After Hard-Fought Campaign, Bicycle Access Bill Set to Become Law

The front cover of TA's 1993 Bicycle Blueprint. Image: Dave Perry.

The Bicycle Access Bill, Intro 871, is on track to clear the City Council this Wednesday, in what will be a major milestone for the livable streets movement in New York City. We just received an announcement from Council Member David Yassky's office that passage of Intro 871 is a done deal. This time, there is no doubt that the full City Council will take up the bill during its next stated meeting. With 35 co-sponsors and mayoral support, its passage has been secured.

Bicycle advocates have called for citywide legislation like Intro 871 going back at least to 1993, when Transportation Alternatives released its Bicycle Blueprint and identified the lack of bike access to buildings as a major deterrent to commuting by bicycle.

We'll have more about the significance of the bill after Wednesday's vote. For now, I'll just note that major credit belongs to bill sponsor David Yassky, Council Speaker Christine Quinn, DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and her staff, TA, and all the cyclists who helped push this through.

If you'd like to witness the historic vote on Wednesday -- and TA tells me they're encouraging attendance -- the stated meeting starts at 1:30 p.m., City Council Time.

Brian

I’m nailing this one to my office’s front door
JK

Congratulations all around. In particular to Jon Orcutt at NYC DOT, who co-authored the Bicycle Blueprint and has been working on this in some form or another for decades. Passage of this bill is the advent of a new cycling era. It won’t happen in a day or even a year, and will be filled with thousands of small advocacy battles as commuters fight recalcitrant building managers for their right to park, but what what starts as a trickle will become a torrent of everyday bicycle use. If you’re not a T.A. member, join today. This wouldn’t have happened without robust, effective bicycle advocacy.
James

Am I the only one who read “DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and her staff at TA” at first glance? Heh, didn’t John Liu claim something to that effect not too long ago? Regardless, this is absolutely awesome news. Well done.
gecko

All this good stuff keeps happening as it should.

Really nice.
http://www.livablestreets.com/people/mepstein8 Mike Epstein

Counting chickens much?
glenn

Long overdue. Maybe it’s been discussed here before, but what was the final outlines of the bill and what tipped Liu to support it?
Brian

Liu changed his tone because he realized that he was shooting himself in the foot by trying to block Yassky and the bill. Thanks to TA and Streetsblog for shining the light on his politics as usual.
http://ironsightimages.com Slappy

So this passes and by law I’m allowed to bring my bike in the office building? Now to figure out how the get bldg management to comply with this.
Folder

I think this is what we have to do to get building management to comply:

- Inform other current and potential cyclists in your office about the bill
- Together, convince your employer to allow bike storage in your office
- Have your office manager contact the building management requesting access
- Wait for them to figure out the logistics and regulations
- Show up with your bike, follow the rules, be courteous, and attract more people to join the movement.

If the above action plan is not good enough for you, consult this chart instead:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Gnomes_plan.png

Streetsblog New York City

After Hard-Fought Campaign, Bicycle Access Bill Set to Become Law

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