At the same time I completley disagree with the new ruling which makes rides of 50 or more people illegal without a parade permit. Instead of the new ruling which is a huge over-reaction, perhaps Mayor Bloomberg could have just reasoned with the bicycle activist community and ask them to end the critical mass rides as a coopertive acknowledgement of the continuing efforts by his office and the DOT to make the city more bike friendly. The ruling is not just unreasonable and unconstitutional (I know we don't really have a Constitution anymore) it is also oppressive and does nothing to improve relations already badly soured by the incident during a critical mass ride where a cop attacked rider Christopher Long tackling him to the ground and then claimed that Long assaulted him with his bike. Long was cleared of the charges and Officer Pogan lost his badge after a now famous video of the attack on Long surfaced.
While the changes along Broadway in midtown have been hailed as a huge success and have been declared "permanent" I hope that the DOT will refine the plan. I recognize that the changes improve quality of life in midtown and the new elongated plazas are welcome by pedestrians, but as a cyclist I see a few issues. For most of the way from 59th street to 26th st, the bike lane blends with the green spotted pedestrian area.
The result is essentially an asteroid field of peds milling about in all directions mostly clueless that they are in a bike lane. It can be tricky to navigate and I am surprised that bike/ped collisions are not a big problem. In a couple of spots along the route the bike lane rolls right into and through a plaza that is dominated by pedestrians. I don't understand this part of the design and it just feels like a big mistake. I'm not even sure if I'm supposed to ride through it but then the bike lane picks up at the other end.
The problem with Broadway is that the bike lane has been taken over by (a critical mass of) pedestrians. It is now much slower to ride the Broadway bike path than it is to ride with the cars unprotected. I feel it is much more likely that I will collide with a picture taking tourist walking backward into the bike lane than with a car. Yes, of course I would rather hit a tourist than a car. Not that I have anything against tourists, its simply a matter of them being softer than cars. The point is that the new Broadway does not meet the needs of cyclists in its current state.
The solution I propose is for the city to continue making positive strides and shut down the rest of Broadway to cars, leaving the remaining lanes for bikes and a single truck lane and parking open only for trucks making local deliveries. I would also like to see the bike path continue up Broadway into the Upper West Side and I would suggest turning over one lane or an entire side of Park Ave over to bikes to resolve the dearth of lanes on the east side.
With critical mass off the table, Claiming a lane is a way to continue to legally influence public opinion and government policy while improving personal safety while riding. It is generally recognized that it is safer to claim an entire lane rather than ride right next to the parked cars and if enough people adopt this style of riding it will reduce accidents and have the same effect of critical mass but spread out in a way that does not create a nuisance. I would recommend trying to cluster into small groups of 2-5 riders whenever the opportunity presents itself in order to improve visibility and establish territory in the lane. Claiming a lane is the best way to asset your right to the road.
Remember also, the bike lane situation here could be a lot worse:
Actually, this artwork was created in London as part of a safety campaign to get cyclist to slow down in sertain sections along a bike path. :)
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