With surging gas prices and Amtrak reporting record ridership in 2008, the House of Representatives passed a funding bill yesterday that will enable Amtrak to provide access for bicycles on all new rolling stock. The Bicycle Storage and Access amendment, written and negotiated by Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY), is a major step towards building an intercity bicycle-transit network that gives travelers and commuters a fast and flexible alternative to driving.

He oversees a bike-friendly administration, but Mayor Bloomberg thinks it makes no sense to allow the two-wheelers on the subway.

The issue came up yesterday, when the mayor mentioned on his weekly WOR radio show that he had spotted someone exiting the subway with a bicycle just as he was getting on that morning for his commute to City Hall.

"I don't run the subway system, I don't run the MTA, but if I did - if I had total power - I guess I'd say it's too crowded for bikes," the mayor said.

A bicycling advocacy group is trying to convince the MTA to catch up with the rest of the country by expanding bike parking to inside subway stations.

Transportation Alternatives, the advocacy group, has already discussed its suggestion for in-station racks with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

"It's something the MTA could do easily and cheaply with space they already have," said Caroline Samponaro, a project coordinator at Transportation Alternatives.

But the MTA is not giving the idea a green light.

The year 2007 may prove to be one of the most important years in the storied history of New York City's development. In a future timeline of urban advances, it might be printed in as big a font and as bold a type as 1811--when the grid system was adopted--or 1904--when the I.R.T. subway opened. The text adjacent to 2007 could say something like "the start of livable streets," or "the bike boom begins," or "congestion pricing kicks off." It may turn out that all of those descriptions may suit 2007. The real question is, in hindsight, will they?

New York City's Transportation Alternatives and the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation have been selected as the first recipients of REI/Bicycle Friendly Communities Grants of $15,000 each. This new grant fund, administered by the Bikes Belong Foundation and made possible by generous support from Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI), helps aspiring, committed Bicycle Friendly Communities become great places to ride.

City officials have been trying to create more places where New Yorkers can ride their bikes safely, but finding secure places to park them is an enduring problem.

Now, a few business executives have dreamed up a private-sector solution: the city's first bikes-only parking lot, complete with attendant. Already, they have cleared the high hurdle of finding available space in Midtown, on West 33rd Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues.

All they need is a corporation willing to pay as much as $200,000 a year to sponsor the idea.