For the third year, Transportation Alternatives is issuing a report card on cycling conditions in New York City and the efforts of public agencies to improve them. The report card is intended to give the City an idea of how it is doing and to provide some perspective on the state of cycling here.

The most dramatic news is that cycling deaths soared to a record high of 35 in 1999 from 18 in 1998. This was a shocking and ironic turn of events, since 1998’s report card cheered increased police traffic enforcement as the City’s finest achievement for cyclists. Strangely, although far more cyclists were killed in 1999, 10% fewer cyclist injuries were reported.

On the whole, the environment for bicycling did not improve in 1999. Driver recklessness and hostility towards cyclists remained high. Police ticketing of red-light-running cyclists was relentless. Combined with inappropriately high fines, the ticketing further discouraged many everyday cyclists. Physically, major cycling streets were often pockmarked with potholes, plates and shattered asphalt. The only on-street bike lane created was a short, temporary lane on the Grand Concourse, while no new lane designs were tested or existing lanes improved. All in all, it was not a good year for city cycling. Perhaps the only positive note is that despite the City’s poor progress, there remains strong public interest in cycling.

The following report card assigns two grades to seven categories of "Bicycling Basics." The first grade is for the overall state of the bicycling basic in question, the second is for the combined efforts of the various public agencies to improve those conditions in the preceding 12 months.

The bike lane picture went from bad to worse in 1999. No new on-street lanes were installed in 1999 and The Bronx still does not have even one lane (we're not counting five blocks on the Grand Concourse). Indeed, the Prospect Avenue lane in The Bronx remains sunk in a mysterious quagmire, despite being approved by the Borough Board. Also discouraging was the DOT's out-of-hand rejection of a much-anticipated City Planning study of innovative bike lane designs. The study called for delineating bike lanes with flexible posts, low curbs and other designs widely used in Europe. As they exist now, lanes are dangerously narrow, exposing cyclists to opening doors, and are used by cars as a convenient place to double-park.

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In 1999, city officials decided two major bridge issues. Unfortunately, cyclists were excluded from contributing to both decisions. The DOT decided not to build a fly-over ramp on the Queensboro Bridge's Manhattan side, despite a consultant's report suggesting its feasibility. DOT also refused to adjust the design of the Manhattan side of the Brooklyn Bridge promenade. The net result was a huge lost opportunity to make everyday cycling safer and more congenial for hundreds of bridge users. The DOT's Bureau of Bridges, which was cited in '97 and '98 for a "head in mud" approach to the public, equaled its previous performance. The good news is that the East River bridge paths ground one year closer to completion.

MTA Bridges, which owns the Triboro and other bridges important to cyclists, showed new interest in cycling, but turned in a mixed performance. The agency initiated a study of the feasibility of accommodating cycling on its bridges. However , it then fired the consultant before he began work. Only after intense pressure from T.A. and elected officials did the agency relent and hire a new one. T.A. awaits the results of that study. After a deluge of letters from T.A., local bike clubs and concerned cyclists, MTA Bridges agreed to provide a year-round shuttle during construction on the Marine Parkway Bridge. On balance, the agency proved relatively sensitive to the concerns of cyclists, a trend we hope continues.

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'99 saw an important breakthrough when the Trump organization agreed to an interim path between 59th and 72nd streets along the Hudson starting in 2000. The path will link the soon-to-be completed Route 9A "Super-Greenway" to the south with new Parks Department paths north of 72nd in Riverside Park. The bad news is that it became clear that the overall greenway system will not happen unless a strong mayoral order is issued. Already planned and funded greenways around the city are being stymied by a lack of interagency cooperation and NIMBY sentiment. The Parks Department lacks the muscle to push greenway projects through. No other agency, deputy mayor or coordinating authority within City Hall is looking at the big picture and ensuring that greenways happen. The result is numerous draining political and jurisdictional conflicts. Along the Hudson, for example, Parks Department greenway work is at a standstill between 125th and 135th because of the ambitions of the city Economic Development Authority. From 135th to 145th, the same path project has hit opposition from the Department of Environment Protection, which wants space to store road salt and construction material. In Ferry Point Park in the Bronx, a long approved greenway project has been derailed by a community board and golf course plans, while at 23rd Street and the Hudson, Chelsea Piers has successfully pressured the State DOT into planning an unsafe and sub-standard path.

Nevertheless, the future for greenways still looks bright. Sixty million dollars in Federal transportation funds are earmarked for the paths. However, the work of building the greenway network will take decades instead of years unless City Hall gives a strong push.

