transit) should be the goal of any sensible urban plan.
TulliusCicero 8y ago
American bike infrastructure is near universally awful, so it's not exactly surprising US cyclists don't behave the best. NYC bike lanes are still a cruel joke compared to car infrastructure, much more needs to be done to get people out of their cars and into more efficient transportation. Posts that amount to, "sure, we've spent at least 1000x as much on cars as biking, but why won't cyclists respect their janky ass hodgepodge road system as much as drivers do?" feel pretty silly to me. What do you think happens when Dutch people come over to the US, or vice versa? People adapt to their environment, and the US bike environment encourages reckless behavior.
carlospwk 8y ago
I live in Helsinki where bicycling is slowly starting to be taken more and more seriously as a form of commuting. I noticed some similarities to your comment and what people here are saying about bicyclists. >Cyclists riding on sidewalks. Apart from delivery people, a cyclist should never ride on the sidewalk in Manhattan. Ever. If you find yourself riding on the sidewalk, just don't take the bike out. Bikes are for roads. The article even mentions how sidewalks are narrow. People ride on the sidewalk usually because there is no other safe alternative. Depending on the time of the day and the street, it might be extremely intimidating to drive in regular traffic. There are so many drivers who aren't aware of cyclists/hate cyclists that it's better to get on the sidewalk. Of course it should go without saying that you don't do this on Times Square or somewhere equally crowded. >Bike lanes (IMHO) have made traffic significantly worse because they're thoroughly underutilized and basically kill a lane of traffic (on the avenues at least). Isn't this kind of a "chicken and egg" type of a problem? They're underutilized because cycling isn't taken seriously and the infra is lacking. Also you can keep adding lanes and lanes for cars but it's not going to help with congestion, eventually there will just be more cars. >I generally find the delivery cyclists are fine. It's the commuters and tourists who need to be removed from the road. Why? Well tourists are just oblivious and will ride down a bike lane 3 abreast at 6 miles an hour. But the commuters are just plain assholes, as a whole group. What makes you say that about commuters? Also tourists are tourists everywhere, even in Helsinki. You just gotta live with it. >Eliminate all street parking I agree but I think a more realistic goal would be world peace. I think that a huge part of making cycling and e-biking/scootering work in a major city is creating a good biking culture with adequate infrastructure. Maybe because biking isn't enforced like driving is many riders just selfishly do what they want and seem to lack a certain awareness to situational speed and other users. If they hopped behind the wheel and applied the same driving style, we'd have bodies. Then again, if the infra covers only small parts of the city and is inconsistent, you can't blame riders for breaking the rules.

by cletus 8y ago

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

magnusss 8y ago

Electric scooters, bicycles, powered bicycles, and ewheels are all terrific ways of getting around NYC (and, I imagine, other dense urban areas). Enlightened regulation coupled with education (and a little common courtesy) would ameliorate most of the issues you mention. Cars are the enemy, as they consume far more resources (space, traffic control, etc.) than they pay for. Shifting riders out of cars into any other mode of transportation (including mass transit) should be the goal of any sensible urban plan.

TulliusCicero 8y ago

American bike infrastructure is near universally awful, so it's not exactly surprising US cyclists don't behave the best. NYC bike lanes are still a cruel joke compared to car infrastructure, much more needs to be done to get people out of their cars and into more efficient transportation. Posts that amount to, "sure, we've spent at least 1000x as much on cars as biking, but why won't cyclists respect their janky ass hodgepodge road system as much as drivers do?" feel pretty silly to me. What do you think happens when Dutch people come over to the US, or vice versa? People adapt to their environment, and the US bike environment encourages reckless behavior.

carlospwk 8y ago

I live in Helsinki where bicycling is slowly starting to be taken more and more seriously as a form of commuting. I noticed some similarities to your comment and what people here are saying about bicyclists. >Cyclists riding on sidewalks. Apart from delivery people, a cyclist should never ride on the sidewalk in Manhattan. Ever. If you find yourself riding on the sidewalk, just don't take the bike out. Bikes are for roads. The article even mentions how sidewalks are narrow. People ride on the sidewalk usually because there is no other safe alternative. Depending on the time of the day and the street, it might be extremely intimidating to drive in regular traffic. There are so many drivers who aren't aware of cyclists/hate cyclists that it's better to get on the sidewalk. Of course it should go without saying that you don't do this on Times Square or somewhere equally crowded. >Bike lanes (IMHO) have made traffic significantly worse because they're thoroughly underutilized and basically kill a lane of traffic (on the avenues at least). Isn't this kind of a "chicken and egg" type of a problem? They're underutilized because cycling isn't taken seriously and the infra is lacking. Also you can keep adding lanes and lanes for cars but it's not going to help with congestion, eventually there will just be more cars. >I generally find the delivery cyclists are fine. It's the commuters and tourists who need to be removed from the road. Why? Well tourists are just oblivious and will ride down a bike lane 3 abreast at 6 miles an hour. But the commuters are just plain assholes, as a whole group. What makes you say that about commuters? Also tourists are tourists everywhere, even in Helsinki. You just gotta live with it. >Eliminate all street parking I agree but I think a more realistic goal would be world peace. I think that a huge part of making cycling and e-biking/scootering work in a major city is creating a good biking culture with adequate infrastructure. Maybe because biking isn't enforced like driving is many riders just selfishly do what they want and seem to lack a certain awareness to situational speed and other users. If they hopped behind the wheel and applied the same driving style, we'd have bodies. Then again, if the infra covers only small parts of the city and is inconsistent, you can't blame riders for breaking the rules.