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> is putting in dozens of miles of new protected bike lanes each year as part of the long-running Vision Zero initiative. "Protected bike lanes"... aren't. Bec

> is putting in dozens of miles of new protected bike lanes each year as part of the long-running Vision Zero initiative. "Protected bike lanes"... aren't. Because they share intersections with motor vehicles, left-hooks and right-hooks still happen, which together constitute the majority of bicyclist-motorist collisions. A transition to a better transportation system can't happen a few bike lanes at a time. Society will need to stop thinking in terms of millions of dollars and start thinking about billions of dollars.

CydeWeys 7y ago
I agree with you that there's much, much more we could be doing, and that we should be prioritizing the completion of a maximally-protected bike network across NYC vs the patchwork that we have now. But we're still at least doing something, more than any other city in the US, and it's a clearly stated priority of the city government. So, in that context, and in the context of the person I was replying to, it's absurd to blame someone for taking the government at its word and using the kinds of scaleable, non-polluting, lower negative externality transportation options whose use is explicitly being encouraged by the city. When someone chooses to bike instead of drive, that's better for everyone around them, including drivers. You aren't contributing to worsening traffic, you aren't emitting particulate pollution that messes up people's lungs, and you're much less likely to seriously harm or kill someone on a bike than in a car. What rankles me is the guy who's saying it's OK if things are set up to discourage that choice.
xxpor 7y ago
>"Protected bike lanes"... aren't. Because they share intersections with motor vehicles, left-hooks and right-hooks still happen, which together constitute the majority of bicyclist-motorist collisions. Part of installing protected bike lanes should be installing arrows and bike signals so there's a separate phase to make a turn. See 2nd Ave in Seattle: https://www.google.com/maps/@47.6074569,-122.3372911,3a,42.9y,139.78h,86.78t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1stsHgG3B-vnXsO86gZ70h9A!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 https://www.google.com/maps/@47.6074569,-122.3372911,3a,42.9...
- CydeWeys 7y ago
  We have some split-phase protected bike lane intersections here in NYC (e.g. 8th Ave north of 14th St), but not nearly enough. Most protected bike lane intersections are not split-phase; we're relying on drivers seeing us and yielding to us as is required of a vehicle trying to turn across others going straight. In practice though, a lot of drivers just bully you and don't yield as required, because it's gonna hurt you a lot more than them if you collide.

CydeWeys 7y ago

I agree with you that there's much, much more we could be doing, and that we should be prioritizing the completion of a maximally-protected bike network across NYC vs the patchwork that we have now. But we're still at least doing something, more than any other city in the US, and it's a clearly stated priority of the city government. So, in that context, and in the context of the person I was replying to, it's absurd to blame someone for taking the government at its word and using the kinds of scaleable, non-polluting, lower negative externality transportation options whose use is explicitly being encouraged by the city. When someone chooses to bike instead of drive, that's better for everyone around them, including drivers. You aren't contributing to worsening traffic, you aren't emitting particulate pollution that messes up people's lungs, and you're much less likely to seriously harm or kill someone on a bike than in a car. What rankles me is the guy who's saying it's OK if things are set up to discourage that choice.

xxpor 7y ago

>"Protected bike lanes"... aren't. Because they share intersections with motor vehicles, left-hooks and right-hooks still happen, which together constitute the majority of bicyclist-motorist collisions. Part of installing protected bike lanes should be installing arrows and bike signals so there's a separate phase to make a turn. See 2nd Ave in Seattle: https://www.google.com/maps/@47.6074569,-122.3372911,3a,42.9y,139.78h,86.78t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1stsHgG3B-vnXsO86gZ70h9A!2e0!7i16384!8i8192 https://www.google.com/maps/@47.6074569,-122.3372911,3a,42.9...

CydeWeys 7y ago
We have some split-phase protected bike lane intersections here in NYC (e.g. 8th Ave north of 14th St), but not nearly enough. Most protected bike lane intersections are not split-phase; we're relying on drivers seeing us and yielding to us as is required of a vehicle trying to turn across others going straight. In practice though, a lot of drivers just bully you and don't yield as required, because it's gonna hurt you a lot more than them if you collide.