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by sempron64 1755 days ago
I am specifically considering removing traffic lanes on e.g. a bridge or a main thoroughfare in favor of bikes. This is common in New York where I live.

One particularly egregious example is removing a lane of traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge in favor of bikes. This is in my opinion an oppressive action in favor of the wealthy who live in downtown Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn.
1 comments
InitialLastName 1755 days ago
The wealthy (and wasteful) are the people driving into Manhattan every day. Making the Brooklyn Bridge a viable bicycle route (the shared lane is constantly packed with tourists) will open a key route for people who can't afford cars to commute.

Have you seen how crowded the Manhattan bridge bike path gets, especially at rush hour? I don't deign to assume anyone's socioeconomic background, but it's also very clearly a wide swathe of the NYC population (I somehow doubt the folks on delivery bikes are living in the wealthy areas).

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sempron64 1755 days ago
The bridge serves a large swath of NYC (south Brooklyn, Staten island, the Rockaways) and Long Island. Dumbo and downtown manhattan are upscale areas.

Were the city willing to invest in the project in a sane way, such as making a separate bike path like the one on the Manhattan Bridge or another tier, obviously it would add value. But as it is as a lane removal it's a lazy and badly planned move that snarls the middle class in traffic (which is already regularly backed-up onto the collapsing BQE) to allow the upper class to "enjoy" a "scenic" ride next to a bunch of smog blasting trucks. And maybe help a couple of door dash drivers I guess.

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zachkatz 1755 days ago
“A couple of door dash drivers”

There are over 80,000 delivery cyclists in NYC.

https://inthesetimes.com/article/doordash-delivery-workers-d...

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ciabattabread 1755 days ago
Just take the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. Oh, there’s a toll? That’ll be a moot point when congestion pricing happens in 2 years.
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