Would you pay a Half Dollar to Bike Across the GWB?

12:29 PM EDT on October 10, 2006

An outraged reader points us to Benepe's Bike Blog where journalist, cyclist (and sister of New York City's Parks Commissioner) Jennifer Benepe has been working to improve bicycle access to the George Washington Bridge.

In a letter to the Port Authority Benepe suggests that cyclists would be happy to pay a fifty cent toll to cross the bridge, in return for "the same amenities as motorists: ramped entrances and exits, direct connections to bike routes and bike paths, such as the Westside greenway, and most importantly, 24-hour access."

I don't think there is any serious proposal on the table to toll the GWB's bike paths but what do you think? Would you keep a half dollar tucked into your Lycra shorts for a more bike-friendly bridge to New Jersey?

Aaron Naparstek

AARON NAPARSTEK is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparsteks journalism, advocacy and community organizing work has been instrumental in growing the bicycle network, removing motor vehicles from parks, and developing new public plazas, car-free streets and life-saving traffic-calming measures across all five boroughs. Naparstek is the author of "Honku: The Zen Antidote for Road Rage" (Villard, 2003), a book of humorous haiku poetry inspired by the endless motorist sociopathy observed from his apartment window. Prior to launching Streetsblog, Naparstek worked as an interactive media producer, pioneering some of the Web's first music web sites, online communities, live webcasts and social networking services. Naparstek is currently in Cambridge with his wife and two young sons where he is enjoying a Loeb Fellowship at Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. He has a master's degree from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism and a bachelor's degree from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Naparstek is a co-founder of the Park Slope Neighbors community group and the Grand Army Plaza Coalition. You can find more of his work here: http://www.naparstek.com.

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