City Promises Brooklyn More Bike Lanes And Citi Bikes

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — The city will consider installing more bike lanes and Citi Bike kiosks in Brooklyn after a new study found they reduce cyclist fatalities and injuries.

Department of Transportation commissioner Polly Trottenberg, who made her announcement on a Brooklyn Bridge bike lane Monday afternoon, reported that bike lanes and the Citi Bike system had both increased ridership and prevented fatal accidents.

The DOT bike safety study, released Monday, found that 89 percent of fatal cyclist accidents occur on streets without bike lanes and that neighborhoods in the Citi Bike system saw 17 percent less cyclist deaths and severe injuries after one year of operation, despite ridership going up.

Researchers also found that New Yorkers took about 164 million bicycle trips in 2015, which is almost three times the 66 million trips taken in 2006.

Which is why the city wants to extend its grid of bike lanes deeper into Brooklyn neighborhoods such as Bed-Stuy, Bushwick, Crown Heights, Ditmas Park, East New York and Prospect Heights.

The report prioritized seven Brooklyn Community Boards where it city officials hope to create about 75 miles of bike lanes and increase the number of New Yorkers living near bike lanes to 90 percent by 2022.

The seven districts — Brooklyn community boards 3, 4, 5, 12, 14, 15 and 17 — might also get Citi Bikes.

“More New Yorkers are cycling than ever before,” said Trottenberg, NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill and Health Commissioner Mary T. Bassett in a joint statement.

“The City of New York is committed to supporting this trend and ultimately doubling the number of regular cyclists across the five boroughs.”

Read the full report here.

Photo courtesy of Edmund Vermeulen/Flickr