A pedestrian island under construction at 77th street and Amsterdam Avenue. Photo by Thomas DeVito, director of organizing for Transportation Alternatives.
New pedestrian islands are being installed on Amsterdam Avenue as part of the major redesign of that avenue between 72nd and 110th Streets. Amsterdam has been whittled to three driving lanes from four, with a new protected bike lane hugging one of the curbs. The bike lane and turning lanes have been in place for weeks, but the islands were under construction this past week.
The pedestrian islands can also add some pizzazz to avenues if they’re well maintained. They often have plants, or even more imaginative pieces, like a wooden bears whittled with a chainsaw.
This Tuesday, the community board’s transportation committee will be meeting to review the redesign with the Department of Transportation and it could be a good time for critics and supporters of the lanes to see how things have bee going. Bicyclists, among others, have been thrilled with the changes. But we’ve heard complaints about traffic congestion, and had been hearing a particular concern about a new rule banning left turns from Amsterdam onto West 91st Street. But apparently that change was reversed so drivers can turn on 91st again.
The meeting will also look at how CitiBike has been going, and review other issues. It starts at 7 p.m. at 250 West 87th street. Here’s the agenda:
Transportation Committee, Andrew Albert and Dan Zweig, Co-Chairpersons
Tuesday, July 12, 7:00 PM
1. Request by 201 West 77th Street (Amsterdam Avenue-Broadway) to FDNY to remove the large fire truck cage in the curb lane in front of their building.
2. Updates by DOT on Citibike and the implementation of the Amsterdam Avenue bike lane.
3. District needs statement and budget priorities for Fiscal Year 2018.
ruined 96thst and broadway; now send more traffic that way when Amsterdam provided relief all these years. European plan does not work here–let’s make everything one lane lame brain
The centralization of subway, bus, car, pedestrian traffic at 96 and Bdwy will kill.
No it won’t.
Good to hear.
Lights are synchronized on Amsterdam not on B’way.
In saying “three driving lanes,” the word “driving” should be in quotation marks, since often one of those lanes and not infrequently two of them are occupied by trucks doubled parked to make deliveries. I’ve driven down Columbus when there’s been just a single lane open to moving traffic.
Truly hate bike lanes. This is NYC, not Paris or Amsterdam, no pun intended.
If you want to ride a bike go to Central Park or go live in the suburbs.
I can’t stand what they did to Time Square. It looks like Disney Land.
If you want to drive a car go live in the suburbs, this is a city…
Also, cities like Amsterdam actually looked a lot like NYC until the mid 80s when the cities decided to take steps to build a bike infrastructure.
Absolutely agree!!! NYC is definely a pedestrian city!! If you need to drive all the time go out to the suburbs or country!
I can see the city 10 years from now you will have to go to hospital on a bike because the traffic will not be moving. Please stop comparing our city to Amsterdam is not even comparable with our city
Jay, your Reply is to the self-same “stone” that you write: “Having a conversation with a stone is not worth the time or effort.”
Start making sense, or at least be civil.
No John, it’s a very fair comparison because Amsterdam went through these growing pains in the 60’s. In ten years time one can only hope that congestion pricing is in effect and that would mean that there is enough space for service vehicles to operate on schedule and emergency vehicles to travel speedily as required.
Jay, your Reply is to the self-same “stone” that you write: “Having a conversation with a stone is not worth the time or effort.”
Start making sense, or at least be civil.
Having a conversation with a stone is not worth the time or effort. Zulu brings good thoughts and rational discussion, a stone brings neither.
Jay,
Is this your version of “Don’t play with dannyboy ’cause he’s got cooties”?
Very amusing.
And revealing.
I hear you Zulu, but danny isn’t even giving “opinions”; just irrational disagreement with no thoughts or solutions.
Hi Jay,
I would say you’re correct about most people that post here. As for dannyboy well, we might not always agree on the same topics but that doesn’t mean he is irrational. After all we can’t all have the same opinions. Over the years I’ve learned that a good thoughtful argument is always healthy in our society.
