May 29, 2008
Cyclist Wins Race Against Car and MTA Again
The 7th Annual “Great NYC Commuter Race” went down this morning, with three commuters racing to see who could get from Fort Greene to Union Square during rush hour in the least amount of time. Social worker Jamie Favaro traveled by bicycle; April Green, who works at an art foundation, took a foolish bus/subway combo; and photographer Emmanuel Fuentebella made irresponsible carbon footprints with his car.
And like the story of John Henry, the human using a simple tool triumphed over machine, with the cyclist arriving first in 16 minutes. But unlike that classic folktale, Favaro didn’t die of a heart attack when it ended; instead she lorded it over her lazier competitors with a cyclist’s characteristic self-satisfaction: “A leisurely ride through brownstone Brooklyn and across the Manhattan Bridge was a great way to start the day. It looks like the bicycle will reign as the fastest commute for another year.”
The race began at the Connecticut Muffin on Myrtle Avenue, and finished after the subway rider returned to the earth’s crust at Union Square after a humiliating 29 minutes, blaming the loss on her abnormally large MetroCard. The driver came in second at 22 minutes, a reversal from last year’s third place finish. The annual race is organized by Transportation Alternatives and Bike Month NYC as a way to illustrate the efficiency of bicycle commuting; cyclists have dominated the competition, which is not monitored by any independent governing body, every single year.
Photo courtesy Paul Steely White.
| 
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
email this
add to facebook
add to del.icio.us
that april is a little cutie.
Cicylist? Really? Is that some kind of skin growth?
Fortunately for Transportation Alternatives, the day just happened to have the most perfect weather of the year for biking. I'd like to see them do this in the rain or snow.
"Fortunately for Transportation Alternatives, the day just happened to have the most perfect weather of the year for biking. I'd like to see them do this in the rain or snow".
Spoken as if 16 minutes riding in the snow or rain is some kind of life shattering problem. News flash: same result, rain or shine.
Jamie is cuter.
You'd rarely see a Filipino take the bike to work. They love their cars (if not SUV's) so much. It's a status symbol for them.
Even if the car gets there faster, where would one park it?
I'd love to see how the bike would do in a real commute, like from the bronx to lower manhattan. I highly doubt the bike would win. And if you've lived in the city long enough, the car stands a pretty good shot if you cut out parking.
i'm a commuter from the Longwood/Morrisania area in the Bronx, and I've had commutes to 34th street, Meatpacking district, and now Chelsea. I occasionally take the subway - the 2/5 runs up there, but the 5 is express and doesn't stop for me in the mornings (or take me home).
It's faster by bike. Always. There's a lot of being delayed because of train traffic ahead of us; there are surprising waits, crammed subways in the morning and the evening. Seat? Forget it.
Compare that to a forty minute ride - biking wins.
You don't have to be a cycle stud for biking to be a competitive way to commute, speaking in terms of time.
sevans - take it easy on the racism.
In any metropolis, this shouldn't even be a contest! Isn't it obvious that the more agile and flexible two wheel mode will be quicker and more efficient.
Look at even a spread out city like LA - Cyclists could easily surpass traffic of cars stuck in traffic for miles.
pointy knees..
Ah, the biking militants have arrived. Sixteen minutes riding in the rain isn't a problem unless I'm going to work. We don't all make lattes at Starbucks. And if there's snow on the ground I think the chick on the train would probably make the race pretty tight.
in a long run trains should do better, with rain and snow, which would effect both cars and bikes more.
Oh, I guess I'm the militant because my experience is different from other people's conjecture.
At my last job I kept a bits of extra clothing in a desk drawer. It was a pretty clever solution, don't you think?
biking in the snow and rain is slower, or at least it should be since the ground is slippery and other cars are not speeding as fast. faster moving cars around me make for a faster moving bike in my experience. and if you happen to be on the bkln bridge, those wooden planks can be very slick when if you swing around the arches too fast.
there no need so show off, gfrance. it doesn't make you a bad person if you take it a little more slowly in inclement weather.
bike girl is cute.
ps: i like the "john henry, steel drivin man" reference. i had a book about him when i was a kid and i thought he was the coolest!
