Chicago’s bike parking center makes New Yorkers jealous.

A Post editorial uses the Hunter College bike study as ammunition, declares bikes (not cars) the biggest menace to pedestrians.

Depression Economics: Bikes outsell cars and trucks in 2009.

The cyclists wins TAs commuter challenge, beating a taxi and the subway from Sunnyside Queens to Columbus Circle.

Mathew Modine eloquently describes why he loves biking. Like me, the actor/activist likes to ride with his hair in the wind, but NYMAG thinks he should wear a helmet.  The League of American Bicyclists are wary of using him as a spokesperson because of his choice, refusing to link to this great video.  Copenhagenize defends his choice and blames America’s love of helmets on helmet manufacturers.

Roosevelt Island begins removing bikes from bike racks.  Its good that they are taking action to remove abandoned bikes, but prohibiting overnight parking seems a bit excessive.

David Byrne reviews Jeff Mapes’ book, “Pedaling Revolution”.

Brian Lehrer has his bike stolen.  All together now: Lock the frame, front wheel, and back wheel with locks that costs nearly as much as the bicycle.  Problem solved.

Map bicycle crashes, hazards and thefts at the new website www.bikewise.org.

Schumer gets an ‘A’ from Politicycle.

DKNY sponsors a cycle clothing design competition.

Surprise, surprise — Staten Island doesn’t want bike lanes.

Sarah Goodyear discovers the beauty of slow biking.

Cops on scooters follow critical mass cyclists.

Bicycle access bill is making its way through city council (Streetsblog1, Streetsblog2, Streetsblog3, CityRoom, Observer, NYFI).

TA charts the “safety in numbers” effect that NY is experiencing.  Tom Vanderbilt posts “safety in numbers” stats for London, Copenhagen and the Netherlands.

The Open Planning Project is developing an application to make bulk order requests of bike racks.

Streetfilms covers the Tour de Brooklyn.

Park Slope BID thinks bike lane should be a double parking lane (Streetsblog and Brooklyn Paper).  A follow-up investigation by Streetsblog reveals that local businesses have a delivery problem, not a bike lane problem.  Brooklyn Paper’s follow-up editorial says, no, bike lanes are the problem.

How long is too long for a UPS truck to block a bike lane?

Fox News writer rams cyclist in Central Park.  I needed another reason to hate Fox News?

Ever wonder what a bike theft looks like?  Help me Howard has surveillance video of a bike theft that the NYPD was too busy to investigate.  I feel bad for the woman, but one more time: Lock the front wheel, the back wheel, and the frame with a heavy chain and sturdy ulock.

Streetfilms features the Queens Blvd Bike pool.

The New York State DOT kills the Long Island bike and pedestrian program.

The new plan for the Kent Avenue bike lane was presented to the community board this month.  Brooklyn Paper and Streetsblog have the details.

An accident leads to new plans to regulate the pedicab industry.

Broadway improvements go beyond Times Square, the DOT is working toward better bike lanes from Columbus Circle to the Flat Iron.

The bicycle film festival ran from Wednesday to Sunday.

Streetsblog explains how bike and ped programs are federally funded.

Let the debate begin: Do pedicabs belong in bike lanes? Though regulations are necessary, I see no reason why they can’t share the lane.  They are after all bikes, despite their carlike capacity.

LADOT compares cyclists to insects.  Get outta the way, or get squashed!

New Department of NY Health Commissioner afraid to bike in New York.  Oh wait, no, not afraid, uh, just waiting for his bike.

First of all, I had Professor Milczarski for a few classes and I know him to be passionate about transportation planning and an advocate for cycling.  He spent a semester teaching in Paris and happily used the Velib bike share system to travel around the city.  I don’t think that this study was an attack on cyclists, but rather it was an attempt to draw attention to an issue they felt affected public safety.   I don’t doubt that the results of the study are representative of cyclist behavior in New York, but I do wonder if this behavior represents a serious threat to public safety, one that warrants such intensive study.  Unlike the distracted motorists that Professor Tuckel studied previously, a cyclist is not piloting two-tons of steel at 50 MPH.  Given the relative threat posed by the two modes of transit, I think further study on bad driving should be the priority.

Look, we all know that cyclists routinely break traffic laws. TA’s Wiley Norvel’s response is that bike infrastructure is poor and cyclists break laws to protect themselves.  He believes that when conditions improve, cyclists will break the law less.  For some behaviors this has indeed been true, and you do find significantly less sidewalk riding after the installation of the 9th Avenue protected lane.  For other behaviors this is not true, as it seems the extremely wide protected lanes have led to an increase in cycling against traffic.  This is undoubtedly because cyclists feel safer riding in a protected lane against traffic than they do riding in a regular lane with traffic.  The bikesnob has a serious problem with bike salmon, but I can understand why a cyclist might choose to ride counter-flow in 8-10′ protected lane.

