"Amazing" Growth in Estimated Number of Cyclists

It's great to see all the new cyclists out in NYC! Protect your gear! Go to KarmaArmy.com and register your bikes/other gear. If something gets stolen/goes missing, you can send out a virtual amber alert or "KarmaAlert" to other geographically relevant members. It's free to use the database and community features. Go register your gear and pass on the good Karma.

New York will always be a Car town !

The reason bike ridership is up is because bikes don't come with fare hikes, or astronomic insurance premiums.

"taken at entrances to Manhattan below 50th Street."

So wait, this number of cyclists is only based on those that ride in to Manhattan? What about people who ride in just one borough, above 50th St., or from Brooklyn to Queens? That seems like a very small slice of the pie to base a city-wide count on.

We'll know cycling has arrived in NYC when the NYPD administers a proper program to enforce the laws on the books for cyclists - not to mention members of their own force, who are the worst of the lot out there right now.

Per Mac's post, pedicab rental companies now are held responsible for the actions out on the street of pedicab practitioners, who actually are solo business operators. Certainly makes me more tuned into the activities of those to whom I rent, I can tell you. (Imagine if the restaurants were held accountable for the activities of their rogue riders . . . not to mention the outraged end-users, who might think twice about complaining about our Chinese compatriots once their General Tso's chicken begins to arrive at their apartment door in an hour instead of under 30 minutes via newly law-abiding delivery cyclists.)

Part of the trouble is the "sanctuary city" approach of NYC, in which the illegal alien scofflaws who are rolling around the streets on two wheels aren't processed because it's too much trouble; however, we locals get the shaft for rolling askance of the law periodically and getting nabbed in the act.

revrickshaws.com

P.S. Notice the preponderance of motorized bicycles deployed of late by every Chinese delivery pedaler this side of Riverdale? Certainly not adding to the pleasure of the garden-variety NYC pedestrian, the most esteemed member of our transport nexus.

Rather than argue all these arbitrary "facts" about bikes vs cars, and how taxes should be used, let's get back to a real issue when it comes to such an increase in bicycle usage, safety. I really feel that city (DOT) team up with bike advocacy groups (such as TransAlt) and "attempt" to educate both drivers and cyclist. There should be specific questions on the driver's license exams that deal with how far you should distance yourself from cyclist on the street and how to NOT drive/park in a bike lane, etc... On the other side of the coin, bike shops should have safety and rule guides on hand for anyone who purchases a bike or has maintenance done on their bikes. Some people actually don't know it's illegal to ride on a sidewalk, or to ride in the opposite direction of traffic. These people need to be educated. If more people knew the rules, less people would break them. Messengers and deliver people should also be held responsible for their actions. If a messenger or deliver person acts illegally on their bike while doing business, their employer should be held responsible. That would cut down in rouge cyclists that ride bike for a living. Education and legal/financial consequence would be a incentive to operate a bicycle in a safer manner.

New York has always been infested with street pedalers.

Have any of you guys realized that biking is bad for the economy? You guys don't spend any money, besides on the bike. If everyone biked, then NY would lose money on tax revenue, on gas. On consumption, you know how many jobs that would lose? sure, you may save money on health in the long run but what about today? How are people gonna live today? Why do you think bloomberg and the illuminati NYPD hates your ass? Cause you kill the economy with your netzero pollution. Pollution = $$$$$. Goldman Sachs money. Con Edison Money. Cablevision Money. Starbucks Money. they are dependent on pollution.

the anti-environmentalist logic of dumbness passed as skepticism is seriously funny!

the bad part: fighting sound logic is just futile, therefore cyclist will be increasing and number, and rational ethical authorities will keep developing cycle friendly alternatives.

You are a terrible troll.

He does have a point. All those tolls on the crossings do heavily subsidize the train system in the city...and we see how successful the MTA is at raising subway fare to anywhere near market rate.

Oh that's right, they can't.

