NYC DOT explains Bike Lanes in the Big Apple

[ShotaMaisuradze]

all this liberals want people to share the road so tax the stupid bikes !!! bikes do not pay road taxes we people in cars pay for roads not bikes !!! all this BS about if people had bike lanes they would take bikes instead of cars is huge scam even if you ban the cars i would not get on bike ! in NYC commercial trucks are charged form 250 to 800 a year as road tax and they are banned form almost all streets why dont they make streets for trucks ?

[ArtStone]

New York is broke. I wonder why,

[blackyblackblack505]

@ArtStone Politicians pocket a lot of tax payer money and no one seems to care.

[DFEUERMAN]

You can't blame traffic on bike lanes! Traffic was abundant before we had bike lanes! People would commute by bike, except it's still too dangerous ride in the city! Biking is a great way to save time, money, and burn calories, but it's still too dangerous to bike in the city! More space is needed to make bicycling safe! Too much space is wasted on street parking which can be used to make bike lanes wider! Reduce space wasted on parked cars! More space for bike lanes will make biking safer!

[queensplazasouth]

And our forefathers cut back the sidewalks to handle necessary traffic volumes.......... I would prefer sidewalks re-widened to 20 ft than bike lanes occupying valuable street space!! (Bike lanes barely used, at least a re-widened side walk would be USED!!!!!!!!

[queensplazasouth]

They need to remove the bike lanes from the avenues. It's a disaster. 1st Ave and 8th Ave used to handle the volume of uptown traffic handily. Now both Aves are disasters.

By traffic calming they mean traffic inducing, congratulations, you are successful.

NO bicyclist respect the bike signals; waste of taxpayer dollars.

They ALL go the wrong way even on 2 way streets they go the wrong way on the wrong side of the street.

etc etc etc

[themaniusedtob]

I love cycling but something seems abit odd on some roads it semms like bicycle lanes are hogging too much space but on most other roads their either isnt a bike lane or if their is its too small... i hope this isnt a plan to force poeple into riding bicycle just to tax them extra for riding or have cyclist using lisence plates and pay insurance and get even more tickets... honestly id like the gov to stay a tad farther away from cycling or soon it will be used for money by politicians

[reaperexpress]

On the "type 2" buffered lanes, it would be safer for cyclists if the buffer was between the parked cars and the bikes, not the traffic and the bikes. People are far more likely to get doored (yes, even on the passenger side) than they are to get hit by a car randomly swerving into the bike lane (and in that situation, the buffer doesn't help anyway).

[morbandit]

No helmets! Compulsory helmets in NZ is why we don't have more cyclists here :(

[dmitriy40]

On your own video above, you show turning cars being blocked by illegally crossing pedestrian, while using this "special" turning arrangement! This is the problem -- ZERO ENFORCEMENT against jaywalkers and bike riders. You choke traffic with bike lanes, but many bike riders STILL CHOOSE TO CONTINUE TO RIDE AMONG CARS, and these special turn signals are often completely disregarded by bikers. In NYC, 90% of bikers have "rules do not apply to me" attitude, while police does NOTHING about it.

[justinleemiller]

Is there any data on dooring from left-side bike lanes on one-way streets? In my experience, it doesn't work and can be dangerous, yet I've heard many make the claim that a bike lane belongs on the left side of one-way streets. Also, lots of those green-painted bike lanes get used by pedestrians, e.g. Chinatown, or not at all, e.g. Henry Street in Brooklyn Heights.

[timpaton]

Shared routes are the stand-out in this film. They make sense. They should be the first choice of bike facility in every instance. They are a visual reminder that bikes are to be expected, and a visual indication to the general public that safe planned bike routes exist, making cycling a realistic transport option.

[timpaton]

Cont'd regarding buffered lanes:

The buffer is a no-mans land, and I imagine motorists wouldn't be shy about swerving into it if they felt the urge.

If there's room for 5+3 feet of bike real-estate on the road, why not make it an 8-foot bike lane? Or, better yet, make the curbside traffic lane a whole EIGHT FEET WIDER than standard, draw some sharrows on it to declare it a bike route, and let the motorists and cyclists negotiate space on this massive expanse of roadway available to them.

[funguycheng]

@timpaton Yeah i agree. car drivers will swerve on the bike lane when they feel like it. I think it's better to put the bikes on the inside next to the sidewalk.

[timpaton]

Note the position of the cyclists on the "buffered" bike lane from 1:20. They are all riding on the line between the bike lane and the buffer - as far from parked cars as they can get. Quite sensibly, in my opinion.

Wouldn't it make more sense to put the buffer in the door-zone, where nobody should ever ride? This way, cyclists riding where they naturally ride to avoid the doors would be in the middle of the bike lane, with green-painted space between them and the cars rather than "buffer".

[timpaton]

Take a look at how many pedestrians, pram-pushers, dog walkers and skateboarders are meandering down the "separated" bike lanes at around 1:50. Again at 4:12 and 4:45, there's workers pushing trolleys along the bike lane, taking the entire width. The bike lane is not seen as being a part of the road, therefore it's available for every non-car to use.

But since there's a bike facility, any cyclist who refuses to use it is likely to get abuse from hot-headed motorists.

[TheKarakoram]

sweet!

[halsvideo]

Nicely done video. It would be interesting to see the data / evidence used for their design. Example, they say it's less likely to be "doored" if the designated cycle lane is on the passenger side of parked cars. Is it? Also, there was no mention of how cyclist prep and execute a left turn from these designated lanes; or, what cyclists are to do on streets without bike lanes, chevrons, etc. Will cyclists eventually be restricted only to roads with signs and pant for bicycles? I hope not.