Wheels and feet - Jersey City, Hoboken work toward improved bike, pedestrian plans
by Ray Smith - Reporter staff writer - Dec 09, 2010

Jersey City and Hoboken have begun improving pedestrian safety and increasing bicycle access in order to be more environmentally friendly, improve the quality of life, and perhaps even open up a little parking if people use alternatives to cars.

Recently, Hoboken, a city that?s only one square mile in size and is constantly grappling with parking issues, some residents have begun to look at different, non-motorized forms of transportation.

The Hoboken Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan held a workshop on Tuesday, Nov. 30 so residents could meet with representatives from the RBA Group, the engineering and architectural firm conducting a citywide study of how to make the streets safer for bicyclists and pedestrians. The study is sponsored by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.
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?We have encouragement from the consultant for us to consider every street for bike lanes.? ? Ian Sacs
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Sweet Streets, an organization of Hoboken residents concerned about pedestrian and bike safety, solicited the grant from the NJDOT funding the study. At the workshop, residents discussed ways to make the streets safer.

One Hoboken resident who attended the event, Samantha Lopez, is gearing up to establish a bicycle rental program based in Hoboken.

?I was inspired by a trip to Europe,? Lopez said. ?Everyone was on a bike. They were aged 0-90, sometimes older.?

Lopez sees bicycling as a partial solution to the parking shortage in Hoboken.

?There?s the aggravation in Hoboken of going across town to see family, and trying to find a parking spot,? Lopez said. ?It can turn into an hour-long ordeal.?

Parking and Transportation Director Ian Sacs said the meeting was an indication of the progress the city has and will continue to make to make bicycle riding easier in the community.

Recommendations for Hoboken

A ?compilation of input from the RBA Group and the city? was available at the workshop. Sacs said he has seen citizens pay a lot of attention to detail with regards to safety issues since the beginning of the program.

The plan calls for additional bike lanes throughout the city, broken down into ?classes.?

An example of a Class One bike lane is along the walkway on Sinatra Drive downtown, which separates the roadway completely from a bike lane. A Class Two bike lane establishes a lane for bicyclists on a city street, such as on Grand and Madison streets. A Class Three bike lane is categorized as a street which is designated a safe street for bicyclists, and includes what are called ?sharrows? ? or shared arrows, where paint warns drivers that bicyclists are travelling on the street.

A proposed improvement on display last week would paint intersections, and include ergonomic crosswalks, which are wider and safer paths for pedestrians, in the downtown area near Hudson, Newark, and River streets.

The plans on display also outlined possibly re-instituting no parking on Sundays on Sinatra Drive, conducting a feasibility study to remove on-street parking, promoting bicycle sharing, installing ?wrong way? and ?ride with traffic? signs on streets for bicyclists, and resurfacing roads. If the draft plans come to fruition, symbolic gestures such as the city promoting a bike program or quarterly press releases on bicyclist and pedestrian safety would be made.

The draft of recommendations also includes priority intersection improvements along Washington Street, as well as traffic-calming measures throughout the city.

?We have encouragement from the consultant for us to consider every street in Hoboken for bike lanes,? Sacs said.

After the study is completed following more public meetings, Sacs said he hopes to take the plan and ?legislate with it.?

Sacs hopes that the city can add additional bike lanes and expand on bike safety efforts already in place.

The city of Hoboken needs a menu of options to fix the parking issues in Hoboken, according to Sacs, and he believes that by adding options other than driving, the problems will eventually ease.

Jersey City bikes, too

Meanwhile, next door, a Jersey City group is gaining traction on two wheels. Bike JC, a bicycle advocacy group that began a year ago, has held group rides through Liberty State Park, and promoted bicycle safety throughout Jersey City.

Bike advocacy has yielded mixed results. In 2008, over 280 signs were posted on various Jersey City streets that read ?BIKE ROUTE? and ?SHARE THE ROAD? but no painted bike lanes were added. Bike JC members have met with city planning officials in the last few months to encourage the implementation of bike lanes, pointing out that Hoboken has put in bike lanes on its streets.