Zulu, you are trying to have a rational, thoughtful conversation. That’s not possible with some of the folks that routinely post here.
Zulu, as I enjoy your attitude, I will share my own. The traffic in NYC is not bad relative to the benefits of a city that is central to the world.
Try the traffic in Bangkok or the dozens of other cities with less to offer than NYC. You can learn to appreciate the great city that New York is. That is the great experience that we share.
dannyboy, and you really didn’t answer my question. If congestion pricing is not the answer, than what? How do we fix traffic in NYC?
Well dannyboy, congestion pricing really does not have much to do with cycling in the city. Traffic in the city regardless of bike lanes is a big issue. Sam Schwartz did his best in the 80’s to address the problem and back then there weren’t any bike lanes to speak off.
This is a perfect city for bicycling (something you admittedly do) so I shouldn’t have to explain this to you, right?
Nobody is advocating Tour de France speeds, which for most people would be incredibly difficult to achieve.
As for the painted lines… are you referring to the class 2 lanes and the sharrows? Yes, I agree. It’s a poor excuse for a bike lane. At the very least it should be divided by flexible cones or a raised cycle track.
Nobody wants concrete barriers, like you said they are dangerous for everybody, aside from being unsightly.
Delivery cyclists are indeed motivated to bike dangerously, but again as said before, a non-issue compared to the real cause of carnage amongst NYers.
One last thing, for not wanting to opine you sure have participated a lot in this thread. Fine by me, by the way. I look forward to the exchange.
Honestly Zulu, I have tried not to opine (as I previously Commented) but if challenged by you, I would reply that Manhattan is not well suited to extensive cycling. Also, the painting of lines in the road is an invitation to collision. Also, placing concrete barriers in the roads is very dangerous. Plus cycling as if the cyclist is in the Tour de France is very dangerous. Plus delivery cyclists are financially motivated to ride dangerously.
These are a few of my thoughts on the matter.
Do you have a better idea? Please do share.
“one can only hope that congestion pricing is in effect” Zulu
money, money, money
I truly hate the bike lanes. Nobody uses them.
I see more and more people riding in the middle of the road on Amsterdam and also on the sidewalk.
So … what was the point of spending how much $6,000 per mile or more for something no one wants and no one is going to use.
That money could have been better spent on schools, fixing up the roads, etc.
If you want to ride a bike go to Central Park or live in NJ
“If you want to ride a bike go to Central Park or live in NJ.”
How will this work for those of us who order dinners that are delivered by hard-working delivery cyclists? I don’t get it. You’re talking about a pickup/dropoff spot for Seamless deliveries in Central Park?
Did you forget about delivery cyclists? I honestly don’t understand.
I truly love the bike lanes. I feel much safer on my commute to work and home. I see more and more people using them wearing regular clothes which means they’re commuting and not just exercising.
Sometimes the bike lanes are obstructed by garbage trucks or service vehicles, which is fine because I can carefully go on a regular travel lane to bypass the temporary inconvenience.
Since I don’t live or work in Central Park I can’t just exclusively bike in there. In order for me to make it to work I have to use the bike lanes that I am very grateful for.
Those “more and more people people using them wearing regular clothes” are often very inexperienced bicyclists and often a danger to themselves and others a round them”.
The same can be said about teen drivers.
Zulu, here’s the point that I need clarified: In my opinion, adding cycling to the streets adds complexity, and all that follows. So-
1. redo streets (but that is being done so poorly that it invites criticism), or
2. limit car traffic (but that too seems to invite the ‘but we were here first)
3. take the long view, which is my position (this will get sorted over the longer term. As today’s drivers age out, the roads will be freed up for bikes.
So, it is all a matter of time. The infighting is just about when.
Floodgates? Well according to some people here “nobody” is using the bike lanes.
