Okay i've resisted for 4 days, but now that Mayor Bloomberg suggests biking as a way to move through the city (NYC) i'll share the others who are jumpin on that wagon train. i also did so on the frankenstorm worry page i set up while the storm was brewing and no one could reach anyone. 2 links are articles and 2 are videos that all suggest that right now, a bike is a perfect solution to the logjam that is NYC. with subway, airport, and transit lines still underwater and connections impossible to lower manhattan, one is faced with long lines to wait for cross town busses, ferries from the docks, or waits at working petro stations for fuel, to only then sit in gridlock while folks figure out how to circumnavigate their city given the obstacles. oh, new yorkers can do it if anyone can, and some have already figured out a better solution and are even boasting about how quickly they can arrive for work, BY BIKE. what? yep by bike. so when i say silver lining or tipping point, it is not without concern and appreciation for the loss and devastation that the super storm victims are feeling, but it is with some hope that an idea's time (a perfectly good one in fact), has finally come.
bicycle commuting.
not bike racing, not spandex, and certainly not tour de l@^(* armstrong. no i mean bikes as transportation, and the freeing, economical, healthy, unscheduled, zen-like, creative, and practical solution to how to get to work. or school. or the doctor. or the transit museum (i hear they are open and free to visit).
now certainly the ground work was already laid for bicycles as transportation by J.Sadik-Khan - NYDOT, Ray LaHood - USDOT, NYC Mayor Bloomberg, Mike Lydon - Street Plans Collaborative, ALTA bike shares and many other advocates. so to know that the city has been acclimatizing to bikes on the streets, bike facilities have increased exponentially, and citizens have become more aware are all great foundations for a moment when all else fails except the bike. and then what does the city do?
just hop on a bike, pump up the tires, and take off, as usual. to know that NYC might, from this day forward, or for many months currently, rely heavily on and dedicate space to and make policy for bikes/pedestrians as a preferred way of travel is why i say that it is the silver lining in Sandy and possibly a tipping point to set us on the path to look and function like copenhagen or amsterdam one day. and with all of that will come better health, less diabetes/obesity, cleaner air, less stress, alternative commutes, and fatter purses.
1 http://go.bloomberg.com/hurricane-sandy/2012/10/31/advice-for-post-sandy-new-york-traffic-take-the-bike/
2 http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/02/nyregion/with-transportation-snarled-in-brooklyn-bicycles-roam-free.html?ref=nyregion&_r=0
3 http://www.nytimes.com/video/2012/11/02/nyregion/100000001880180/after-sandy-two-wheeled-commute.html
4 http://player.vimeo.com/video/52640864
