Streetsblog New York City

With the first US bike-share system starting up just a short Amtrak ride away in Washington, DC, you know it wouldn't take long for the Streetfilms crew to make the scene. This week, Elizabeth Press, Clarence Eckerson and Robin Urban Smith took the already-popular SmartBike DC for a spin, and talked to local citizens, advocates and Alice Kelly of the District Department of Transportation, who hints at a possible expansion of the 120 bike fleet:

"Knowing what we know now, of course, we would have launched it bigger. But when we were initially thinking about this we really weren't sure how popular it would be. The rising cost of gas and the ever-increasing green attitude of everybody is now showing us that yes, the city will support a broader program."

Here's one more from this summer's Carfree Cities conference week in Portland. In this Streetfilm, Greg Raisman of the Portland Office of Transportation treats Elizabeth Press to a bike parking tour, featuring two designs that make the most of available space while keeping pedestrian impediments to a minimum. The "bike oasis" incorporates a sidewalk bulb-out for bike storage, while the "bike corral" secures scores of bikes in parking spots once occupied by two or three cars.

Not only are the set ups convenient for cyclists, they're good for business too. Says Richard Satnick, founder of Laughing Planet Café:

"They're very heavily used all the time. And the usual business argument that you're taking away parking just doesn't work here."

Before the four "New York City Waterfalls" began gushing along the East River this June, DOT marked a bike route passing by each installation and released a guide to go with it. In this Streetfilm Elizabeth Press shows us a recent bike tour of the falls, led by DOT commish Janette Sadik-Khan. Special bonus feature: commentary from "Waterfalls" artist Olafur Eliasson about his work.

Last February, 22-year-old Asif Rahman was hit and killed by a truck while riding his bicycle on Queens Boulevard. Though the infamous "Boulevard of Death" is a lot safer than it used to be, it still produces far too many injuries and fatalities. Asif's family, Council member Jim Gennaro, and Transportation Alternatives held a press conference yesterday, covered by Streetfilms' Elizabeth Press, calling on New York City government to transform Queens Boulevard into a "complete street," with a physically-protected bike lane and safer pedestrian crossings. Queens Council Members John Liu and Eric Gioia also signed on to a letter urging Mayor Bloomberg to complete Queens Boulevard. 

Here's another transportation policy success story from France. The Vélib bike-sharing system celebrates its one-year anniversary today. In April, Streetfilms' Elizabeth Press was in Paris to learn more about it. Here is her video and report:

On July 15, 2007 Paris debuted the world's largest self-service "bicycle transit system" called Vélib outdoing previously designed bike share programs. Vélib is a balance of scale and functionality, clocking in with more than 20,000 bikes, and 1,451 docking stations, which are never more than 1,000 feet apart. As a result, Vélib is effectively a new form of public transportation that has generated more than 25 million new bicycle trips in its first year, 10% of which substitute former car trips.

In this Streetfilm by Elizabeth Press, New Yorkers enjoy a block party on West 87th Street in Manhattan. The June event was one of dozens sponsored this summer by the New York City Streets Renaissance, many of them still to come. At over 3,000 block parties per year, New Yorkers mark their independence from traffic and pollution. How are you celebrating your car-freedom this 4th of July weekend?

Our coverage of the Toward Carfree Cities conference continues with this Streetfilm from Elizabeth Press, who brings us a unique public service project.

Hundreds of conference participants helped break and remove asphalt from a 3,000 square foot parking lot. Depave.org is the mastermind behind the Fargo Garden Project. They promote the removal of unnecessary concrete and asphalt from urban areas. Depave.org will continue to work with Goldsmith Properties to transform this now asphalt-free site into a community greenspace. Once completed, the site will be used to educate the public about pavement removal and storm water drainage management.

Last Friday marked the first free bike share day on Governors Island, and Streetfilms' Elizabeth Press was on hand:

Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation (GIPEC), Transportation Alternatives and Bike and Roll have joined forces to create what they are calling New York City's first sustained bike share program. Every Friday between June 6th and October 4th, Governors Island visitors can rent adult and children's bikes at no charge. On Saturdays and Sundays bikes can be rented at cost.

Bike share specifics may be found here. And check out this 2007 Streetfilm for a virtual tour of the island.

Here's a great documentary-style Streetfilm about the Recycle-a-Bicycle program from Elizabeth Press, who writes:

Recycle-A-Bicycle takes donated bicycles, repairs them and reintroduces them to the community through earn-a-bike programs in schools and sales from their non-profit retail locations. Although their work mainly focuses on environmental education and job training programs for New York City youth, they also host repair classes for people of all ages. Every Tuesday evening after the shop closes, Susan Lindell teaches bike mechanics 101 to women.

 
From Streetfilms' animation division comes the third installment of traffic-calming shorts from Elizabeth Press. First she brought you chicanes, then the raised crosswalk. Now comes the diverter, which Elizabeth explains like so:

Diagonal diverters, half closures, entrance barriers, median barriers, semi-diverters; traffic calming techniques come in all shapes and sizes. They can help create more livable communities. As demonstrated in this short animation, once the diverters are in place, traffic decreases on the side street. Cars on the side street must turn left, but cyclists can continue straight. This makes the side street safer for cyclists and pedestrians.