Good article on bikes lanes in today's NY Times:
Tales of Bike Lane Abuse
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/20...ke-lane-abuse/
October 11, 2010, 2:12 pm
Tales of Bike Lane Abuse
By MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM
Bike lane abuse? Say it ain’t so!
The dedicated bicycle lane, one of the Bloomberg administration’s signature additions to the New York streetscape, has re-engineered the city’s byways so that two-wheelers get a more equal share of the roadspace. But a report by the Manhattan borough president, Scott M. Stringer, found that interlopers often intrude, gumming up bike traffic and running afoul of city rules.
Pedestrians walk in the lanes; cyclists travel the wrong way in the lanes; cars open their doors into the lanes; motor vehicles, including police cars, taxis and other city-owned cars, park in the lanes. These are among the conclusions of a three-day study this month that examined bicycle lanes at 11 locations throughout Manhattan.
At 36th Street and Broadway, staff members observed 240 incidents of pedestrians walking in the lanes. Bicyclists blew through red lights 100 times at Centre Street and Chambers Street. And the bicycle lane was blocked by cars 117 times at St. Nicholas Avenue and 145th Street.
And enforcement remains an issue. In a 22-hour survey, the staff noticed about 275 motor vehicles blocking a lane, and only two tickets were issued.
The study also discovered school buses idling in the lanes; unmarked police cars that cut through protected lanes to avoid red lights; and lanes where cyclists traveling the wrong way outnumbered those following the proper direction.
Mr. Stringer said he was a fan of the bicycle lanes, and he released the report to draw attention to the lax enforcement of their rules. “We need to develop a bicycle-friendly culture where New Yorkers respect the bike lane and clear the path,” he said.
He recommended an increase in protected bicycle lanes, which are separated from traffic by a physical barrier, and stepped-up patrol by traffic enforcement agents to ticket scofflaws, along with better signage. Mr. Stringer also wants the city to collect data on crashes in bicycle lanes so that their effect can be better measured.