Mind you, an average rider and bike probably weigh in south of 200lbs and may break 15 MPH with a stiff tail wind. The damage they could cause is rather limited. Plus the whole self preservation thing prevents most non suicidal cyclists from barreling through stuff. A teen and his car, well… you know where I’m going with this.
We do not open the floodgates to teen drivers. The costs of a car, auto insurance, upkeep, fuel etc, plus licencing help moderate the flooding of teens on to the road.
For the price of a bike…we’re off.
“I hate the bike lanes. Nobody uses them.”
This is COMPLETELY not true. Why would you say this? Do you actually spend time on Amsterdam Avenue without seeing people on bikes?
Maybe the issue is that if you only drive on Amsterdam (i.e., don’t walk or shop or use the businesses here) you don’t see your neighbors who are using the bike lane? Upper West Siders are using it.
I’ve lived on the UWS all my life(65 yrs.)—-bike lanes SUCK!!!!
Me too (only 50 yrs)
Bike lanes rock!
It’s like my own personal taxi service, except I get exercise at the same time
I’m sorry you feel that way. I for one LOVE them!!!
Clearly you love them. Jimbo has served as one of New York’s Finest and deserves to walk unperturbed by bicyclists.
And I’m thankful to Jimbo for his service to this city. But what’s your point? Is Jimbo being perturbed exclusively by cyclists? That’s hard to believe. The facts prove otherwise. My opinion is that Jimbo having served behind the windshield of a cruiser for 25+ years has developed a limited perspective to who is entitled to use the roads. That’s why most people give drivers a free pass at dangerous behavior. Speeding (after drunk driving) is statistically the most dangerous thing you can do in a car, however it’s one of the least enforced infractions on the road.
Zulu, you are well aware that I do not think that “Jimbo [is] being perturbed exclusively by cyclists”, so don’t attempt to discredit my observation by exaggerating my Reply.
I AGREE with this “limited perspective”. Biking does add complexity, congestion and danger to our roads. And most of all to the cyclists.
The problem is that people in cars are not people who will ever be riding bikes. NYC is a city that draws commuters from a large geographic area. They will not be riding bikes to work.
These bikes are fine for tourists and recreation, but it is logical to assume that those who are using bikes during the week would have already used mass transit.
This is not Amsterdam.
We needed this money spent on upgrading our horrible transit system and repairing our roads.
Hi Janice,
You’re probably right about stating that people in cars will probably not ride bikes. But that’s not the issue at hand. The bike lanes are there for those who want to ride bikes, whether they arrived to the city via transit or already live in the city. The bike lanes allow for safer trips.
Since the bike lanes were installed I see more women riding and older folks too. That’s because it’s safer and that is a wonderful thing for everyone.
Indeed NYC is not Amsterdam, in fact Amsterdam wasn’t “Amsterdam” until after the 1960’s. Check it out: https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/may/05/amsterdam-bicycle-capital-world-transport-cycling-kindermoord
There’s really no reason why we can’t be a little bit more like Amsterdam.
There are many reasons that Manhattan cannot be more like Amsterdam. You must know that.
Please enlighten me.
Zulu, after rereading your Reply, I agree that NYC should try to be a bit more like Amsterdam (it IS how we became commercial). Both of my children bike extensively so I do want them to be safe.
(Now, if we could only do something about reducing bike theft).
Exactly the point being made. Legalizing cannabis was an early sign of relaxing constraint and expansion of accepting differences, which precedes the harmonious sharing of the road.
The second example that I provided also showed a willingness to accept differences.
From what I’ve read, the transition from the car being king to the bicyle ruling over city streets in the Netherlands is that it was neither harmonious or free from controversy. Much like here there was a lot of push back. And also like here it sprung from a grass roots movement unwilling to accept vehicular violence as a price to live in a great city. Also, a quick search in google shows that cannabis was legalized 38 years ago, well after Amsterdam started to use bicycles as their main means of transportation.
