Bicycles represent a significant opportunity to expand mobility options at a relatively low cost, while helping to meet sustainability goals. Making it safer, easier, and more convenient to bicycle
throughout the city helps reduce congestion and air pollution, while improving overall traffic safety and public health.
Over the past decade, annual bicycle trips have increased nearly 150 percent, far faster than population or employment growth. In 2017, there were an estimated half million bicycle trips per day. Cycling in New York City has become safer as more and more people choose this mode of transport—and is evidence of a “safety in numbers” effect.
To facilitate further growth, the City will expand and improve bike lanes and bike sharing. Well-designed bike lanes not only protect cyclists, but also organize and calm traffic. In addition, the
islands created by the installation of protected bike-lanes assist pedestrians by shortening street-crossing distances.
• EXTEND GREENWAYS
The City will continue to build a connected network of greenway paths for cycling, including the Jamaica Bay Greenway and the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, and the Manhattan circumferential greenway network. DOT will also study the feasibility of an Eastern Queens Greenway. High-quality
cycling infrastructure will increase cycling as both a mode of transportation and a recreational activity, and bring with it associated mobility safety and health benefits.
• EXPAND CITI BIKE AND DOCKLESS BIKE-SHARE NETWORKS
In the next five years, the City will expand its Citi Bike dockbased bike-share system to 40,000 bikes, from 12,000 today, doubling the size of the service area by adding another 35 square miles of coverage. This expansion will also increase the density of coverage in the previously served areas, with more stations and higher service standards. A portion of the fleet will be converted to pedal-assist bicycles, which is likely to make cycling more attractive to a broader population and encourage people to cycle longer distances, but must be done with careful consideration to public safety.
The City will also implement new, expanded dockless bike-share pilots in areas of the City not covered by the dock-based system. If successful, and the private companies providing these services
remain viable, the City will implement a dockless bike-share program at a large scale outside of the Citi Bike service area.
• PRIORITIZE PUBLIC SAFETY WHEN CONSIDERING LEGISLATION RELATED TO EMERGING MODES OF MOBILITY
Emerging modes of transportation, such as e-bikes and e-scooters, have the potential to expand mobility options, but come with public safety concerns. With both the City Council and State considering bills to sanction their use, any new legislation should ensure these modes are integrated safely and seamlessly into our existing transit network.
• ENABLE GREATER ACCESS TO THE BIKE NETWORK FOR NEW YORKERS
For more New Yorkers to choose cycling as a transportation option, they must have access to safe places to ride. DOT will continue to build out its bicycle network, installing at least 50 miles of bike lanes—including 10 miles of protected bike lanes—per year, and facilitate the expansion of bike-share programs to more neighborhoods. The City is committed to ensuring 90 percent of New Yorkers live within a two-minute (¼ mile) ride of the bike network by 2022, up from 80 percent in 2016, and ultimately 95 percent in the future.
• CREATE OR ENHANCE BICYCLE LANES IN PRIORITY BICYCLE DISTRICTS
The City will prioritize building bike infrastructure in the ten community districts where cyclist deaths and serious injuries are disproportionately high and bike-network mileage is relatively low. These neighborhoods, which are home to 23 percent of serious crashes, but only 14 percent of bicycle lanes, have been designated Priority Bicycle Districts, and will receive 75 miles of new or enhanced bike lanes by 2022.
November 1st, 2021 at 4:48 pm
Increasing the bike network presents a business opportunity.
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