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Transportation Alternatives has released its annual estimate of how many New Yorkers ride bicycles daily. There are now 236,000 daily cyclists in the five boroughs. The figure represents a 28% increase over the previous year, continuing recent double-digit growth trends.  More than 200 miles of bike lanes have been installed in New York City over the past three years. These bike lanes are helping to fuel the dramatic growth in cycling across the city. For more information, visit Transportation Alternatives.

Thanks to Claire Gron for contributing this member news.

According to Transportation Alternatives (T.A.), “First and Second Avenues (in New York City) are about to get a whole lot better for bikers, walkers and transit takers.

In response to T.A.‘s East Side campaign, the Department of Transportation has committed to building better bus, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure from South Ferry to 125th Street. Included in the agency’s plans are bike lanes, bus lanes and improved pedestrian crossings that will not only make these notoriously congested avenues safer, but also better-performing.

Though the DOT has yet to identify the exact configurations it will use when construction begins this June, all of the possibilities are huge improvements over the order-less mess that now rules the roads in this part of Manhattan, and we commend them, as well as the Volunteer Committee members, community stakeholders, local politicians and countless activists who helped the plan come together.

To ensure that this wave of street reform doesn’t simply splash on to two avenues and wash away, Transportation Alternatives is organizing an East Side Streets Coalition to help spread these changes. With the support of T.A.‘s Volunteer Committees, citizens and civic organizations from East Harlem to Chinatown, the East Side Coalition plans to push for streets that reduce pedestrian and cyclist injuries and fatalities from vehicle crashes by 50% in the next decade.”

T.A. is issuing a call to action. “Visit the East Side Streets Coalition website to take an online survey about current conditions and future possibilities, find out about upcoming community workshops and join the Coalition.”

On April 1st, New York City (NYC) Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Act into law. It requires the NYC Department of Transportation to analyze the city’s most dangerous intersections, recommend preventative countermeasures, and take steps to implement them.

On April 1st, New York City (NYC) Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Act into law. It requires the NYC Department of Transportation to analyze the city’s most dangerous intersections, recommend preventative countermeasures, and take steps to implement them. This will prevent scores of injuries and save dozens of lives each year. Currently crash data shows that 50% of all pedestrian-related crashes occur at just 10% of all intersections. Transportation Alternatives says that institutionalizing the process of making improvements at the most crash-prone locations will systematically prevent traffic injuries and fatalities.

Transportation Alternatives (T.A.) held its fourth annual Tour de Brooklyn fundraising ride on May 25th. According to T.A.’s StreetBeat, “Close to 3,000 riders celebrated the Brooklyn Bridge’s 125th birthday with a sun-soaked 18-mile bike ride that started in DUMBO, stopped for a snack in Bushwick, sailed through the Navy Yards and finished up at Walt Whitman Park.  It was a perfect day made even better by thousands of smiling faces, hundreds of helpful volunteers, scores of skilled marshals and the beautiful borough of Brooklyn.”

View video from the ride from StreetFilms.org.