New York Rolls to Bicycles to Ease Traffic Woes

As bicyclists roll down a bike lane on Hoyt Street, linking Brooklyn with brownstone neighborhoods, there are so many each evening they pack together at red lights and spill out in front of cars.

It’s the kind of bicycle traffic that used to be hard to imagine in New York City.

“New York has grown into a biking center,” said Jace Rivera, a one time construction craftsman who swapped careers to be a bike messenger. “The metropolis is jammed, and the subways are packed — a lot more crowded. By biking, I spare myself the crowds and save a ton of money.”

Biking is becoming a piece of New York’s infrastructure for commuters. Bike routes have expanded, and 10,000 Citi Bikes have been deployed in over 600 locations.

In 2016, there were over 450,000 daily trips in the city, a jump from 170,000 in 2005. The growth has outstripped population and employment increases according to city officials and now, one of five bike trips is done by someone going to work, or returning home from work.

Citi Bike alone accounts for over 70,000 daily bicycle trips. The bike-sharing program in New York has signed up more than 125,000 riders for an annual membership. Citi Bike says the program provides the “highest ridership of any system in the Western world outside of Paris.”

The surging bicycle culture has triggered a “bikelash” among some community members who claim cyclists speed and run red lights and go the wrong way on streets.

The city listened and surprised the community. Instead of tightening down on cyclists, the city embraced them by increasing the number of protected bicycle lanes.

New York Increases Bike Lanes

When New York City began adding protected bike lanes in 2007, some made the standard argument: Taking street space away from cars will slow down traffic and cause massive jams.

A new report from the city says differently. Some streets redesigned with the protected bike lanes are faster. There are other benefits also.

For pedestrians, the lanes make walking safer b shortening crosswalks. Pedestrian injuries have dropped, and cyclist injuries have declined. One example: on 9th Avenue, cyclist injuries have dropped by 65-percent — despite more cyclists being on the street.

Drivers see a benefit as well: better traffic flow. Vehicles making a left turn have pockets to wait in. They’re less likely to hit a biker riding straight, and they also stop blocking traffic while they wait.

“Having that left turn area, you can pause and not feel pressured to make a quick movement,” says Josh Benson, director of bicycle programs for the city’s Department of Transportation. “That is a major safety feature.”

Complainers

The city has gotten some complaints about the changes. People perceived that traffic was slower — usually because they expected it. “I think those complainants already had the idea that travel times would increase simply because they see the roadway looks different,” says Benson. “We get a lot of anecdotal feedback, so we do a lot of empirical data collection.”

The bike lanes also help local business. The city found that streets with bike lanes are linked with more retail sales, new jobs, and more tourists.

Since 2007, the city has established more than 30-miles of bike lanes, and that’s just the beginning. “It’s our plan to do five miles every year from now on,” says Benston. “That’s about 100 city blocks of protected lanes and is a big chunk of city streets each year.