To JenChungsBra who said, "riding in the rain isn't a problem unless I'm going to work. We don't all make lattes at Starbucks. "
I suppose you ride a horse to work. As in, Jen get off your high horse and knock off the insulting comments.
Get a rain jacket, rain pants, and a waterproof pannier bag to carry your work clothes in. Get to work 10 minutes early, change in the restroom.
I too prefer not to ride in the rain but rather than opt to make snotty comments implying only people without "real jobs" can ride in the rain and show up at work looking like the drenched rats they are, I simply opt to take the subway on rainy days.
Hey! I know April, and yeah she's very cute!
To JenChungsBra who said, "riding in the rain isn't a problem unless I'm going to work. We don't all make lattes at Starbucks. "
I just wanted to add that I too bike to work a lot (and run to work even more frequently) and I don't work at starbucks. I too keep bits of extra clothing in a desk drawer or carry a small bag with post-ride/run clothes.
FWIW my train commute is 30 minutes. My bike commute (leisurely) is 15-20. My run commute is 35 min -- 5 minutes slower than the train and ohhh so much healthier. And I just shower at my gym which is 1 block from my office.
My commute to work (LES to 47th/Park) is about 25 minutes on a bike... and 35-40 on the subway. That being said, I dislike riding in the rain and will take the subway on those days.
Also not working at Starbucks: any of the three participants in this race.
Cycling zealots always roll their eyes and talk about how healthy cycling is, wearing special clothes, blah blah blah. They're as bad and annoying as any other zealots, religious, PETA, vegans, etc.
Most of us shower before leaving home; it isn't nearly as convenient to commute in and then shower at a nearby gym or at work. Helmets = bad hair for a lot of us. Also, the speed advantage enjoyed by an occassional cyclist, who can pass by cars stuck in traffic, would be lost if there were 100 other cyclists trying to do the same thing.
Riding in the rain and snow, even when possible, sucks and is more dangerous, since bad weather makes it harder for cars to see clearly and stop quickly.
If commuting by bike works for you, enjoy. But please quit preaching to the masses. We are aware of bicycles, we just prefer not to.
I love biking but the number 1 problem about biking isn't the weather or cars. It's the mexican bike thieves! You lock your bike outside and you get used to it and POOF! one day it's gone. The thieves will get your bike no matter what. Especially a good bike. It's a huge hassle to bring in bikes to your workplace and into elevators. If only the police would catch those bike thieves and do the police thing.
I commute from Harlem to the Lower East Side and unless it's very heavy snow and or rain (which, I certainly admit, is common) riding my bike is almost always faster. If you live above 110th or in the Bronx, train service is so poor that it really is no surprise that hitting the streets is faster. I used to drive sometimes but parking really does kill that. I like how some are saying that driving is competitive if you don't count parking. What else is there to driving in New York if you don't count parking?
Also, I really am not that big of a bike nut. Whatever gets you there, you know? For most in this city, biking probably is not faster, but for me, it's great!
It is such bull that people with "real jobs" don't ride their bike to work. I too have a real job, at a design firm, and I ride to work in dress pants, button down shirt and HEELS every day. And my commute from Greenpoint to Tribeca is only 32 minutes- as compared to 45 by train.
And besides, if you ride a bike 10 miles every day, your average daily ride won't cause you to sweat through all your clothes- I don't even need to change when I get to work.
I commute, rain or shine (or snow) from the north end of Long Island City to the World Financial Center. I don't have to wear a suit, but I do have to show up clean and neat enough to work in a serious financial institution. It takes about 45 minutes door to door unless there is some kind of unusual traffic problem. If I drove, I would have to park, which would be expensive and probably time-consuming. The subway, including walking, is always slower, usually and hour to an hour and fifteen minutes.
