200 of 1800 Miles of Bike Lanes Added, But Safety?

Today, the Mayor and other city officials celebrated the addition of the 200th mile of new bike lanes ever since the city announced it as a major goal in improving the livability of New York City streets in PlaNYC. By 2030, the city is expected to have 1600 more miles across all 5 boroughs. However, more often than not, these bike lanes are on the narrowest of streets, with nothing but a 6 inch white painted line to separate fast and dangerous cars from bikers. Bikers are frequently injured or killed these days, mainly from vehicles just plain ignoring them - either by sideswiping them or just parking in the lanes (something even cops do it too). Something more along the lines of buffer zone along most bike lanes such as this city-approved one from Streetsblog would be better. We still have a long way to go before NYC is truly a bike-friendly city.

Published Post Number:139/145
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Second Avenue Subway, Maybe Not All the Way

As the transport politic puts it, the Second Avenue Subway is definitely needed to relieve overcrowding on the Lexington Avenue Lines (4,5,6) but should be amended to provide a crosstown connection as well as better serve those further away from Second Avenue. He believes that there should be two major changes to the plan:

1. A crosstown route from 125th St. on the East Side of Manhattan to the West Side, connecting the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, A, B, C, and D lines in Upper Manhattan. It makes it a lot more convenient for riders, as this would eliminate the need for waiting for a bus as well as increase ridership overall. (Presently, none of the lines in Upper Manhattan truly enable East-West travel there.)
2. A slight diversion from Second Avenue south of 14th St. and down Avenues B/C into the East Village, where it currently maybe just one of the few remaining parts of Manhattan that do not come within a short walking distance of a subway stop. The East Village is also home to many mixed small and medium density residential buildings. In addition, politic stresses that the planned SAS is only two avenue blocks away from the Lex. Ave. Line, making little difference anyways and would attract more riders if shifted East (plus one more station than currently planned). The SAS would then return to its namesake avenue at Chatham Square.

"But the most important point is this: since all three stations will be built where subway service already exists, no new areas of the city become more easily transit-accessible...The Second Avenue Subway’s downtown route should be significantly revised to provide two significant improvements: one, increasing subway access to currently transit-deprived areas of the city; and two, improving transfer opportunities for passengers who currently have trouble moving between lines."

Although the 125th St. Fault may present a problem for the Westward expansion of the SAS, and a deviation from the MTA's plan may cost more money that they do not have, the proposed scheme is of an interesting note and should be taken as an alternative by the MTA. Since the proposed changes do not affect the current Phase of construction, changes would not be met with cries of wastefulness.

A tip of the hat to the transport politic for this and many thought-worthy suggestions. Each day, he provides a lengthy and well-researched article (but a good read nonetheless) with independently made diagrams and maps. Bravo! You have earned my respect!

Great Day to Take Transit

For me, at least. I arrived at my bus stop and waited only a few minutes for the bus to come. Stepped on at 8:26, took the F in Jamaica then E and stepped off the 6 train in the Lower East Side at 9:36. Total travel time: 1:10. (Recently, it has been taking a lot longer due to "track improvements" for "Some Manhattan-bound trains run local from 71-Continental Avs to 21 St-Queensbridge" which oddly does not affect the E and does not have any construction lights to show for it.) [Service Changes PDF:35KB]

On my way home, a R train was arriving right when I stepped onto the concourse/platform and I got on at 4:04. At Union Square, I transferred to an arriving Q train for a quick trip to 34th St, then for the F, which arrived as soon as I walked down the irreparable escalator. Stepped off the train after only 40 minutes! As I finished climbing the stairs out of the station, a bus was already waiting...with another pulling in several seconds later! 22 minutes after I alighted from the train, I stepped off the quick driving bus (when I turned my head to say, "Thank you," to the driver, he said, "You're welcome. Have a nice day," before I could even start.) Total travel time: 1:02! Unbelievable! (It usually takes 1:20, and a lot more waits)

Guess I was lucky today! I just hope I haven't angered the "subway gods."

Also, Second Avenue Sagas has taken a much deeper look at what was and became of the "1939 IND Second System," a plan by the city of New York to expand the subway system by an additional 100 track miles, potentially relieving today's packed subway cars and improving mass transit for everyone. (And potentially discouraging Robert Moses.)
Read about it here: Second Avenue Sagas: Dreaming of the Second System: Where the subways should go