Be careful what you wish for NYC, you just might get it. We'll be compelled to ride our bikes to work when the subway fare reaches $5. And don't be so quick to kick out outer-boro and suburban drivers, who, besides paying tolls on MTA and PA bridges and tunnels, also bring in lots of spending cash with them (theatre tix, restaurants, museums, and yes, even to go to work).

Terrible maybe. Troll, not so much...

Tru dat! Add in the fact that MTA is collecting less toll money, which goes toward subsidizing subway and bus service in the city. Welcome to the Third World people! Everyone riding bikes to their low-paying jobs. Chairman Bloomberg's Great Leap Forward.

"The continued cycling boom is largely attributable to the DOT's commitment to increasing bike lanes throughout the city."

Not here. Higher rates & shittier service on the subways = fuck you MTA, bought a bike and no more monthly metrocard.

I am one of three people in my office who now bikes to work. The biggest reason for that is that my office building was forced to allow bikes in the building, which was traditionally resisted for foolish reasons. This has had tremendous impact in the viability of bike commuting. It's now a realistic option.

Me too, this law is making the ride to work so much easier. And nearly cyclist in NYC is entitled to use this law.

I know I love riding my bike around the city. I hope more people ride and they make the laws more bicycle friendly!!!

Tell you the truth I have never really had a problem biking on the street. The problem I have is inside Prospect Park with the bike racers who think they own the roadway.

Amen. I love biking the city, but I despise most bikers. And I understand why the aggressive Lance Wannabes annoy the shit out of everyone. In Prospect Park and Central Park.

I learned to ride a bike in the city and once I turned 14 I got off the sidewalk and rode in the streets. All of my city friends still prefer the street.

From my experience, the cyclists wanting lanes are invariably newbies from the suburbs or small towns who want the big city to change to accommodate their suburban life style.

But suburbanites don't bike. They drive around in massive SUVs!

First, how serious should I take someone who thinks everyone in suburbia drives an SUV.

Nevertheless, they bike as children, don't they?

However, they've never learned to ride as adults once they come to the big city, and instead insist on bike lanes.

Got it!

Also, if your argument is about the "suburban lifestyle," please show me which suburbans these people came from where they commute by bike and have bike lanes.

Wow, my proofreading is worse than Gothamist's today. Sorry about that.

I'm saying that I and many of us who learned to ride bikes in the city are not the impetus for these bike lanes. From what I've seen and heard, the impetus is from those who never learned to ride in the big city and now demand bike lanes because they feel intimidated in traffic.

Wow, my sarcasm flew right over your head.

Do you ever see kids riding bikes in the city? Because I sure do. It's not just a suburban thing - it's a childhood thing. Yes, adults have rediscovered cycling (and half of them have no clue what the hell they're doing), but whether they learned on a cul-de-sac or a city sidewalk is irrelevant here.

I just don't buy you argument that suburbanism and cycling are related.

Actually, bike lanes make things a LOT easier. I feel much safer in them & route my rides to include them as much as possible. I also have friends who are new bikers; they have more confidence riding around the city because of bike lanes. Just sayin.

I agree! Part of my route is in a bike lane; part of it is not. More cyclists in bike lanes make me/us safer (more visibility to cars, greater responsibility to not drive erratically, etc.). More cyclists sharing lanes with cars, in my experience, is less safe (uncertainty with bike laws, inexperience with stop-and-go lights, deliverymen, etc.). If bike lanes are the only thing different in these scenarios, then bike lanes are safer. The difference is pretty apparent when you're out there. Buttface be trippin'.

Great points julie! Buttface, I don't ever 'let my guard down' when I'm biking. I'm always incredibly aware of my surroundings. You should try riding in lanes sometime- I wouldn't be surprised if you liked them!

Bike lanes shouldn't make you feel safe. You'll let your guard down.

Bike lanes should only make you feel less dead.

