[SDCBC] New York bicycle commuters face an uphill climb

[Neal Henderson]

New York bicycle commuters face an uphill climb

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-na-bike7-2008may07,0,6445221.story?track=ntot
html 

NEW YORK -- The undulating asphalt gave way to a sea of potholes and the
bicycle shuddered with each curve and dip. Ahead, the Brooklyn Bridge rose
in a long incline toward the camera-ready skyline of Manhattan.

But the cinematic quality of the city was lost on an approaching bicyclist,
who saw only a tight grid of streets with thin slices of available roadway
-- spaces that momentarily widen, then narrow, in the anarchy of Manhattan
traffic.

 

*
<http://www.latimes.com/news/la-na-bike7-2008may07-pg,0,2303919.photogallery
> Bicycles in the Big Apple

 
<http://www.latimes.com/news/la-na-bike7-2008may07-pg,0,2303919.photogallery
> Photos: Bicycles in the Big Apple

Only a decade ago, the few bicyclists who tried to wedge into traffic were
seen as interlopers, scorned by city drivers and pedestrians alike --
"granola eaters from a fringe movement," said Paul Steely White, executive
director of Transportation Alternatives, a leading bicycle advocacy group.

But with rising oil prices and heightened concern about carbon emissions,
riding a bicycle no longer seems quite so silly. The number of bicyclists
has grown by 75% during the last seven years, according to the city's count.

Soon an ambitious city plan will make it possible for riders to traverse
Manhattan via dedicated bike lanes and circumnavigate the island along the
waterfront. Sheltered bicycle parking and thousands of new public bike racks
are already in place.

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