By Liz Tung
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

BROOKLYN — Ten years ago, if you had asked any Brooklyn cyclist about their daily commute, most would’ve said the same thing -- it’s no joyride. While most of us are weathering rush-hour traffic or crowded subway cars, cyclists face challenges of a different order – ones that in about 20 cases every year prove fatal.

But thanks to skyrocketing gas prices, scores of bike advocates, and the advocacy of new Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Kahn, all of that is starting to change -- one bike lane at a time.

Last week, DOT announced a benchmark in their ambitious Master Bike Plan, which proposes to triple bicycle commuting by 2020: the completion of the “200-mile initiative,� a three-year, 200-mile installation of bike lanes across the city. DOT boasts that the project has doubled the citywide on-street bike network, introduced innovations like bike paths that physically separated from car traffic and made the streets safer for everyone who uses them.

According to DOT, the initiative was prompted by a 2006 report, Bicyclist Fatalities and Serious Injuries in New York City 1996-2005, which found, unsurprisingly, that cyclists were safest in bike lanes and wearing helmets. This, in conjunction with New York’s continuing upsurge in bicycle commuting – DOT numbers show a 45 percent increase from 2006 to 2007 alone – led to increased concerns over safety, for cyclists, motorists and pedestrians.

With this in mind, DOT focused their bike-lane efforts on dangerous and high-traffic areas, like the street connections to the four East River bridges. Network expansion has also been focused in neighborhoods where ridership potential is the highest, like South Bronx, Long Island City, Williamsburg/Greenpoint, Downtown Brooklyn and Downtown Manhattan.

According to Wiley Norvell of Transportation Alternatives, a leading New York advocacy group for cyclists, pedestrians and transit riders, the initiative has already begun to bear fruit. “I can definitely say that the most recent 200 miles are already bearing dividends,� he said. “We see bicycling rates going up rapidly in every borough of the city -- we have the recent infusion of lanes to thank for that.�

Though the numbers aren’t in yet on how these improvements have impacted bike safety, Norvell said cyclist fatalities have been flat or in decline for the last decade, hovering around 20 per year. Taken as a percentage of overall bike commuters – which have risen dramatically in recent years – this amounts to a notable drop in mortality.

Mark Simpson, an everyday cyclist and spokesperson for Times Up!, another bike advocacy group based around community and direct-action initiatives, agreed that biking conditions have improved substantially over the last several years, a shift he attributes in part to the efforts of Sadik-Kahn, a cyclist herself.

“The changes at DOT in recent years have been like night and day,� Simpson said. “Under Sadik-Kahn, it feels like we have finally joined the 21st century of transportation planning.�

Still, both men were adamant that hurdles remain between New York and the mantle of “bike-friendliest city in the country.� For one, areas like southern Brooklyn remain underserved, a significant gap considering the limited nature of north-south subway service. They also agreed that, with its wide, busy roads and rampant double parking, Downtown Brooklyn continues to impede easy and safe cycling.

Anti-bike bias is another problem, rampant as it is among motorists who continue to view bicycles as illegitimate road companions. “According to state motor vehicle law, bikes have all the same rights and responsibilities as motorists,� Norvell said. “But you try taking a lane in Flatbush and see how that works out.�

Despite remaining challenges, both advocates agreed that the initiative is a solid step toward DOT’s plan to install an ambitious 1,800 bike lane miles by 2030.

“No city in the country has added bike lanes at this prodigious a rate,� Norvell said. “New York is way ahead of the field.�

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