Amsterdam is a city whose population is harmonious enough to accept liberties such as marijuana cafes and legalized sex-for-money.
The contention on NYC Streets limits our harmonious coexistence.
Plus money, money, money…
Like…”New Amsterdam”
It doesn’t master what demographic is using the bike lane. The majority of bike riders I see are not idling in the lanes, and / or not obeying traffic laws. We took a cab down Columbus Ave while coming back from LaGuardia on Sunday afternoon, and the near misses we had with cyclists on the wrong side of the street or cutting into traffic to avoid anything in their way was harrowing.
We are still waiting for the repavng of Amsterdam, and 10th Ave from 42nd Street to the Upper West Side. Any clues as to when that will ever happen?
@Stuart,
I bike, drive and walk (each activity done separately) on Amsterdam; so I’m not opining.
I have to get back to you on the repaving schedule; have to look into it.
My anecdotal evidence contradicts yours.
The age group is indeed important because biking in the city used to be something only young people did (aside from delivery services). I see more and more folks dressed up in business attire of all ages riding a bike in the city. In other words, it’s becoming an accepted activity and it’s getting normalized.
Zulu,
I see the issue not only being a safer transit for bike riders, but a lack of consideration for those that must travel by car. Narrowing these roadways with buses and delivery trucks makes navigating these streets impossible. In a perfect world we should be able to have both but this is NYC and when you grind traffic to a halt, that also includes all our busses and taxis.
Along with the fact that all this money needed to be spent fixing our roads and our mass transit.. that should have been the #1 Priority. Have you ridden the trains lately?
The argument about the money is null. The money used for the bike lanes comes from NYC DOT. The money for transit comes from the MTA. Two different agencies with very few financial links.
Those that travel by car (which are the great minority in NYC) still have a disproportionate amount of real estate assigned to the operation of their private vehicles. As far as consideration is concerned that sector of the population is the most inconsiderate to the rest.
If you’re so concerned with public transportation then perhaps you wouldn’t mind giving up a few vehicular travel lanes for the construction of a surface tram network. Now, that would most certainly help the overcrowding issues at the subway stations.
To answer your question, yes I’ve ridden the trains lately. That’s why I prefer to ride my bike instead.
We agree. It requires political engagement.
And I would be ok with that. Where do I sign?
“If you’re so concerned with public transportation then perhaps you wouldn’t mind giving up a few vehicular travel lanes for the construction of a surface tram network.”
A better alternative would be to stop these bicycling lanes and use those “travel lanes for the construction of a surface tram network.”
And when will biking rules be enforced? Riders, especially delivery people use both Amsterdam and Columbus bike lanes to go both north and south with no consequences. And very few bikers stop at red lights. All this money spent and the upper west side continues to be the Wild West. A problem mainly caused by bikes and jaywalking pedestrians not obeying the rules of the road!
When will driving rules be enforced? That includes speeding, texting, failure to yield, illegal honking, illegal engine idling, blocking crosswalks, etc. etc.
So through May this year, the 20th precinct wrote 1,111 tickets for disobeying red lights, and 72 tickets for speeding.
It would be GREAT if the police would provide numbers on how many of those 1000+ tickets were to drivers, how many resources are currently used to ticket bicyclists, and how this corresponds to the property damage, injuries, and tragic deaths experienced in the neighborhood this year. This info should absolutely be made public and people should decide for themselves whether we are appropriately keeping Upper West Side streets safe.
“…people should decide for themselves whether we are appropriately keeping Upper West Side streets safe.”
From my perspective, the UWS streets ARE pretty safe compared to Lincoln Square.
Do pedestrians have to be killed by bicycles before the laws should be enforced? Can’t we simply enforce them because they are laws that were set up to make everyone safer and so that cars, bikes, and pedestrians can co-exist?
“Do pedestrians have to be killed by bicycles before the laws should be enforced?”
