November 25, 2019: Horses and Robots

Clear and pleasant riding conditions for your commute today:

Monday Sunny, with a high near 51. Northwest wind around 9 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon.

Monday Night Mostly clear, with a low around 44. Southwest wind 6 to 9 mph.

Sunrise 6:54am

Sunset 4:32pm

Citi Bike has announced that ebikes will return this winter, later than originally promised:

Though not everyone's counting their chickens just yet:

There is currently no official return date for the bikes, beyond the seasonal target of winter—assuming, that is, you still take the company at its word.

A spokesperson for the Mayor's Office and the Department of Transportation, which is in theory responsible for overseeing the bike share system, did not immediately respond to Gothamist's inquiries.

NY1 covers the need for better cyclist protections on 4th Ave. in Brooklyn: 

And you know reckless driving is a problem when people can't even avoid a cop on a horse:

No word on whether the horse was texting at the time of the incident, but expect a ticketing blitz on equestrians shortly.

Speaking of ticketing...

Five minutes later, Nealon emerges from his cruiser, handing me two tickets. “Here ya go. One’s for not yielding to pedestrians and the other for a red light. They’re like 50 bucks.” Despite that casual estimate, only the failure to yield citation cost $50. Running the red light carries a $190 fine.

In 2018, police officers reportedly issued red light tickets to 16,254 cyclists and 56,086 motor vehicle drivers. At $190 per cyclist red light ticket, that totals nearly $3.1 million. Police also issue tickets to cyclists for failing to yield to pedestrians, lacking lights and not riding in the bike lane (which is not illegal) amongst other things.

Don't forget riding without a helmet!

But while a ticket can be financially ruinous for a delivery cyclist, they're just a cost of doing business for companies like FedEx, who generate so many they get a bulk discount.  Even so, they may have figured out a way around it, because how do you ticket a robot?

Seems like there are larger and more dangerous vehicles to deal with first, and that we should at least be open to the potential upside of tiny ones:

Finally, ever wonder why it's so hard to ride between New York and New Jersey?

Recently, we asked readers what they had always wanted to know about New York City. Mr. Loring, an urban planner in Manhattan who has friends in New Jersey, questioned why the George Washington Bridge was Manhattan’s only West Side river crossing built with bicyclists and pedestrians in mind.

At least there's always boating...