Brooklyn bike lane turns into sidewalk, results in fines for cyclists

Strange.

One would think that, if city council is in the process of creating a shared bike/pedestrians' area, the police would be mild. Or at least warn that the sidewalk is not to be shared - yet.

This is ridiculous! It's almost like one of those set-up shows, where they do that and then film the peoples' reactions who get caught.

This bike lane is in Cheney, WA, just outside of Spokane. Cheney is a college town and is very bike friendly. The lanes are wide and always clear of debris.

janetsheehan has contributed a photo to this story.

Jerrold has contributed a photo to this story.

Most of the main streets in Shanghai and Sozhou, the only two cities in China I have visited, had wide bike lanes that were protected from motor vehicle traffic by physical barriers. In China there is wide use of battery augmented bicycles as an alternative to automobiles.

In the U.S. I do not ride a bicycle on the streets. I have had three surgeries and racked up weeks of hospital time due to being hit by a car while riding on the street when I was 14.

richard_munden has contributed a photo to this story.

Portland Oregon is a Platinum Rated Bicycling City, but I have been hit by a car twice. I've had so many close calls with moving vehicles that if I were notching my belt each time, it would have fallen off years ago. Not to mention all the side swipes with big trucks and Tri-Met buses, yikes! What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. I'm here typing this right?

Soulrider222 has contributed a photo to this story.

I observed one of our local bike cops riding on the sidewalk in our little town.  It seems like the safest place to be.  I'll bet those cops giving out tickets aren't cyclists.

Side walks are good and needed as are Bike trails, The irony is though the lack of respect and courtesy by all and every one, the Biker does not respect the pedestrian, the Car driver does not pay attention to the Biker nor to the pedestrian and the pedestrian fails to realize who difficult it is to see him or her at times.... A little courtesy would go a long way here.

Japan has neither in many areas and Pedestrian, Bikers , Motor Bikes and Car do get along rather well, because of their incredible ways of paying attention to each other and being courteous as well as polite to one another.  

Taken on a long walk through the city in which I missed my bicycle in a very real way. I'd have taken full advantage of this lane.

derrickoliver has contributed a photo to this story.

It's all about communication - the hallmark of a well-managed city is well-developed communications channels between departments. You would also think that Bloomberg's message about greening NYC would get some airplay in municipal departments, you know, like this is our vision for the future, and we should be aligning what we do with the vision. So, police wouldn't penalize people engaged in harmless green practices, like riding a bicycle, instead of driving an Avalanche...The other weird thing about this story is, doesn't NYPD have a LOT of other more relevant things to be doing?

I was surprised to see a bike lane in this part of NYC at all. In Holland there are more bikes than people, and bike lanes everywhere. Too bad they don't respect the few bike lanes there are in NYC...

Aphr43l has contributed a photo to this story.

Great article and I was more than happy to contribute a photo to this story. (I actually blogged about it here!) After riding in a city such as Copenhagen, I've really got a taste of the possibilities a city or town can achieve in terms of promoting an environment where citizens want to cycle. Sufficiently sized bike lanes are one aspect of a number of things that need to be implemented to ensure that cycling is seen as safe and an attractive form of transport.

This photo is from Copenhagen, not Brooklyn. I got a request to post it and have just to get my photo posted to another site other than flickr. But the issue of bike lanes is an important one that should be taken seriously in city planning. It works very well in cities like Copenhagen where bikes are in abundance. Many people there save money and pollute less (less noise pollution as well as air pollution) by not owning a car.

Eric the Nýbúi has contributed a photo to this story.

amsterdam bike lanes

tashahightec has contributed a photo to this story.

This reminds me of an earlier experience of New York City and bike lanes, back when Ed Koch was mayor.  He got very enthused about bike lanes because of a trip he took abroad.  He ordered them installed on city streets--I think some even used curbings to separate bike from vehicle traffic.  It was poorly planned out, and poorly implemented.  The bike lanes were ripped out, almost immediately.

One of Munich great bike paths!

kieran-sailing has contributed a photo to this story.

In Seattle, this street is one-way for all vehicles, but has a contra-flow bike lane. However, there is a Do Not Enter sign so bicyclists could be ticketed for trying to use the bike lane. More details at: http://www.bicyclewatchdog.org/item.php?id=7

 The Seattle Department of Transportation has been notified about this (we have requested they just add a sign below the Do Not Enter that says "Except Bicycles"), but have done nothing for years.

slugbiker has contributed a photo to this story.

An image of the new bike paths on the University of Utah campus, one path leads straight to the campus bicycle collective.

Nicholas Nascimento has contributed a photo to this story.

Another bike lane that is frequently blocked by parked cars and trucks.

http://www.bicyclewatchdog.org/item.php?id=18

This photo was taken when we were driving on the island of Mallorca, Spain.

Charlotte Hollands has contributed a photo to this story.

bike prints... tells bike riders where their place is on the road... this are special lanes specifically for bike riders. most people in marikina, philippines ride a bike which is actually beneficial because of lesser traffic, its cheaper and of course environment sake. well this is so if you use it correctly.. but as i observe most of the bike riders tend to deviate from their lanes causing delay and sometimes accidents.. in fairness to some traffic followers this actually is a safe haven for bike riders.

reyjoma has contributed a photo to this story.