However, I don't particularly recommend bicycling for others. There are a lot of zombies and nutcases among those who are now pedestrians and motorists, and moving them onto bicycles is not going to be to my advantage (or theirs). Stay in your car or bus or subway by all means; we'll both be safer.
Rain usually fucks up the L train. The commute from Greenpoint to midtown is roughly the same for a bike as it is the MTA- on a good day. One delayed train or bus and the MTA looses by 15 minutes, at least.
And when I get to work I'm no sweatier or wetter than if I had to walk the blocks to and from the subway, especially in the summer.
There's a reason TA didn't do this in February. But it's nice to see Gothamist signed up some new users today determined to comment on other people's comments. I'm very happy for all of you, really. I've nothing against biking in general, just the vast majority of bikers who disobey traffic laws, the many others who are touchy and self-righteous, the occasional rider who brings his bike on the train and the dummies who speed over the Brooklyn Bridge. But I hope you all have great commutes and are able to dodge cars in the rain, snow, fog, dark, wind, cold and heat, and I hope those of you who find it necessary keep your drawers at work full of nice clean and pressed shirts and skirts to change into. I like that you're not driving or bumping into me on the subway, just obey the red lights.
BTW, here's an interesting comment pasted from Streetsblog about this media stunt, from a gentleman biker who did the math:
Completing the 4.5 mile course in 16.5 minutes means she was averaging a gross 16.4 mph which is a pretty swift pace on two human powered wheels and not something most average people could do....
16.4 mph is not that fast - though a good pace in traffic. Completely feasable for the experiened cylclist.
BTW, while more vulnerable to wet weather, an experienced inline skater could of probably tied for 2nd.
You'd be pretty touchy too if your friends were being killed by sloppy incompetent drivers. It's not that cyclists think they are better than other people, it's more that they feel they should be able to ride a bike without such serious risks to life and limb. Hence the bike lanes (ie. double-parking lanes), because most people are too self-absorbed while driving to successfully share they road.
Probabilities of significant Bodily Injury:
1. The Cyclist (by many multiples)
2. The Car
3. The Subway/Bus
Faster, but much, much riskier. Until they build decent bike lanes and routes, and properly enforce them.
ha.
"There's a reason TA didn't do this in February."
Duh. Bike Month is in May. Probably because more people ride when the weather's nicer. So?
They should include a guy wearing a jetpack next year. Because a guy wearing a jetpack would beat all these idiots hands down. I wear a jetpack to work, and it's the only way to travel. Bad for carbon footprint, but great for the morning commute.
As part of the stunt, the biker had to stop at all stop signs and red lights (which we know most bikers don't do). That means that with the time spent waiting for lights and all the braking and accelerating from stops and starts the actual speed she was traveling while on the move was well above 16.4 MPH. So in other words, in addition to holding it on the most beautiful day of the year, Transportation Alternatives brought in a ringer and set up the course so that the mass transit rider had to take a bus as well as a train. But it's their media event so they can do what they want. Either way, I'll bet their ringer has buns of steel.
usally the people who complain the most about cyclists are out-of-shape fatties.
(yeah, that was redundant)
(jabba)
People complain about bicyclists having no regard for the "rules of the road" but neither do drivers. When I drive in the city, I know that I don't follow the rules, as it were, because that's what it takes to get where I need to go. The same applies for riding a bike. Motorists just get pissed because if an accident occurs with a biker, by law its almost always the motorists' fault. However, in reality, motorists almost never get charged or in any sort of trouble for hitting a bike or doing anything that may harm a biker. What's with all this talk of following the rules and being 'safe' and all that? This is New York, not Amsterdam. Ride on and drive on, whatever is your thing.
>>>The annual race is organized by Transportation Alternatives and Bike Month NYC as a way to illustrate the efficiency of bicycle commuting
And the cyclist wins! Why am I not very surprised?
www.forgotten-ny.com