Trying To Resolve The Conflict Between NYC's Cyclists And Pedestrians

7 November 2006 - 2:00pm

Former New York City Deputy Transportation Commissioner "Gridlock" Sam Schwartz proposes two ideas to help walkers and bikers get along on NYC's crowded streets.

An op/ed piece in the New York Times City section is generating discussion and debate in New York City's bicycling community. Oddly headlined, "Rolling Thunder," the editorial briefly examines the conflict between cyclists and pedestrians on New York City streets, acknowledges the antipathy that many walkers feel towards people riding bikes, and proposes physically-separated bike lanes and congestion charging as two solutions to the problem. Streetsblog breaks down Schwartz's article and illustrates his points using photographs recently snapped in two extraordinarily bike-friendly cities: Copenhagen, Denmark, and Utrecht, Netherlands.

Source: Streetsblog, November 6, 2006
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All of that only scratches the surface of what's wrong with this study. The idea that complex urban development patterns and human behavior can be meaningfully studied according to one primary criteria — density — is wrong from the start.