Bicycle Parking
Streetsblog Basics
Eyes on the Street: The Bike Corral Has Arrived in Park Slope
On her way into the office this morning, Streetsblog development manager Christa Orth spotted some fluorescent safety vests as she pedaled up Brooklyn's Fifth Avenue. A DOT crew was out in front of local coffee shop Gorilla Coffee, which had agreed to maintain a new bike corral in front of their store. One parking space is being replaced with room for about eight bikes -- or as Gorilla might call them, seven new customers.
May 17, 2012
Bad News: Forest City Breaks Bike Parking Vow; Good News: Less Car Parking
When Brooklyn's Barclays Center opens with a Jay-Z concert this September, it will be one of the most transit-accessible arenas in the United States. But as Streetsblog has noted before, the transportation planning for the stadium is excessively car-oriented. Developer Forest City Ratner had been planning to build an 1,100-space surface parking lot, marring the pedestrian environment and inducing more driving to the stadium. As opening day nears, there's good news and bad when it comes to parking.
May 4, 2012
Eyes on the Street: East Village Bike Corral Action
Reader Mike Epstein sends in this shot of DOT bike corral construction on Ninth Street between First and Second Avenues in Manhattan. It's good to see this treatment expanding. Corrals that accommodate multiple bike racks offer a much more efficient use of street space than a one-car parking spot. They make streets safer by improving sight lines, and they don't leave cyclists and pedestrians fighting over sidewalk scraps.
April 18, 2012
CB 4 Wins Sidewalk Expansions, Bike Corrals For West Side Bike Lanes
One of the year's most exciting street safety projects is on track to get better. Thanks to a recent set of recommendations from Community Board 4, the extension of the protected bike lanes on Eighth and Ninth Avenues will include additional sidewalk expansions and on-street bike parking. Though DOT didn't adopt all of the board's ideas -- most notably, the agency is leaving a gap in the physical protection for cyclists in front of the Port Authority Bus Terminal -- on the West Side, the community board's requests are helping to build a better bike lane.
March 28, 2012
With a Boost From Bike-Share, Cycling Surges on Mexico City’s Mean Streets
This is the third in a series of reports about sustainable transportation policies in Mexico City. Last week, Streetsblog participated in a tour of the city led by the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy and funded by the Rockefeller Foundation. Previous installments covered pedestrian improvements and the city's new bus rapid transit system.
March 22, 2012
In Hudson Square, Workers and Businesses Demand More Bike Racks
Workers in the Hudson Square area are demanding bike infrastructure and employers are helping them get it.
February 8, 2012
Making Streets Safer With On-Street Bike Parking
The corner of Smith Street and Sackett Street in Brooklyn had a problem. Drivers approaching the intersection from Sackett couldn't get a clear view of Smith because of the parked cars blocking their line of sight. Crashes kept happening and local residents started pushing for safety improvements. After experimenting with a few options, NYC DOT arrived at this innovative response: New York's first on-street bike parking facility.
January 4, 2012
With 8 Percent Bump in 2011, NYC Bike Count Has Doubled Since 2007
The New York City Department of Transportation recorded an eight percent increase in the number of people biking into Manhattan below 50th street this year. The bike count has now doubled since 2007, when the city's first on-street protected bike lane was installed on Ninth Avenue.
December 8, 2011
Eyes on the Street: What’s Wrong With This Picture?
A few weeks ago muni-meters began popping up on the streets of Inwood. Naturally, this made me wonder if the city had considered turning the neighborhood's defunct coin-op meters into bike racks.
December 1, 2011
City Council Bill Would Weaken Bikes in Garages Law, Keep Number of Spaces
Two years after the City Council passed the Bicycle Access to Garages law, which set aside space for bike parking in commercial garages, legislators are turning their attention back to the issue. In response to low demand for the garage spaces, a bill sponsored by Queens rep Karen Koslowitz would loosen up some of the design requirements for the bike parking spaces while maintaining the total amount of bike parking required.
November 29, 2011