
Introduction NYC Cycling 1. NYC Bike Policy 2. 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 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 9:
Bicycles and Transit a) Bicycles and Mass Transit b) Rail-Station Bicycle Parking c) Europe and Japan d) United States and New York e) Bicycle Parking Costs g) Ride-and-Bike h) Bicycles on Transit Vehicles i) New York City Transit Authority j) Bus Access k) Ferries l) Chapter 9 Recommendations Station Parking Conditions in the New York Area
In the U.S., bicycle theft rates are about twice as high as Germany's and five times higher than Japan's. [20] In the New York City area, with additional problems of vandalism and transit operators' ignorance of bicycle feeder potential (or their unwillingness to accommodate it), most public places, including transit stations, are unsafe for storing bicycles. Bicycle commuters fare better in some suburbs, where many commuter rail stations have a cadre of regular bicycle users; still, stations with bike racks are a minority. New Jersey Transit appears to be the leader in bike parking among NY-area transit providers; it claims to have at least a thousand bike parking spaces at 46 stations. As of late 1992, NJ Transit was equipping its 20 North Jersey Coast Line stations with several hundred more parking slots, and was seeking a $238,000 federal grant to install additional racks as well as 100 bike lockers. And, in a NY-area first, NJ Transit is installing ten bicycle lockers at its park-and-ride bus stop in Oldbridge.
At the same time, continued reliance on single-occupancy automobiles, even for short trips like commutes to train stations, is squeezing auto parking at suburban stations, creating new areas of auto congestion and air pollution and spurring expansion of costly, sprawling park-and-ride lots. Waiting lists for train-station parking spaces exceed 500 names in some suburban towns, [21] and 15,000 additional car parking spaces will be needed to accommodate demand in New Jersey by the mid-1990s, according to one estimate. [22] In contrast, an aggressive region-wide program to expand bike-and-ride facilities, coupled with safe feeder routes, would enable transit agencies and regional planners to forego expensive park-and-ride expansion (see sidebar). This would help contain the overall cost of suburban transit service while maintaining the character and environment of the communities.
NOTES:20. Walter Grabe and Joachim Utech, The Importance of the Bicycle in Local Public Passenger Transport: Facts and Experience from Selected Countries, UITP Revue, March 1984, International Commission on Traffic and Urban Planning.21. LIRR Nightmare: Impounded Cars at a Journey's End, The New York Times, Feb. 12, 1992. 22. Railroad Boom Brings a Parking Crunch, The New York Times, May 9, 1988. a) Bicycles and Mass Transit b) Rail-Station Bicycle Parking c) Europe and Japan d) United States and New York e) Bicycle Parking Costs g) Ride-and-Bike h) Bicycles on Transit Vehicles i) New York City Transit Authority j) Bus Access k) Ferries l) Chapter 9 Recommendations |
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