No, of course not. But, you would be wasting limited resources to solve a non-issue. New Yorkers are being killed and injured by people driving cars and trucks. Let’s focus on the big picture would ya?
Yes, that’s right Milton, all the people dying on the streets of the UWS is because people on bikes are going the wrong way on the bike lane and jaywalking. I suppose if you want to delude yourself, doing it in this forum is just as well.
Accusing Milton of delusions on this forum is no way to make a point.
The vast majority of pedestrian injuries happen in front of cars, not cyclists. If we really want to ban the “wild west”, ban the cars.
i am talking in general about jaywalkers. It’s shocking to me how ma y of the pedestrian/vehicle accidents are caused by walkers disregarding lights! Say what you want. I am not deluding myself! It takes everyone on the streets, bikes, cars and pedestrians to obey the rules to make the streets safe! If you don’t agree you are deluding yourselves.
The problem is not the bicyclists (except when they run the red lights, which they do continuously). The problem is New York is a nineteenth century city not built for cars. It is a pedestrian city. Owning and driving a car in the city (which I do) is a privilege, not a right. I have seen the improvement in London when they instituted congestion pricing. There are too many cars in the city, not too many pedestrians or even bicyclists (although they need to obey the law).
I kinda figured that when you began your Comment with: “The problem is not the bicyclists….The problem is New York is a nineteenth century city not built for cars… Owning and driving a car in the city…is a privilege, not a right.” That you were headed directly into Congestion Pricing.
money, money, money
What’s wrong with money money money?
At some point, the city will become too congested. Restricting the number of cars is a very reasonable way of resolving that, and charging a price for the privilege of using a limited resource is a perfectly valid way of implementing that restriction.
From my anecdotal experience, I believe we’re a long way from that. NYC’s regular block structure designed in the 19th century for carriage traffic is much more efficient than, say, London’s 16th century “random” layout of narrow and unpredictable one-way streets, or Tokyo’s “splintered glass” street plan. Absent construction or other anomalies, most NYC avenues move surprisingly well during the most congested times.
RK, I agree with you that “Absent construction or other anomalies, most NYC avenues move surprisingly well during the most congested times.”
My position on pricing the use of our streets is that it favors those who can pay over those who cannot.
What makes this a disaster?
* When a vehicle parks along Amsterdam Avenue, the three lanes merge into two. Same thing happens when a taxi picks-up/drops off.
* When a bus driver does not fully pull into the bus stop, and takes up an additional lane, again down to two lanes (down to one if a car is parking nearby).
The resulting bottleneck just backs-up traffic and causes congestion/pollution.
If only the city decided to enforce speed limits, or better yet, by synchronizing the traffic lights, the cars and their speed could have been controlled.
It’s worth noting that DOT initially proposed commercial loading zones because the street is lined with commercial businesses.
As I understand it, they switched back to 7-8 private parking spaces per block, instead of commercial loading zones. It’s a pick 2 of 3: double parking and a bike lane, loading zones and a bike lane, or double parking and no bike lane. Keep in mind that 75% of neighborhood households are car-free.
Another thing that would help is resident parking permits. This would cut down on insurance fraud too. I don’t get why DOT won’t consider this.
Because DOT are not Residents?
Frequently there are school buses double parked on the right side of Amsterdam and UPS and other delivery trucks double parked on the left, leaving one lane for piled up traffic.
Up until 1951, Amsterdam was a two-way avenue. Why did DOT change it? Too much traffic for too few lanes.
This should be fun when trucks double park.
Sorry, but why can’t NY be more like London, Paris or Amsterdam? I use the bike lanes all the time and feel so much safer because of them; before they were installed, I had a guy nearly run me into the parked cars because he wouldn’t go around me, and yelled at me to get off the road. Easy to do when surrounded by 2000 pounds of steel. And when Citibikes make it further uptown, you’re going to see a lot more users of those lanes.
