V. CITYWIDE
BIKE INFRASTRUCTURE “With the subways out of commission due to Hurricane Sandy, countless New Yorkers turned to bicycling to get around town. Many have never looked back.” – Caroline Samponaro, TransportaƟon AlternaƟves
Summary Superstorm Sandy provided the impetus for a change in behavior by a subset of the commu ng popula on. With subway service suspended and gasoline shortages throughout the five boroughs, many New Yorkers decided to commute to work by bicycle. Bike infrastructure created in recent years, such as the extended network of bike lanes, facilitated this decision to bike. Following the storm, the city’s bike commuter popula on jumped from 10,000 cyclists a day to 30,000. Cycling served a key role in keeping the city moving following the storm and demonstrated its poten al for emergency planning. Background Over the past few years, New York City has taken a strong lead in making the city more bike-friendly. New bike lanes have been added, out- and in-door parking spaces for bikes have been provided, and cycling as an alterna ve form of transport has been promoted. As a consequence, commuter cycling has doubled since 2005 and increased by 26 percent
between 2008 and 2009 alone. Over the past decade, while the number of people who ride bikes every day in New York City has more than doubled, the number of annual bicyclist injuries and fatali es has been halved. Design Details Over the past six years, the New York City Department of Transporta on (DOT) has strongly encouraged cycling through a variety of ini a ves. In order to make riding a bike safer and more convenient across all five boroughs, DOT added 300 miles of bike lanes to the exis ng street plan. Where possible, it designed protected bike lanes with parking as a buffer between the bike lane and car traffic. It installed outdoor racks on public sidewalks for New Yorkers to park their bikes and introduced a law that requires commercial buildings to provide access and space for parking bikes indoors. The city also plans to introduce a bicycle sharing program that will be the largest in the country when it begins service in May 2013.
Impact of Sandy Following Superstorm Sandy, the subway system was shut down, gasoline availability was limited, and car traffic in some parts of the city was severely congested. In response, some 20,000 New Yorkers who usually use other forms of transporta on decided to commute to work by bike. Immediately a er the storm, bicycles offered one of the more convenient means to get around. The advantages of cycling became apparent in the absence of subway service: it was convenient, affordable, and in most cases fast, especially in a city where most trips are less than five miles. The shi in behavior was supported by a passionate and commi ed community. In the a ermath of the storm, New York’s bike advocates and professionals helped to make cycling a viable op on for as many stranded residents as possible. Bike shop owners opened their stores, even if they had no electricity. They provided informa on and free bike safety checks. They also helped repair long abandoned bikes that people dug out of
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