It’s one thing for a city to have a marquee bike project here or there — but it’s another thing entirely to get people across town by bike on a connected network that is legible and safe.
During my recent trip to New York City, I had to get to Williamsburg, Brooklyn for a story. I was staying in the Flatiron/Chelsea area (W 24th and 6th). I figured this would be a good crosstown test, so I filmed the entire thing. The video above shows the highlights. It gives you a sense of what it’s like to bike about 5 miles through Manhattan, over a bridge, and then into a borough.
You’ll see a very wide variety of bikeways. I rode through: pedestrianized streets with world-class bikeways; old-school, door-zone bike lanes; shared, low-volume streets; dedicated paths, and more. Overall, I was impressed with NYC’s bike network, despite its chaos and rough edges.
In my opinion (which might be different than yours, given my experience and love of urban riding), NYC passed the test.
Watch the video to see if you agree. And then ask yourself… Does your city stand up to the crosstown test?