Cycling gets a lift in New York City

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By Richard Peace | Sunday, Dec 27, 2009 8.00am

A new law which has just come into effect in New York City allows bicycles to be carried in freight elevators, so workers in tower blocks can take their bikes into the office rather than having to leave them locked up in the street.

The way it works is that employees can call for the implementation of a Bicycle Access Plan. Unless the building operator is exempt – on grounds of existing cycle parking provision, a safety risk in the lift or because they don't have a freight lift – they must comply.

While the law appears limited – it does not require building operators or business tenants to provide indoor storage or parking space for bicycles – it does at least ensure that where there is a will to do this, access can be guaranteed.

The legislation is part of the city’s ongoing efforts to encourage bicycle commuting. The idea is that if people can park their bikes securely at or near their workplace, they are more likely to want to use them to commute.

Commuter cycling in New York is already accelerating rapidly, with a 26 percent increase in the past year alone, according to the City’s Department of Transportation.

"A lack of secure bike access and parking at the office is one of the biggest deal-breakers for commuters who want to get to work by bike," said New York City Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. "While commuter cycling continues to grow, this new law unlocks a barrier that has stopped an untold number of bike commutes before they even started." 

The city runs a Bike Friendly Business Competition to recognise companies that go the extra mile for cyclists. This year the winner in the Bicycle Friendly Building Owner category was Trinity Church, one of the largest landowners in Manhattan.

Trinity's buildings offer a variety of bike access and bike parking options, from freight elevator access to tenant space, to bike parking on loading docks, to indoor bike parking rooms.

Another winner was Ogilvy and Mather, an advertising agency which provided 50 commuter bikes for employees to use to get between meetings along with accompanying bike parking, showers, lockers and training. Also up there was Lenny’s sandwich shop, which has introduced ways to ensure its bicycle delivery staff follow traffic rules.

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  • Funny in the 'land of the car' even they seem to be making greater efforts than the UK for commuting alternatives and cycling. Yet again more power to cyclng but in another country not ours.

  • Surreyxc - don't be such a miserabilist... Are you saying that there aren't great efforts being made in the UK? What about the cycle to work scheme, what about the increased expenditure on cycle lanes and bike parking, what about the existence of cycle cities, bikeability, the power of organisations like cycle england, CTC, Sustrans etc, the Skyrides, the fact that the Mayor of London is a cyclist, the likely next prime minister is a cyclist? Instead of this whining, why not get behind the initiatives that are going on - it may not be perfect, but the initiatives that have been launched are a good start. Politicians are going to be far more likely to help an enthusaistic part of a population rather than one that says things are never good enough....

  • no whining here just observation, the roads are still full of cars, and little provision for cycling or any genuine efforts towards working integrated transport solutions. I cycle becuase I love to whatever the conditions but unless some real effort is made not much is going to change the general publics attitude. You sound like an urbanite, get out into the unlit roads and then tell me what great efforts are being made after you have had a few cars nearly clip you at 60mph. I think you are naive in thinking that a government is willing to make any great strides away from the car when it is such a profitable source of taxation, look at the recent recession there was a real chance to invest in companies with new ideas but the government saw fit to bale out the big boys in the car sector. And really I am not that interested in 'schemes' essentially if the roads were safe, and we had tough laws on wreckless driving and bike theft then it would just be down to individual to get out and ride. Last time I looked cycling was something you just did without needing schemes or training.

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