Hooray! Now NYC looks like Chairman Mao's China. Maybe bike riders can start paying for registration and insurance to help fund all these new bike lanes, you know, like auto drivers have been doing for about 100 years now.

Also, Ferry, the let a gay guy like you work at Fox News? What's next?

You stalking me? Is that you on the bike looking into my window at 1211 Sixth Ave? I'd be happier if you weren't so ugly...

Um... what?

1211 Sixth Ave. Where Fox News is located? If you're gonna try to be funny, at least educate yourself on the city you live in.

Further further fixed

Drivers will begin paying into the military budget to secure supply of crude. They will also begin paying into a carbon abatement fund.

"Drivers will begin paying into the military budget to secure supply of crude"

+sideways 8 thing.

You're dreaming if you think registration fees fix any potholes in this town. And I wonder which machine causes more wear and tear on roadways. . .

Like moths to a flame...too easy.

Yea, good job ferriboi on instigating discussion on this topic! I for one really appreciate your enthusiasm on encouraging the government to increase the responsibilities and rights if cyclists.

I do my best...

Have you looked up insurance yet?

Fixed:

Maybe drivers can start paying their fair share of the roads they use through congestion taxes and higher tolls and higher gas taxes. Just like all of the New Yorkers whose tax dollars go to fix and build the roads that only 5% of people in New York drive on.

Oh snap.

Further Fixed:

The reduced road weight, reduced road wear and reduced traffic congestion due to the reduced motor vehicle traffic will more than pay for the infrastructure improvements.

Further tax savings should be applied to teaching trolls how insurance works.

Nicely done.

Glad to see Charlie Murphy landed on his feet.

Ya'll postin' in a troll thread.

wat

"The continued cycling boom is largely attributable to the DOT's commitment to increasing bike lanes throughout the city."

I bet it's more like the trains are severely overcrowded, and increasingly unreliable. The bike lanes don't make things any easier.

Great! Now that everyone is on bikes, there needs to be some serious spending on educating our new salmon friends - both from the DOT and TransAlt.

Perhaps its time for these counts to be taken over as a municipal function instead of done by a lobbying group, Transportation Alternative - whose salaries are dependent on the perception that their advocacy is actually panning out.

Remember, there are lies, damn lies and statistics.

To wit: 28% makes an impressive headline, but it represents only 50,000 more individuals in a city of over 8,000,000, or less than a 1% increase for the entire city.

Less than 1%!

Not very impressive for all the hoopla and money invested.

Don't believe the hype.

If you actually read the article closely, you would have noticed that the counts are done by the city, not TA as noted article by "DOT's so-called screenline counts". If you don't think TA has done a good job in estimating the cycling levels, then go review the data yourself.

Anyway, even if you drive, you should be happy when more people cycle as it means more parking spaces for you, cheaper gas and fewer other drivers on the road for you to crash into or to crash into you. It also means less congestion.

Inn fact, the stats were compiled by cycling fanatic Charlie Komanoff, founder of TA, using meager data from the city and then EXTRAPOLATING the figure that his group is bandying about to suit his zealous agenda.

The outcome was inevitable.

That is like the fox guarding the hen house. Take the stats with a grain of salt.

But even if correct, 50,000 more cyclists is only an increase of 0.006% of total New Yorkers. A drop in the bucket.

with a screen name like thefacts, i'd hope you'd get the math right. You're off by two decimal places. 0.006% is 1/100th of the correct figure.

I don't know whether the figures are correct, but I can tell that there are a lot more bicyclists than there used to be, and that a lot of them started biking really recently, because they have no savvy whatever and are a danger to themselves and everyone around them. In the old days, the dumber newbies would be eliminated by mid-June, but now, with the much larger supply of replacements, you see them year-'round.

The DOT and TA can't teach them anything because they (all of them) subscribe to too many myths. They just have to learn the hard way. Some of them will never be reached, like the jerks who fly down the Williamsburg Bridge no-hands talking on their cell phones. They just have to eliminate themselves, which they do, but not soon enough.