Timelapse: Bikeshare Versus Parking Spaces

It's no secret that bikes take up less room than cars. But this video shows that in a dense urban environment, dedicating space to parking seems like a terrible, unproductive waste.

John Metcalfe reports: "Luke Ohlson recently recorded the mad rush in time lapse at 5 p.m. on a weekday to make a point about transit in New York. 'Parking takes up 150,000 acres of New York City street space, yet a majority of New Yorkers do not drive or use cars,' says Ohlson, a senior organizer at Transportation Alternatives."

Olson apparently chose the spot exactly for this contrast. "The videographer chose to shoot at Broadway and East 22nd Street because of the block's vastly disparate usages of similarly sized public spaces." We also get a picturesque view of the Empire State Building in the background.

According to Ohlson, "Citi Bike is about a 42-times more productive use of space than car parking."