making bike sharing work in nyc

Bike sharing systems in cities around the world have experienced different degress of success.  The new system planned for NYC is doing the right thing and getting a lot of community feedback on station locations - here is the current proposed map.

I'm struck by how quickly bikes are turning up in certain areas of Manhattan and Brooklyn.  Infrastructueand laws still need to be improved - of immediate concern is pedestrian safety.  The city is a long way from the world leaders, but bikes and NYC seem like a natural fit.  My guess is the new sharing system will be a big hit with 20 somethings and college students.

Comments

[Roger]

Speaking of bike safety brought back a couple of instances. Close to where I lived is the Rock Island Bike Trail.

But I seldom rode my bike on it because I was always afraid of crashing into those barricade posts put up to keep cars and motor cycles off it. And because there was a stop sign at every barricade to insure that cyclists would stop and look before crossing the roads. And because there were so many road crossings, I could not make very good time.

So I elected to ride my bicycle on all those roads that the Rock Island Bike Trail crossed. One day I was cruising at top speed down one of those roads that crossed the Rock Island Bike Trail and another cyclist was cruising at top speed down the Rock Island Bike Trail that crossed the road I was cruising down. Unlike me, he was not the least bit intimidated by the barricade posts or stop sign, and so he and bicycle appeared almost instantaneously before me and my bicycle, whose wheels were now laying black marks on the pavement. That was the closest I had ever come to having an accident with another vehicle in all my years of riding.

But that wasn't the closest I'd ever come to being mutilated on the road. That accident waiting to happen came one time when I was doing a century ride in eastern Iowa. A truck approaching from behind forced me off the road and I nearly wiped out. Standing astride my bicycle in the gravel along the side of the road, I flipped him the finger, and he screeched his truck to a halt. At least six inches taller than me and outweighing me by at least my weight, he lumbered down from his truck, cursing loud enough that I could easily hear. And as he lumbered toward me, it dawned on me that I hadn't yet made a will. While he was advancing toward me faster than I thought a charging mad bull could move, and while I was contemplating what I would do next, a young Latino couple pulled up behind me and parked their car on the shoulder. As the irate truck driver approached from one direction, they both got out of their car and approached from the other direction, asking if I needed help. Seeing them, the truck driver turned around and went back to his truck, and I sincerely thanked the young couple for their roadside assistance.