Bicycle Blueprint - Would-Be Ridership

Introduction

NYC Cycling
1. NYC Bike Policy

State of NYC Cycling
3. Cyclists & Streets
“A Bike and a Prayer”

Riding Infrastructure
4. Street Design
5. Bridges
6. Road Surfaces
7. Greenways
8. Parks
9. Bicycles and Transit
10. Reducing Traffic

Security
11. Bicycle Theft
12. On-Street Parking
13. Indoor Parking

On the Job Cycling
14. Bicycle Messengers
“Fifth, Park & Madison”
15. Freight Cycles
16. Gov't Cycling

Reducing Risks
17. Accidents
“Three Who Died”
18. Air Pollution

Bicycle Education
19. Schools
20. Public Education

Appendices

Chapter 2:
State of Cycling in New York City
a) State of Cycling in New York
b) Current Ridership

Would-Be Ridership
d) Public Perception of Cycling
e) Cyling's Untapped Potential
Table 2: Interest in Bike Commuting According to Trip Distance

Would-Be Ridership

There is enormous pent-up desire for transportational cycling in New York City. Anecdotal evidence strongly suggests that thousands of people would love to take their dusty bikes out of the basement and ride again, if only conditions seemed less dangerous and hostile. Survey data support this belief: nearly half of 688 Manhattan office workers living within 10 miles of their job and responding to a 1990 survey by the NYC Department of Transportation said they would bike to work if provided with safe lanes, secure parking and wash-up facilities (see Table 2).

Although conventional wisdom has it that few people will consider riding more than 5 miles to work, the percentage of DoT survey respondents wishing to bike-commute was greater for those commuting 5-10 miles (54%) than for workers traveling under 5 miles (45%). Even more surprising, of an additional 1,592 survey respondents whose commuting distances exceed 10 miles, 19% said that bike lanes, parking and a place to wash up would induce them to ride to work.

Even allowing for possible exaggeration or selection bias in the survey, there is every reason to believe that many New Yorkers would commute by bicycle if provided with decent facilities. In countries whose infrastructure and culture actively encourage bicycling, the numbers of actual cyclists correspond to the numbers of would-be cyclists in New York City.

Bicycling constitutes 25%, 18% and 11% of nationwide trips in highly industrialized Denmark, Netherlands and the former West Germany, respectively. [5] The share reaches up to 50% in some cities and towns with well-developed cycling networks, incentives and other infrastructure such as secure parking at transit stations. In Japan, bicycles are used for over 30% of work and school commutes. [6] And in China, the bicycle share exceeds 50%. [7] An estimated 3.6 million people work in New York City. [8] If 20% rode bikes to work, the daily cycling population would be 700,000, or roughly ten times the present level.

NOTES:

5. Netherlands: “Netherlands Adopts National Bicycle Policy,” Public Innovation Abroad. International Center/Academy for State and Local Governments, March 1992. Denmark and West Germany: Fergusson and Rowell, Bikes Not Fumes: The Emission and Health Benefits of a Modal Shift from Motor Vehicles to Cycling. Cyclists' Touring Club, Godalming, England, 1991.
6. “Bicycle Parking Systems in Japan,” Sadao Satoh, Proceedings: Velo City '91, European Cyclists' Federation, Milan, 1992, p. 89. Figure includes multimodal commutes which contain bicycling “segments.”
7. Marcia Lowe, The Bicycle: Vehicle for a Small Planet, Worldwatch Institute, Washington, DC, 1989, pp. 31-39.
8. New York Metropolitan Transportation Council, Regional Transportation Status Report 1990, January 1992, Appendix, Table 1, reports 3,570,000 million people employed in New York City, of whom 2,295,000 million work in Manhattan.

a) State of Cycling in New York
b) Current Ridership

Would-Be Ridership
d) Public Perception of Cycling
e) Cyling's Untapped Potential
Table 2: Interest in Bike Commuting According to Trip Distance