Love and use the bike lanes frequently. They also make it a shorter walk across the street for pedestrians as they can stand at the parking lane portion until a light changes.
Just a little reminder people….
When you live in a city with millions of other people, commuters and neighbors, you don’t get to have everything your way. Wow! Do you people even listen to yourselves? Try a little self-awareness for Christ’s sake.
It’s called life in the big city….deal with it! Especially those of you who claim to be born and raised here…you should know better. You are not special. Life moves on…thank god no one listens to you and our leaders, who actually do stuff, keep moving things forward.
STOP BEING SO SELFISH!!!! Your mommies should have told you this but apparantly did not…THE WORLD DOESN’T REVOLVE AROUND YOU!! STOP WHINING!!
And by the way, would be interesting if commenters would post their age when praising or complaining about the bike lines. I’m guessing we can predict the trends…
52 y.o.m
Yes, it’s very easy to guess the Luddite, fist-shakers age. The arthritis makes it hard though.
Again. Very revealing.
Do you consider yourself middle-aged?
The bike lanes cause increased traffic congestion because they take up one travel lane and force delivery trucks to take up another travel lane to unload. The left-turn lanes created by the bike lanes subsequently remove several parking spaces on each block, thus creating another traffic headache for drivers. A third set of hazards is created because pedestrians are forced two look to their right at bike lanes to be sure a bike rider has not gone through a red light and drivers are forced to watch their steps when leaving their cars to use the payment kiosks. When there are two trucks unloading—one on either side of the avenue—at the same time, there is only one travel lane remaining. How does the DOT intend to ease the traffic congestion that bike lanes have created? Where are the police to enforce double-parking laws? Where are the police to enforce bicycle traffic laws? What os the city doing to replace the parking spaces lost to Citibike storage racks? Sometimes a whole block of spaces has been removed, so drivers have to waste more time and gas to find legal spaces, especially during alternate-side parking times. Where is the balance between the alleged environmental benefits of bike lanes and the increased amount of pollution caused by drivers seeking the even-more limited number of parking spaces?
You talk about parking spaces like it’s an obligation for the city to provide free parking spaces to private car owners.
Bicyclists have the same “Privilege”.
Are you referring to bicycle parking? I’ve yet to hear anybody complain about not enough free bicycle parking in NYC.
I have heard them complain that they don’t receive the protection from theft that they feel the city should be providing.
Sorry, these comments are not based on the facts.
Please have a look a the data:
https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/20110120_ppw_data.pdf
You will see that adding bike lanes made the street safer for everyone.
I wonder if the DOT even considers the environmental impact of their decisions. They pass that buck elsewhere.
I am a daily bike commuter and run errands on bike. I do not like bike lanes either, but I lost that battle and now have to use them. My biggest concern is people parking their cars have to cross the bike lane 2 times to put their ticket in their windshield. They are not looking! And I find myself ringing my bell continuously as I ride because pedestrian crossers are standing in the bike lane. I do wish police would ticket wrong-way riders and jay walkers. But everyone when walking, please stay on the curb until you have the light!
Lori,
I get what you’re saying; however, before bike lanes maybe at most only 1% of the population where brave enough to ride their bikes on city streets. Bike lanes afford a level a safety that now you see parents taking their kids to school on their bikes.
The culture will eventually catch up and people will naturally look out for bikes. Just give it some time. It’ll get better.
Or worse.
Or better. Yes, better. Definitely.
When I signed the Transportation Alternatives sponsored petition to redesign Amsterdam Avenue, I felt that bike, pedestrian, driver safety needs to become a higher priority. I learned a great deal from the person petitioning about the recommendations that could be implemented on Amsterdam Avenue to that end. I am hopeful.
Time will tell…
Perhaps you will have been right all along. And then I will enjoy my biking around even more.
