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December 19, 2007
Bicycle for a Day
I went to a party last night in New York City hosted by actor Matthew Modine. He spoke eloquently about the great challenge of the environment, urging each of the guests to do his/her part to reduce carbon emissions, from turning out lights to disconnecting fully charged electrical appliances avoiding the “vampire” effect.
He then laid out an interesting plan for Bicycle for a Day (BFAD) which will be held in fall, 2008 in New York City, Chicago and San Francisco, hopefully on the same weekend. His concept is to organize a full day of community based activities at a prominent city park, including entertainment, speeches by politicians and environmental groups. Attendees would use their bikes to travel to and from the event.
The web site for BFAD, bicycleforaday.com, asks for songs and video of urban cycling experiences. It will also offer a bracelet that will benefit two national charities, American Forests www.americanforests.org and Waterkeepers, www.waterkeeper.org plus local non-profits Transportation Alternatives (NYC), San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and Chicagoland Bicycle Federation.
I then spoke to Dani Simons, who works at the New York City Department of Transportation, about the role of bicycles in future planning on transport in the city. At present there are 270 miles of bike lanes along city streets and 200 miles in parks and along greenways. Another 200 miles of bike lanes are to be added by 2010, with a long term goal of 1,800 miles by 2030.
The key question is how to complete a city-wide cycling network that makes bicycling a fun and safe option. One interesting idea is to make the bike lane closest to the curb and move the parking spaces outward toward the traffic flow. This will happen on Ninth Avenue between 14th and 23rd streets next summer. There is also a proposal to close major streets on the weekends next summer; major thoroughfares such as 42nd street. This replicates a program in Bogota, Colombia known as CYCLOVIA (photo below), linking population centers to recreational areas such as parks or waterfront on Sundays.
The New York Times ran an article on September 4 that related an anecdote, most likely urban legend but it got around the city’s bicycling devotees. A young guy buys a bike and rides it towards his home in the East Village, with the price tag still attached. He is mugged by two teens, who steal the bike and glide away. The aggrieved citizen complains to policeman, who soothes him by saying, “It’s ok, son. You would have killed yourself on that thing anyway.” Having been sideswiped by an SUV on a road in Long Island, with attendant bruises and cuts, I can relate. Given the limited space available to all in an urban environment, the hope is that we can work out a plan that makes cycling to work a real option. I am off to China on Friday with my family for a bit of first hand education on how bikes can be part of the tapestry. I will be posting regularly on my trip to Beijing, Shanghai, Xian and Hong Kong.
Photo source: www.streetsblog.org
Posted by Edelman at December 19, 2007 4:29 PM
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Comments
I like the concept and in my third world country it’s even worst. The bicycle riders are commercial and the worst traffic menace. And yet, the public believe owning a car no matter how old it is, is in style and preferable. How do you get the message across on how to start today to be mindful on environment in a country like Uganda, where poverty bites so hard and yet we still privilege have the grace period not to make the same mistake the West did?
Posted by: grace achire at January 24, 2008 1:58 PM