Google Bike Parking

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This is pretty neat: The Department of Transportation just released mapping data identifying the locations of more than 97 percent of the public bike racks in New York City. The data currently contains 5,968 of the 6,100 bike racks that have been installed as part of the DOT’s CityRacks program. The data is in .kml format, which can be displayed on Google Earth and similar applications.

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DOT Launches Bike Rack Design Competition

By Brad Aaron |
The days of the U- and wave-racks are numbered Think you can build a better bike rack? Now’s your chance. Yesterday the city announced an international competition for a bike rack designed "to be an icon for New York City cycling." The competition is a partnership between DOT and the Smithsonian’s Cooper Hewitt National Design […]

Locking Up Is Hard to Do

By Ben Fried |
Is bike rack installation keeping up with meter removal? Photo: velcroTABandthewalkman/Flickr 2008 was a banner year for bike rack installations in New York City. DOT put in 1,377 racks in the fiscal year ending last July, according to the Mayor’s Management Report — up from 320 the previous year. And when DOT unveiled its new […]

Private Sector Taps Into Demand for Bike Parking

By Brad Aaron |
Here’s another promising development for New Yorkers in need of convenient bike parking. We received a tip that PrimoSpot.com has expanded its parking search capabilities to include bike racks. The site now has pictures and locations of racks in Manhattan (below 179th Street), western Brooklyn, western Queens and Hoboken. Just choose your search area on […]

Weigh in on the Future of City Bike Racks

By Brad Aaron |
The 10 finalists in the CityRacks Design Competition, announced last March, are on the streets and ready for use, with prototypes installed in four of the five boroughs (sorry, Staten Island). Rack locations are mapped on the contest blog, where the city is accepting comments on each design. Nine of the prototype racks are also […]

Envisioning a New York Where Cycling Isn’t Just for Cyclists

By Noah Kazis |
At a panel sponsored by the American Institute of Architects last night, two of the city’s top transportation planners joined one of its hardest-working bike advocates to discuss how to make cycling a mainstream mode in New York. The director of the Department of City Planning’s Transportation Division, Jack Schmidt, DOT Senior Policy Advisor Jon […]

Google Bike Routes — The Wait Is Over

By Noah Kazis |
Bike directions from the Empire State Building to City Hall on Google Maps. After much anticipation, bicycle directions are finally live on Google Maps.  At the National Bike Summit in Washington, DC today, Google announced that its mapping tools can now provide bike directions in 150 American cities. The software provides routes that point cyclists […]