A cyclist dares to challenge the behavior of a pedestrian in Central Park, and the New York Post cannot BELIEVE the injustice. 46-year-old Sabine von Sengbusch is suing 28-year-old Meghan Rohan after von Sengbusch's bike struck Rohan after she allegedly walked into the bike lane near 69th Street and East Drive. Rohan shattered her elbow, but the cyclist is claiming the accident caused her "great physical pain and mental anguish." Maybe Rohan can use the Frisbee Defense?
Oh, The Humanity: Cyclist Sues Pedestrian She Struck In Central Park
DOT Plans Bike Share Stations Every 1,000 Feet In Some Areas
The Department of Transportation dazzled curious Greenwich Village residents last night at the Manhattan Community Board 2 meeting with a presentation [pdf] about the much-anticipated bike share program. Slated to launch in July 2012, the program will initially service Manhattan below 81st Street and reach as far into Brooklyn as Park Slope, Bed-Stuy, and Crown Heights—an area with 1.2 million residents that sees more than 2 million daily commuters and visitors. The key points:
Give NYC Bike Share A Spin In DUMBO, Today From 12-4 p.m.
If you're chomping at the handlebar to get a taste of some sweet, sweet NYC Bike Share action, you don't have to wait until next summer. The DOT is holding a bike share demonstration today from noon until 4:00 p.m. in DUMBO at the Manhattan Bridge Archway on Water & Adams Streets. Get your questions answered, give the DOT feedback, and take a bike for a spin. It's a perfect day for a ride.
All The Details On NYC's Bike Share Program, Which Will Track You With GPS
The Department of Transportation was very excited to announce today that Alta Bicycle Share, a Portland-based company, will be responsible for the much talked-about New York City bike share program. That and being able to break out the bike puns: "The wheels are officially in motion for NYC's bike share program," said DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.
First Look At The Public Bike You'll Soon Be Sharing
DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and Deputy Mayor Howard Wolfson are appearing at a press conference this afternoon to announce the details of the city's semi-controversial bike share program, which will provide New Yorkers with 10,000 public bikes at about 600 stations. Nothing's been officially announced yet, but the radical bike lobbyists at Streetsblog hear that the Portland company Alta Bike Share has been chosen to run the program, which will reportedly cost New Yorkers under $100 a year. But if you use a bike for less than a half hour, it's free!
City Council Will Get Public Hearings On Bike-Share Program
Capitulating to pressure from City Council, the mayor's office and the DOT have agreed to hold public hearings regarding the new bike-share program before it is implemented. "No one is against bike-shareit's something that every major city across the world is adopting and bracing," councilmember Leroy Comrie tells the Times, "But what I don't want to see happen is a pattern develop, where City Hall finds ways to exclude Council from its natural role." Exactly, you want Council to be properly informed before making a huge decision of policy.
Could Bike Sharing In NYC Save Lives?
Whether or not New York City's forthcoming bike sharing initiative will be a welcomed success or a network of mini-madrassas remains to be seen, but could it save your life some day? A study (an actual study, not an internet poll) conducted by our old friends at the British Medical Journal of Barcelona's bike-sharing program found that it contributed to 12 fewer deaths a year, not to mention a reduction of 9,000 tons of carbon dioxide pollution.
Is NYC Bike Share Program Doomed, Or Is The Media Biased?
Over the weekend, the NY Times published an article casting doubt on the viability of the city's forthcoming bike share program, speculating, like the NY Post before it, that the system was doomed to fail. The article contends that community board members are worried about losing sidewalk space to bike-share kiosks, while one of the bike-share companies that's a finalist to run the project has "run into financial problems in Montreal." But the community board process hasn't even started yet, and the company cited in the article, Alta, is demanding a retraction.
NYC Will Get Bike Sharing Whether The NY Post Wants It Or Not
For years now the city of New York has been slowly moving forward with a plan to start a bike-share program similar to those seen in European cities like Paris and Barcelona. But we guess nobody bothered to tell the New York Post, because today Murdoch's minions editorialize about it as if their story on Sunday was the first time the idea had ever been mentioned.
City Moves Forward With Ambitious Bike-Sharing Plan
In soliciting bids from private companies to create a vast bike share system across the city, the DOT was quick to preemptively address what's likely to be the first criticism: How much is this going to cost taxpayers? Their answer: sharing is free! "The RFP calls for a private company to bear all the cost and responsibilities for the system during an initial five-year period while sharing revenues with the city, and with no taxpayer funds being used for the system’s implementation, upkeep or maintenance," the DOT said in a press release. But that doesn't mean the bike share plan won't have opponents.
Bike Share Program Could Start on UWS
The DOT is inching closer to implementing a city-wide bike share program, perhaps starting with the Upper West Side. According to the West Side Independent City Councilwoman Gale Brewer is pushing for a pilot program in the neighborhood, and in a letter to the DOT commissioner, she writes, "The size and density of the 6 district, the diversity of our constituency, and our position between Central and Riverside Parks would generate valuable user data for future planning." But can New Yorkers really share? And who will pay for it?
Bike Sharing Rolling Forward in NYC
A new bike sharing program on Governors Island has proven so popular that the DOT is considering ways to implement a similar program throughout the rest of the city. Transportation Alternatives is reporting that since launching “Free Bike Fridays” on June 6th, bike ridership on the island has more than tripled, from 120 daily bike renters to more than 400. On weekends, rentals are available for $5 for 30 minutes, which gives cyclists enough time to pedal the circumference of the island.

