New Bike Lane on Brooklyn Bridge Is an Instant Hit with Riders

Cycling advocates have been asking for a separate bike lane on the bridge's promenade for a long time to make it safer for cyclists.

A new bike lane on the Brooklyn Bridge has nearly doubled the number of people who bike across the famous East River crossing. This is the latest sign that better infrastructure is helping to increase the number of people who bike in the city.

The two-way bike lane opened in the middle of September. In October, its first full month of operation, an average of 4,206 people rode their bikes each day, up from 2,239 during the same time last year, according to data released by the Department of Transportation.

At the same time, the number of people riding bikes on the nearby Manhattan Bridge and Williamsburg Bridge has mostly stayed the same. This suggests that the new lane hasn’t just gotten more cyclists to ride and more New Yorkers to start riding.

Fixed gear cyclist with tattoos white shirt and headphones riding a black and red fixed gear bike. Source: adobe stock.
Fixed gear cyclist with tattoos white shirt and headphones riding a black and red fixed gear bike. Source: Adobe Stock.

In a statement, DOT Commissioner Hank Gutman said, “We took space away from cars to make walking and biking over the Brooklyn Bridge safer and easier than ever, and it has been a great success.”

Cycling advocates have been asking for a separate bike lane on the bridge’s promenade for a long time to make it safer for cyclists. Mayor Bill de Blasio had turned down the idea, but he changed his mind when many New Yorkers started riding bikes in the early days of the COVID-19 crisis.

A video called Inaugural Ride Across The New Brooklyn Bridge Bike Lane from the Gothamist YouTube channel.

Since then, the bike boom has died down a bit, partly because New Yorkers are returning to the subways. But unfortunately, the new Brooklyn Bridge lane has gone against these trends. In the last two months, most people have crossed the Manhattan and Brooklyn bridges simultaneously.

Jon Orcutt, in charge of advocacy at Bike New York, said, “It’s clear that the new bike path on the road makes East River bike trips better.” “People are reacting to a big change in the conditions for cycling.”

Studies have shown that putting bike lanes on the streets of European cities during the pandemic significantly impacted how many people rode bikes.

Most people thought the Brooklyn Bridge project was good, but cyclists didn’t like it because they thought the city should have built one-way lanes on each side of the bridge instead of putting a two-way path in a single car lane.

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Written by Bradley Knight, Staff Writer

Hey there! My name is Bradley, and I've been riding fixed for years. I love all the joy and pain that comes with this unique style of cycling and the passionate community that drives it. If you love fixed-gear bikes, this is the place for you.

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Edited by Jordan May, Staff Editor

Jordan is a seasoned editor with over seven years of experience. His passion for writing and storytelling started when he was a teenager, spending countless hours reading books and creating his own stories.

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