The other problem with this argument is that even if every street and avenue had its own protected lane, we’d continue to see cyclist run lights.  The constant stopping at lights timed for motor vehicles makes cycling far less efficient.  Watch Spencer Boomhower’s great video to understand why we hate to stop so much.

Probably the only thing that would stop cyclists running lights would be a draconian crackdown by the NYPD, which thankfully hasn’t happened yet.  While I’d like to see a law that would allow cyclists to treat stop lights as yeild signs, I doubt that will ever happen here.  So instead we are left with the status quo, which is weak enforcement of a bad law.  A bike is a unique form of transportation and the laws that apply to cars and pedestrians do not regulate this mode very well.  The reason why we see so many cyclists break the law is that it doesn’t match the cyclist’s idea of what’s safe and reasonable.

Because cyclists follow common sense rather than the law they are painted as reckless lawbreakers, but we aren’t the only ones breaking laws in New York.  Cars here often do not signal, run through red lights, and violate the city’s 35 MPH limit.  Pedestrians completely disregard “don’t walk” signs and jaywalk when the intersection is clear, and often when it is not.  I’ve had many conflicts with pedestrians when I have the light and they are jaywalking, yet they’ll be the ones to scream at me. I’d love to see a study documenting how many pedestrians stop at “don’t walk” signs.  The only people I see waiting for lights are confused midwestern tourists.

And that’s okay, because I believe peds rule the streets.  I don’t mind weaving in and out of peds as they jay-walk in front of me or even dodging them when they are standing in my bike lane.  I’ve even come to terms with people double parking cars in my lane, because it actually does seem a bit unreasonable to block a moving traffic lane rather than partially obstructing a bike lane.  I can get by, and I do get by.

I know that when I walk, I hate cars and cyclists.  When I am in a car, I hate people walking slowly through the crosswalk or darting out in front of me.   When I’m a cyclist, I hate cars cutting me off and peds with ipods in their ears.  And when I’m driving a horse drawn carriage, I hate everyone.  So when I’m walking, driving, biking, or horsing, I try to be respectful of others and not be someone I would hate if the roles were reversed.

Streetfilms looks at Brazilian bike parking and has Hal grade your locking one more time.

Critical Mass takes the NYPD to court and the NY Post follows the case.

Public Advocate candidate Norman Siegel campaigns on a bicycle.

Seven planners and developers contribute to a Times piece that wonders what it would be like to be Car-Free in America.

Streetsblog starts a debate about the perception of bike commuting and whether or not there is too much emphasis on safety.  In a follow-up post, Editor Aaron Naparstek talks about his helmet-wearing policy.

Colville Andersen promotes cycling in Copenhagen with the video “Copenhagen – City of Cyclists”.

AMNY plugs Bike to Work Day 2009 and Streetsblog has pictures and video from DOT Commissioner Sadik-Khan’s Bike to Work Day Ride.

Obama’s Energy Secretary bikes to work for a day, but no longer commutes regularly.

The Post reports a 143% increase in commuter cycling since 2000.

A British study says more cyclists means fewer accidents.

Roosevelt Island bans overnight bike parking on public racks to combat abandoned bicycles and gives cyclists a week to clear racks.  Its time we find a comprehensive solution to this problem.

An Illinois Senator is pushing for a bike-friendly transportation bill.

Streetsblog covers the launch of TA’s Biking Rules! campaign that offers a street code of conduct.

CB6 in Brooklyn asks for a curbed buffer for the new Prospect Park bike lane and CB 10 votes against the new bike lane for Adam Clayton Powell.

Construction on Broadway Boulevard begins!

Finally, a study released by one of my professors at Hunter says that NY cyclists routinely break the law. The story was picked up by the Post and the Times, and tomorrow I’ll give my opinion.

AMNY and  The LO Down NY cover the controversy surrounding new bike lanes on Grand St in Manhattan and Kent Avenue in Williamsburg.

Streetsblog links to several posts about the conflict between cyclists and law enforcement and tells cyclists to look out for ticketing on the Bowery.

The Brooklyn Paper reports on the proposed compromise for the Kent Avenue bike lane.  The new configuration turns Kent Ave into one-way north and creates a bi-directional bike lane on the river side of Kent, with parking and loading zones reestablished on both sides of the street.

The Washington Post applauds New York’s bike and ped initiatives.

City Room warns of the Dutch Bike invasion.

Unfortunately Oregon’s proposed “Idaho Stop” bill failed last month, but the good news is Portland is creating a “Bicycle Infrastructure Improvement Fund” that provides a dedicated source of funding for bike projects. Clarence Eckerson’s film about bike rush hour on Portland’s Hawthorne Bridge shows why additional funding for bike projects is necessary.   

Seeking Alpha is bullish on bikes.

Transportation Alternatives’ Paul Steely White talks bike share on WNYC podcast.

