On the second day of the New York City transit strike, Transportation Alternatives reported that bicycling had increased by more than 500 percent. Volunteers measuring traffic volume on the four East River bridges during peak commute times discovered increases of between 250 and 850 percent over December 2004. Given that New York typically has more than 100,000 bike commuters each day, this study shows that more than a half million people used a two-wheel solution during the strike.The city's new bike lanes and bike paths found several new users and the city provided free guarded bike parking at five Manhattan parks. The bike shops also did well. "Business is up 400 percent," said Charlie McCorkle of Bicycle Habitat. "It's more crowded than a warm day in May."