[*BCM*] Bike Lanes Revisited

[Jym Dyer]

http://www.transalt.org/e-bulletin/2005/Dec/6thavebikelane.html

=v= This isn't about "bike lanes" _per_se_.  There's a backstory
and context to consider here.  That movie was provided by
Transportation Alternatives as part of a public campaign to get
NYC's Deputy Mayor to answer two questions:

  1. Is this a safe bicycle lane?

  2. Should the NYPD be ticketing cyclists for not riding
     in this bike lane, as they have done all year?

=v= In the week before and during the Republican National
Convention, many cyclists were arrested (not just ticketed)
and charged under a regulation requiring bicyclists to use bike
lanes that are usable.  In the months that followed, the NYPD
continued to do so during Critical Mass, leading to a federal
case.  In that case, there was testimony by Steven Faust to
the effect that, with rare exception, NYC's bike lanes are NOT
usable, and were designed for a different purpose:

    The intent was that there would be enough space for
    cyclists to ride on the roads safely and not be run down
    by cars, not be hit by car doors swinging open in their
    face.  The fact that we designed, that the city only had
    four feet available meant that the cyclists had to stay
    to the outside edge, actually outside lane in order to
    be outside of a swinging car door.

    So, no, those lanes were not designed to keep the bikes
    in. They were designed to keep the cars out and to
    provide adequate space for cyclists to ride safely on
    the street.

(Full transcript at:  http://www.rightofway.org/trans1208.txt
The above testimony starts at page 116.)

=v= After that hearing, the city dropped all of the "must use
the bike lane" (and "must keep to the right") charges from the
RNC and CM arrests.

=v= Less than a year later, though, there's been a spate of
the NYPD harassing cyclists by issuing the same charges.  So
what T.A. is trying to do with that video is illustrate that
this bike lane is not usable and that the harassment must
stop.
    <_Jym_>