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As we write in early 2000, DOT is beginning to install bike racks once again. However, 1999 was another year of no progress for racks. On heavily cyled thoroughfares like upper 6th Avenue and on side streets in Midtown and the Garment District, bikes are still seen locked to mailboxes, trees, lightposts and even on top of bus stops. According to cycle courier companies, DOT has installed racks at only a tiny portion of the hundreds of locations they have requested. Elsewhere, the number of parking garages offering bike parking is shrinking, as the City continues to show no interest in encouraging garage owners to accommodate bikes. More encouraging is Metro North's interest in offering secure parking at Grand Central Station. A bill by councilmember Adolfo Carrion (D. Bronx) that would require buildings equipped with a freight elevator to allow bicyclists access to that elevator seems to be heading towards a public hearing, but lacks crucial support from the Mayor, DOT and City Planning.

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Cyclists continue to enjoy the immense benefits of unrestricted legal access to the NYC subways. Neither rain nor mechanical failure can stop a cyclist equipped with a MetroCard. However, with ridership soaring, the Transit Authority has no doubt heard complaints about bikes aboard subways. The agency deserves credit for sticking by its common-sense bike access policy. That policy allows cyclists 24-hour use of the subway but discourages rush hour use, and allows transit workers or police to keep bikes off crowded trains. The MTA also seems to have dropped a brief requirement that passengers with strollers and bicycles wait in line at the token booth to get through the service gate. PATH did away completely with permits (good for them) but still prohibits bikes during peak periods. The fine record of transit achievement would be better still if the MTA provided secure parking of any kind at suburban rail and major NYC transit hubs like Union Square and Queensboro Plaza. Cyclists have a huge stake in the health of the transit system. A strong transit system is a prerequisite for reducing car use and creating better conditions for bikes. In the developed world's best cycling cities, one of the main reasons for cycling is to get to the train station.

Cyclists continue to enjoy the immense benefits of unrestricted legal access to the NYC subways. Neither rain nor mechanical failure can stop a cyclist equipped with a MetroCard. A recent blot is the insistence by the Transit Authority that passengers with strollers and bicycles wait in line at the token booth to get through the service gate.

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This is a highly subjective category, intended to measure the attitude of the public and top policymakers towards cycling. One could argue that the City deserves an F for the lack of positive words and action about cycling from top officials and City agencies. But while community boards, newspaper columnists and city councilmembers spew anti-cycling rhetoric, the mayor has declined to single out cyclists for special opprobrium, even though they make an easy target as a small, diverse minority of the population. Also, the mayor has continued to give the green light to the Department of City Planning’s cycling ventures and to the Parks Department’s greenway work.

Compared to Mayor Daley of Chicago, who participates in Bike Week rides and whose Office of Special Events organizes 50 Bike Week events, New York’s current mayor did little for cyclists in 1999. But then again, he has not tried to ban bikes as Ed Koch did. Basically, the mayor seems not to care about cycling. Given his powerful personality and close management of City affairs, this translates into not much happening for cyclists.

The DOT is the city’s weakest bike link. Its commissioner has great latitude in determining how streets and bridges are designed and how congenial they are to cyclists. Unfortunately, DOT has shown little interest in cycling projects. The closed-mouthed DOT should look to the Department of City Planning and the Parks Departments for their open bicycle planning processes and active support of cycling projects.

The good news is that the East River Bridge bicycle paths are steadily nearing completion, as is the Hudson River Greenway. These two efforts are cause for great optimism and keep the “momentum” grade higher than it might otherwise be.

A D+ grade for “overall cycling environment” means that conditions were not tolerable enough to keep the average everyday cyclist riding or to encourage an increase in cycling. The grade reflects the historic increase in fatalities and the continued decline in everyday cycling into Manhattan south of 60th street. DOT counted 16,066 cyclists entering the Central Business District on an average weekday in 1996 and 14,679 in 1999. The plain fact is that dangerous behavior by motorists, the lack of secure parking, a shortage of good bridge access and the general absence of official encouragement keep cycling out of the mainstream of city life. 

The C- grade for “Agency Efforts” reflects the continued fine work of the Department of City Planning and the Parks Department’s vast greenway program. The grade would be higher but for the failure of the Department of Transportation (DOT) to promote cycling and improve the streets. DOT ‘s secrecy, poor community outreach and obstinate rejection of cycling innovations stand in sharp contrast to the cycling accomplishments of transport agencies in cities like Chicago and Seattle. Indeed, DOT’s rejection of the Department of City Planning’s recommendations in a report titled “Making Streets Safer for Cyclists” marked another low for DOT. Continued delays in reestablishing the Mayor’s Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Council also hampered cycling improvements.

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