Cycling News
City Planning Knows What Cyclists Need

The Department of City Planning's Bicycle Program is responsible for planning NYC's network of bike lanes, greenways and bridge paths as well as recommending new laws, zoning changes and other city rules that will make cycling safer and easier and encourage more people to take to bikes. During the 1990s, the agency produced the "New York City Bicycle Master Plan" (1997, with the DOT) and "A Greenway Plan for New York City" (1993), plus two insightful documents on cycling safety and bike parking (see photos). These documents are official City policy. Unfortunately, though, implementing agencies, like the DOT and Citywide Administrative Services (see page 18), often ignore City Planning's recommendations.

Two of City Planning's great recommendations include curb extension with sheltered bicycle parking and physically separated bicycle lanes. See "New York City Bicycle Parking Needs" (1999) and "Making Streets Safer for Cycling: Strategies for Improved Bicycle Safety" (1999).

Left: DCP's recommendation of physically separated bicycle lane calls for bollards, rubberized curbs and raised markings that can be used to define bike lanes physically, like the one pictured here on Broadway in Herald Square. See DCP's "Making Streets Safer for Cycling: Strategies for Improved Bicycle Safety" (1999). Physically separated lanes increase cyclist safety by preventing motorists from double parking and driving in the bike lane.

Right: DCP's proposal of curb extension with sheltered bicycle parking shows that eight bicycles can park in the area of one parking space. See DCP's "New York City Bicycle Parking Needs" (1999). The DOT proposed this City Planning design for the corner of North 7th Street and Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where there is a severe lack of on-street bike parking. Because one local business opposed it (it feared the loss of one car parking space would ruin business), the community board also opposed the plan.

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