Testing New Bike Lanes in NYC
New York is not only testing new battery-powered buses ... they are also doing some progressive work with street redesign on 9th avenue. They have reworked a section of the avenue so that there is a buffered bike lane next to the sidewalk on one side of the street. The buffer? Parked cars.
Here's a picture below ... and you can read more about the experiment at the NYTimes.
The first comment that was made under the article said:
As a longtime resident of 22nd St. & 9th Ave., I am amazed with the improvement of 9th Ave. Traffic is flowing like normal, but cars seemed to have reduced their speeds on their own. Delivery guys on bikes are no longer running you over from all angles, and you know exactly where to look for them. The overall layout of the “new” 9th Ave. feels clean, organized, and well thought out.
Only one person's opinion, of course, but sounds pretty effective. I was recently down in New York and I can tell you that a bike lane like this would definitely encourage me to get on the bike a lot more often. The status quo is most definitely not bike-friendly. There is great stuff happening in New York around conservation and smarter energy use. I dig it.