The Metro North removes some bike restrictions.

City Planning’s Zoning for Bike Parking has been approved!

Finally, the Transportation Secretary declares the federal government’s commitment to bikes.

City Room Spokes does the math on the bike commuting tax benefit and says amen to the Blessing of the Bikes .

Cycleicio.us posts the full Idaho Stop Law and Spencer Boomhower’s terrific video explains why cyclists hate to stop.

Brooklyn Paper and Streetsblog recap the CB6 presentation for the redesign of Prospect Park West.  The community board endorsed the plan with a unanimous vote. Last week was a busy week for DOT Alt. Modes with four community board presentations.  To view the project presentations for all 2009 projects, click here.

A Detroit bike blog discusses an Australian study that says helmet laws may have a negative impact on overall health.

The Bike Snob writes about bike-friendliness, bike salmon, and bike polo in a meandering post.

Streetsblog recaps the CB10 meeting at which DOT presented the redesign of Adam Clayton Powell.  

The business section of the Daily News profiles bike messengers and bike cargo couriers.

Finally, WNYC, the Gotham Gazette, and Streetsblog cover the release of City Planning’s bike-share study.

Last year the DOT issued a Request for Expression of Interest to explore the feasibility of a bike-share program in New York.  Several vendors responded, each presenting their vision for how a bike-share system could be implemented here.  Yesterday, the Department of City Planning released a comprehensive study entitled “Bike-Share Opportunities in New York City” which examines the history of bike-share programs, presents case studies, evaluates existing bicycling conditions, estimates demand, and calculates capital and operating costs.  The model recommended would have the city pay for the initial capital costs with the selected vendor operating under a service contract.  Operating costs would be covered by user fees and when the system expands, advertising revenue under a franchise contract.

I believe that 20-30% of New York could and should be commuting by bicycle.  We are nearly as flat as Amsterdam, our weather is milder than Copenhagen, and our city core is more compact than Paris or London. I think implementing a successful bike-share program is the best way to achieve this mode-split.  It takes away the cost of ownership (the proposed annual pass is just $60) and the burden of maintenance.  It allows for one way trips by bike in case of bad weather (or intoxication).  Bike-share also works well with existing transit and can be used to cover the first or last few miles.  The Paris program Velib has changed the way Parisians move around the city.  A successful bike share program in New York could change the way biking is perceived, and take it from the fringe to the mainstream.

GM and Segway plan to make wheelchairs, er P.U.M.A.s  Uh, wow, a two-wheeled vehicle that can quickly and easily move you around the city.  And I was worried about the future of the U.S. auto industry.  

Jeff Mapes, author of Pedaling Revolution, tracks the bicycle boom times. 

City Room investigates the dangers of drinking and cycling and Streetsblog questions the logic of equating drunken cycling to drunken car driving.

Finally, City Room Spokes blog discovers the $20,000 bicycle and writes about the wankers investment bankers that buy them.

This week I’ll be posting about bike fashion…

Streetfilms has a great collection of bike related videos.  The “Hal grades your bike locking” and its 2008 follow up were mentioned in the City Room Spokes post about bicycle theft.

Business owners along 8th Avenue complain about the new bike lane being installed. Let the doomsday predictions begin –  “Anybody that has a business on the west side of the block, I guarantee they’re going to lose at minimum 30, maybe 50 percent of their business.”  –  “The bike lane can only hurt—it’s a lose-lose situation.” – “These people, they lost their life savings, and it’s because of the bike lane.” – “Do you think that many people ride their bikes here? They have to make a special lane for them?”

The mayor announces the bike and pedestrian improvement projects that will be funded by the federal stimulus package.  Streetsblog provides more information on the Houston St and South Bronx projects and The Record has a statewide list of federally funded improvement projects.

Utne Reader writes about conservatives that bike

Streetsblog gives details about NYPD ticketing of cyclists near the Williamsburg Bridge.

The NY Times Freakonomics blog discusses a proposed law in Oregon that would charge cyclists a $54 registration fee every two years because “[B]ikes have used the roads in this state forever and have never contributed a penny. The only people that pay into the system are those people who buy motor vehicle licenses and registration fees.”  Uh, seriously?

Finally, a friend of mine wrote an article about the dangers of biking in Chattanooga.   I’ll post next week about why it might actually be safer to bike in New York.

NY Times City Room has begun a weekly biking column.  The first post explains basic maintenance necessary to get your bike ready for the summer season.

Need a bike rack?  Two streetswiki entries walk you through the CityRacks process.  One entry introduces the basic siting guidelines 

The other entry explains how to work with your community board and submit a bulk request that may lead to faster installation.

Finally, check out http://www.seeclickfix.com SeeClickFix enables people in the community to map complaints such as potholes, graffiti, broken street lights, or blocked bike lanes.  Its like the Abandoned Bike Mapping Project, but with a larger scope.