P.S. To reply to your earlier observation: “One last thing, for not wanting to opine you sure have participated a lot in this thread”
My participation was limited to discussions of some of the observations and solutions that Commentors proposed. You’ll note, that when you brought up Congestion Pricing that I first Replied to your many Comments. I believe that Congestion pricing is just another way to ration public space by pricing it out of reach of the less-moneyed. The rich do that all the time.
Now Amsterdam is just like Columbus…a freaking nightmare that is mostly down to ONE lane during the busiest part of the day..I live on 97th and Amsterdam and since the change only see a mere handful of bikes (most of them are delivery guys going the wrong way)…somebody drank the kool-aide when they were pitched the idea of bike lanes on major roadways in one of the biggest cities on earth…
Just saw a new “Wrong Way” sign for cyclists at Ariel Russo Place.
Half of Manhattan is paved for cars to drive and park on; that’s why real estate is so expensive and drivers essentially get free rent on the streets to park their cars in many neighborhoods. A narrow bike lane on the side of the street represents a tiny percentage of the space allocated to cars yet people scream outrageous. I see huge SUVs idling all day long and polluting non-stop,flouting the 3 minute idling law. I see countless vehicles running red lights to make illegal turns on Broadway, yesterday a woman with two toddlers almost got moved down by a reckless driver doing just that, yet everyone screams nonstop about bikes. Bikes aren’t poisoning the air you breathe, bikes aren’t hogging 50 percent of the surface area of Manhattan. Wake up people – let common sense prevail!
Exactly
To people who complain about losing parking spaces to Citi bike look , at it this way
on the upper West side at 84th St. there are 64 bikes I think in that rack .
Could be a little more or a few less… But Nevertheless they replace 3 to 4 parking spaces and they’re being used all day… That’s 60 or so people getting transported or rather transporting themselves to work , to play, doing errands etc. versus four cars that are probably just being stored there. Often that rack is almost empty which means ithe bikes are really being used. That’s 60 people who are not on the subway which is already too crowded, and they’re not driving around in their cars looking for parking spaces as they don’t have to….
60 to 4 ratio what does that come down to?
15 to one. Biked serve MANY MORE people and tale MUCH LESS space than cars.
That’s why bikes are so right in a city which is geographically dense enough and level enough to be amenable to bicycle transportation for those to whom this is an obvious choice
They are simply a great option for getting around the city, getting to know every nook and cranny of it
getting to know the neighborhoods
experiencing the city in a really great way basically
A way you don’t get behind the windshield looking for parking spaces, or cramming into crowded subways and buses or waiting impatiently when there are inevitable delays
I support these bike lanes and think that they will be an improvement to the UWS. Not everyone can afford a car in Manhattan.
I am indifferent when it comes to the bike lanes. I see the value if they are used and lifestyle behaviors change but I also walk along both Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues daily and do not see the bike traffic that would warrant such a redesign or I would guess enormous expense. Hopefully in the end it will be a success. To make traffic flow a bit better there needs to be a dramatic increase in the fines for double parking which make it a huge consequence for doing so. This is especially true for delivery trucks. Often companies are allowed to negotiate down the face value of tickets so they chalk up the few dollars in tickets as a price to park where they want. A substantial increase in the fine with the caveat that these cannot not be lowered will change behaviors as well.
The turning lanes that were added with the redesign (by removing parking spaces), make a huge difference in traffic flow. And the cost of this change is very small.
Also, at larger intersection that have bike traffic lights, it gives pedestrians an exclusive walk signal against turning vehicles. This is a huge difference in quality of life.
Just returned from a walk along Amsterdam. The DOT has become very creative with their paint. Does anyone know what 3 inverted triangles mean near the end of the traffic lane? Are they watching too much Penny Dreadful?
The technology of the bicycle, as currently implemented, demotivates the rider to slow or stop, as all the peddling energy is lost.
A real CITY bike, would use a flywheel, or other technology, to allow the rider to slow and stop, while storing that energy for reacceleration.