Citi-Bike — Page 3

You didn't have an original point. You posted articles and excerpts from articles with no thesis of your own.

I have NO idea what you think of the program or why you posted what you did.

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Updated On: 11/11/13 at 05:35 PM

From Delia Ephron:

"It’s this bike program. The other day I stepped off a curb and a bike coming the wrong way down a one-way street passed so close I could feel its breeze on my back. It seems as though, every day, I’m almost hit by a bike."

I am so F***ING tired of these whiny-a$$ pedestrians with their anecdotes about "almost" being hit by bikes.

I may come close to you. In fact, if I am riding in a narrow bike lane and you--like a MORON--step into that bike lane, doubtless with your eyes glued to your smartphone--I will DEFINITELY come close to you. But I am in control of my bike. I won't hit you. I saw you coming back when you were still approaching the curb. That's what all cyclists HAVE to do--scan not just the intersection but a ten foot perimeter beyond the intersection, and calculate at what rate of speed the dumb-a$$ pedestrian with their eyes glued to their smart-phone is moving. When will they blindly and stupidly step into the bike lane? How much do I need to correct my speed and direction in order to avoid them?

Do I fantasize about plowing directly into them? Of course I do. Do I do it? No. Will I do it? No.

Please--stop with the tales of the old lady you saw who ALMOST got hit by a bike. The cyclist was in control and made sure she lived to tell--and re-tell ad nauseum--the story.

It's not freaking horse-shoes. "Almost" doesn't count.

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I dont mean to argue with you, i'm just saying that when this was first proposed Bloomberg and his Transportation chief said it would help the poor.

In all sincerity - is this what they actually said? My understanding is that it was proposed as a transportation alternative in some of the busiest, most congested parts of the city. Which is exactly where it's been placed - with plans for further expansion.

There are cost benefits, as well - but I never heard it expressly stated as a program for the 'poor' or minority populations.

The map of where the bike stations are is pretty clear. They serve the areas of the city that are the most congested. If they happen to be "rich", "white", or whatever else you say they are: so be it. That's where the traffic is. And that was the point.

ETA:

From the Citi Bike website:

Citi Bike is New York City's bike sharing system. Intended to provide New Yorkers and visitors with an additional transportation option for getting around the city, bike sharing is fun, efficient and convenient.

A bike sharing system consists of a fleet of specially designed, sturdy, very durable bikes that are locked into a network of docking stations sited at regular intervals around a city. The bikes can be rented from and then returned to any station in the system, creating an efficient network with many possible points and combinations of departure and arrival.

About Citi Bike

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Updated On: 11/11/13 at 05:57 PM

I will try again. This program was sold to us as not for the privledged or tourists. But for everyday NYers and the poor who cant afford taxis.

Wrong.

Please see my post above.

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I've been hit twice by cyclists under almost identical circumstances, Reg. In each case it was a messenger bike.

I have to say, looking at it from both sides, though, while it may not be solely an issue of careless pedestrians, in my experience, the fault lies far more often with the pedestrians than the bikers.

Don't get me started on the motorists.

"Is it okay to kill cyclists?"

Can anybody anywhere produce evidence that Citi-Bike "was sold to them" as something for the poor and disadvantaged? The process hinges on credit cards. Nobody anywhere would say a program that requires credit cards is for the poor and I would bet dollars to cronuts that nobody ever did, except for the trolling troll who is trolling. It probably thinks "sharing" means "something just given to people who aren't motivated and don't work hard enough to be one of 'the haves'."

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Updated On: 11/11/13 at 06:50 PM

Lies lies and more lies. Trolling, trolling trolling lies. It doesn't care about poor people and it makes fun of people who do. It thinks "catching" people who care about the poor seemingly not caring about the poor is worse than never caring about the poor in the first and making fun of those who do.

Some people in public housing qualify for a membership discount. Some people who live in public housing have jobs that require public transport with transfers to reach. Some people may find it advantageous to come up from the subway and hop a Citi-Bike for the rest of their trip.

They still need a credit card. EVERYBODY stills needs a credit card.

At this point it is just throwing its poo at the walls but none of it sticks. It's poo has no fiber.

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"But please don't pretend like the problem is just careless pedestrians."

Of course it is not just a problem of careless pedestrians--I was provoked by Delia Ephron's essay and allowed myself the luxury of wallowing in some aggressive partisanship in my post. I am very aware, though, that cyclists have some work to do before we can claim to be model citizens of the road.

I found myself in a pack of messenger/delivery bikers riding down Fifth Ave last week--me in khakis and penny loafers, they in lycra and tattoos. It was rush hour and the lights are beautifully timed on Fifth Ave for building up speed. When we got to 23rd St--which at 5pm is absolute pedestrian mayhem and at 5PM in November is also getting dark--the delivery maniacs didn't appear to apply the brake at all: they plowed into the crosswalk. I don't know how it is that no-one got hurt. Careless, dangerous and bad for everybody.

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Addison, the area you described is exactly where I work, and the only reason it's not a killing field, I think, is that at least some portion of pedestrians have learned to look six ways before crossing.

And I thought Ephron's essay was an embarrassment, btw.

I honestly think biking is great, and Citibike is a great program. I love all the bike lanes popping up. I think now the city needs to start ticketing the sh*t out of dangerous bikers AND pedestrians.

In private Christ stoned many women taken in adultery.

I think hunky cops on the other side of the street might prompt more jaywalking. How about Julia Sugarbaker types holding out an admonishing finger and saying "No!"

Except we don't stare at each other in NY. No eye contact is made. We call each other a$$holes without looking at them.

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