A forty-percent cycling New York would pretty much run itself once things got going.

Since Paris has 20,600 rental bikes (typically used 5 to 12 times a day) serving 2 million people, a New York class public bike system serving over 8 million people should probably scale up to over 100,000 rental bikes. More people can be brought into the system by allowing them to use their own bikes and supplying services such as bike parking, bike purchase and repair and maintenance discounts, etc. Many others can cycle on there own outside the system yet indirectly benefit as well especially, from the greatly improved safety on the streets.

A sufficiently well thought-out and implemented initiative towards forty-percent cycling should provide net savings (and even income) to the city government and New Yorkers within a very short time, possibly in the time frame of a year or two; a very good investment that makes good economic sense.

Half the street space freed up for people would greatly increase paid parking revenue and the subsequent sales tax. That should pay for something.

If a lot of city people just give up on their cars, they should have at least $1000 disposable income from not paying car insurance . . .

Quality of life would improve sufficiently to further enhance New York as a tourist destination and revenues from sales tax.

Road repair costs should drop substantially.

Medical costs from noise, poor air quality should drop substantially.

Just a start.

Same goes within New York, although we’re already half-way there (MTA puts Amtrak to shame, at least). Bicycles are the indefatigable low cost leader, but subways are right behind them and valued above all else by the public. Fares will go up before subways are allowed to fail, but before fares go up much more I would bet on the free ride (and park) for automobiles within city limits coming to a dramatic end. The money for better transit is out there; we just have to put it into transit instead of public and private trash. It will happen simply, and finally, because our economy requires it to.

Though hardly macro economic locally; since Columbia University’s Earth Institute is pro bono consultant to the city, Director Jeff Sachs, economics Nobel Laureate Joe Stieglitz, and Geoffrey Heal (Paul Garrett Professor of Public Policy and Business Responsibility, School of Business) could be enlisted to do the financials, etc. similar to what they collaborated on with the Rainforest Coalition. NASA’s Goddard and IPCC scientist Cynthia Rosenzweig could be the environmental lead.

United Nations staff would benefit . . . , etc.

Why not write to the Pentagon? If they give us just the amount of cash that was stolen in Iraq, we can build two Second Avenue lines. If they don’t want to do that, they can give us some old military equipment to sell on EBay. We can raise billions, and they get a tax break!

Borrow our way out of it? We could borrow in Great Depression I because we were a net creditor with a low national debt. Now we are bankrupt.

Study the Buenos Aires subway system.