In Streetopia, Traffic Won’t Scare People Away From Biking

From 2010 to 2015, bike commuting increased 80 percent in New York City -- a testament to the efforts of mayors Michael Bloomberg and Bill de Blasio and their transportation commissioners to build more and better better infrastructure.

But most New Yorkers still don't get around on a bike, and cycling accounts for a small share of total trips -- one or two percent, less than in London, let alone Tokyo and Berlin or, if you want to aim higher, Amsterdam and Copenhagen. For most people, biking on NYC streets remains too intimidating.

As much as the NYC bike network has improved in recent years, most people still see biking on city streets as too risky. In much of the city, major streets lack protected bike lanes. And even where protected bike lanes are most prevalent, there are too many gaps in the network and intersections are often too stressful.

New York can do better.

As part of the recently-launched Streetopia campaign, Clarence Eckerson put together this short video rundown of how our existing bike network falls short -- and what needs to happen to make it work for more people. Take a look: