Citi Bike is gearing up for a high-tech upgrade this winter in the form of lasers, reports Metro. The bike share’s operator, Motivate, and the designers at Blaze have teamed up to outfit 250 bikes with Laserlight, a safety light that combines a 300 lumen LED with a forward projecting laser that continuously beams an image to warn cars and pedestrians a bike is approaching.
bicycles
History, Transportation
Vehicles parked smack in the middle of bike lanes are among the biggest scourges faced by city cyclists. It’s illegal (yes, there’s a $115 fine) though the law is rarely enforced–but it’s not just a modern obstruction. As it turns out, the main reason early bike lanes were created in the 1890s was because of lobbying by cyclists in the hopes getting more open riding space. New York City began paving whole streets and laying down asphalt strips specifically for cyclists–and, ironically, carts, wagons and other vehicles immediately began blocking them.
Design, Products
For many New Yorkers bicycles are their main mode of transportation, and with the summer months ahead we welcome any addition to the bike-arsenal that’ll help us stay cool, and in this case also look cool. This hip leather satchel from Pedal Happy Designs makes it super easy to transport your favorite growler anywhere in the city — bikes and beers here we come!
Transportation
1,010.2 miles to be exact. Yesterday morning, NYC reached the milestone figure with the painting of its latest lane in the Lower East Side along Clinton Street. In addition to this, the Department of Transportation announced that yet another 12 miles of protected lanes would be completed by the year’s end between West 14th Street and West 33rd Street. The number is above the city’s five-mile annual target, and the highest amount ever installed in any year. The news, a blessing to cyclists citywide, certainly supports the fact that New York is set on strengthening the cycling culture of the city—which has already been named by Bicycling Magazine as 2015’s best American city for bikes.
Architecture, Design, Features, Transportation, Urban Design
NYC is well on its way to becoming a bike-friendly city. With Citi Bike expanding and designs for bikes of all shapes and sizes growing in popularity, it’s only a matter of time before we start seeing architecture built specifically for cyclists’ use. In his article, “10 Points of a Bicycling Architecture”, originally published on ArchDaily, Steven Fleming explores ten ways major cities, like New York, can make this happen.
A revolution is occurring in street design. New York, arguably the world’s bellwether city, has let everyday citizens cycle for transport. They have done that by designating one lane on most avenues to bicyclists only, with barriers to protect them from traffic. Now hundreds of cities are rejiggering to be bicycle-friendly, while in New York there is a sense that more change is afoot. Many New Yorkers would prefer if their city were more like Copenhagen where 40% of all trips are by bike. But then Copenhagen wants more as well. Where does this stop? If you consider that we are talking about a mode of transport that whips our hearts into shape, funnels many more people down streets than can be funneled in cars, has no pollution, and costs governments and individuals an absolute pittance, you won’t ask where it stops, but how close to 100% the bike modal share can possibly go and what we must do to achieve that.
Daily Link Fix
- See how Manhattan was mapped out back in 1811 on Untapped Cities.
- Marlow Goods is taking the saying “using all parts of the animal” to heart. In their pop-up shop in Wythe Hotel, they’re selling bags made from hides of the animals served at the restaurant. Learn more on PSFK.
- Drivers, think twice before cursing bikers the next time your driving around the city. Vox reports that bike lanes have actually sped up car traffic. You’re welcome.
- 9/11 isn’t the only tragedy that happened on September 11th. In 1905 the elevated train on Ninth Avenue and 53rd Street derailed and fell off the tracks onto the road below. Stuff Nobody Cares About has the whole story.
Images: 1811 Commissioner’s Map of Manhattan by Michelle Young for Untapped Cities (left); Newspaper clipping of the 1905 train wreck courtesy of Stuff Nobody Cares About (right)
Daily Link Fix
- LOT-EK’s Shipping Container Cargotecture: WebUrbanist rounds up LOT-EK’s unique stacked container designs, one of which shows NYC’s Pier 57 as s Superpier, a 70,000-square-foot open-air, year-around food and retail market
- Betcha Didn’t Know This Fun Fact About the Javits: There’s a massive rooftop garden on top of the convention center in Chelsea. Inhabitat NYC has the details.
- Apple Holds On Tight To Its Glass Cube Store Design: The iconic design for the big-tech company’s flagship store on Fifth is now patented. Though they filed it back in 2012, Gizmodo reports that they just got the go this week.
- The Best Way To Get Around The City: Thrillist claims riding a bike is the best way, but with crazy drivers and the police ready to give tickets to whoever doesn’t use the bike lanes (even if they’re blocked), we think we’ll stick with the train and bus.
Images: Javits Center courtsey of Inhabitat NYC; Woman riding a bike via yourdon‘s Flickr
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