I have a confession to make. I’ve been obsessed with bikes lately. I’ve spent hours researching various types of bikes, different brands, etc.
I loved riding my bike when I was a kid. I have many fond memories of bicycles: riding my tricycle, then upgrading to a BMX bike with training wheels, then having the training wheels finally taken off, upgrading to a full-sized bike, getting my first nice “bike-store/non-department-store” bike, taking my bike to college with me and riding around Cleveland, etc.
I’ve lived without a bike for about six years now–so what triggered my current infatuation with bicycles? I went out to Portland, Oregon recently for a business trip and loved how there were so many cyclists. I also stopped by Seattle during that trip and noticed there were a lot of cyclists there too. It made me wish that I could live in a place where I could (safely) commute to work by bike and easily go on recreational rides on the weekends.
Unfortunately, NYC is not a great place for cycling unless you’re hard-core (which I am not). While drivers in NYC are not as bad as Boston, there are a lot more of them and they tend to drive faster. Another factor is that public transportation is so good in NYC that unless you really want to cycle for the sake of cycling, there is no efficiency benefit in cycling to work. I can get from my apartment in Astoria to my office near Times Square in 30 minutes, door to door. It would probably take at least as long to make that commute on bike. $81 for unlimited monthly subway pass vs. biking+getting sweaty+risk of getting in an accident for no time savings? It’s just not worth cycling to work in NYC.
Now for other cities like Seattle and Boston, it’s a different story. Boston is a very good city for commuting by bike, primarily for one reason: public transportation in Boston SUCKS. Three examples: 1) The first company I worked for was located near Lechmere Station on the green line. I lived on Marlborough St. and Mass Ave. in Back Bay, just 3 blocks from the Hynes Convention Center station, also on the green line. The distance is less than 2 miles. Most people would think that would be a short commute, right? It took on average 30-40 minutes door to door. Why? Because the Green line SUCKS! I tried biking to work once and it only took 12 minutes. 2) The second company I worked for was located in Watertown, Massachusetts. I lived in Union Square in Somerville. I had to take 2 buses to get to work; average commute was 50 minutes, but if a bus didn’t show for some reason or something else went screwy with the bus system, it could take up to 1.5 hours. The bike commute would have been about 30 minutes. 3) The third company I worked for was located near Kendall Station and I still lived in Union Square in Somerville. The distance is about 2 miles. There were two buses that ran between those two points but they stop running at around 7pm, so if I ever had to stay at the office late or went out with coworkers, I had to walk home! Again, the bike commute would have been about 12-15 minutes.
When I was just in Seattle for a couple of days, it seemed pretty similar to Boston in that the city was pretty small (maybe sprawls a little more) and public transportation was not very good. Yes, their light rail is coming online this summer but that only benefits the small percentage of people who live along that line.
I love the idea of more people commuting by bike: it’s good for the environment and would help Americans lose weight and be more fit. I wish NYC would shut down half of Manhattan’s streets and avenues to make them bike/pedestrian only. I wish Americans would let go of their obsession with building up their mini-castles in sterile suburbia and choose to live closer together.
The practical reality is that it’s not worthwhile for me to get a bike while I live in NYC. However, when I move, one of the first things I’ll do is buy a bike! Fortunately, I’ve already done the research… it’ll be either a Brompton or a Bike Friday Tikit. :)