A Jersey City spokesperson has previously said that although bike lanes were not installed throughout the city, nearly 200 bike racks have been installed, primarily at transportation hubs like Grove Street, Journal Square, and the Exchange Place PATH stations.

Ray Smith may be reached at RSmith@hudsonreporter.com

Read more: Hudson Reporter - Wheels and feet Jersey City Hoboken work toward improved bike pedestrian plans

www.BikeJC.org

http://www.hobokennj.org/news/mayor-d ... -to-work-week-517-to-523/

Mayor Dawn Zimmer Announces Hoboken?s Participation In National Bike To Work Week - 5/17 to 5/23

To kick off National Bike to Work Week, Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer will attend a press conference at the Hoboken Terminal on May 17 at 9 am which will feature the unveiling of a new bike rack provided by the Hudson Transportation Management Administration (TMA).

?Bicycles are not only recreational vehicles, but also an important mode of daily transportation,? said Mayor Zimmer, a long-time cycling advocate who often rides her bike to work. ?I urge residents to use their bikes more often, including during their daily commutes. It?s a great way to improve health, save money, reduce our city?s carbon footprint, and make our streets safer for everyone by reducing congestion.?

The Zimmer Administration is implementing a comprehensive bike plan to enhance safety and encourage cycling.

?Over 15 percent of our streets are already designated with bike lanes,? said Transportation and Parking Director Ian Sacs. ?And we are currently evaluating the best fit for bike lanes on many other streets.?

Some additional facts about bicycling in Hoboken:

* Speeding has been reduced by over 30 percent on streets designated with bike lanes.
* Over 600 bike parking spaces exist in Hoboken, and that number will increase this summer by 250.
* Thousands of Hoboken residents currently bicycle every day.
* An expanded set of bicycle safety laws are planned for release shortly.

Mayor Zimmer encourages all commuters to stop by the TMA table on Monday morning to learn more about sharing the road and bicyclists? legal rights so everyone can travel safely, whether they walk, bike, or drive.

Bike to Work Day/Week began in Europe nearly 100 years ago and was introduced to the US by the League of American Bicyclists in 1956. Each year more cities join in the movement as the importance of physical fitness, sustainable transportation options, traffic, and pollution continues to grow.

The Hudson Transportation Management Association (TMA), a division of the Hudson County Improvement Authority, assists commuters and travelers to make better transit choices. The TMA will be at the Hoboken PATH on Monday, May 17 to support Bike to Work Week and provide cycling information and important safety tips. Hudson TMA works with employers in Hudson County to improve their employees? commute. Studies have found that those who bicycle to work, are less stressed, more productive, have fewer absences, and lower health care costs.

Not just spinning their wheels
Residents form advocacy group for safer biking on local streets
by Ricardo Kaulessar
Reporter Staff Writer

WANT BETTER BIKING ? Cycling advocates came to the first meeting of the better biking/safe streets group, Bike Jersey City at Zeppelin Hall this past Tuesday. Some even brought their bikes.


Whether they walked, came by car, or biked, more than 20 local cycling advocates came to Zeppelin Hall on Barrow Street on a cold night this past Tuesday to offer suggestions for making Jersey City more bicycle-friendly.

They were there for the first meeting of the new better biking/safe streets group, Bike Jersey City.

Carly Berwick, who lives with her husband and baby on the city?s West Side, was the moderator of the meeting. Berwick spoke before the meeting about why she was taking part.

?When I bike with my kid, you suddenly become alert to how difficult it is to be a bicyclist here,? Berwick said.
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More than 200 signs are posted on various streets that read ?BIKE ROUTE? and ?SHARE THE ROAD.?
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During the 90-minute meeting, the attendees brought up the problems they have had riding a bicycle on Jersey City streets and suggested solutions to make the state?s second-largest populated city more bike-friendly.

They called for the implementation of an extensive bicycle system throughout Jersey City, and a program to encourage bicycling for commuting and for recreation.

One of the major issues was the absence of bike lanes and bikeways in the city, even though there are over 200 signs posted on various streets that read ?BIKE ROUTE? and ?SHARE THE ROAD.?

Bikes to work every day

Daisy DeCoster, a librarian at St. Peter?s College, does the one-mile bike ride to work from her home near Journal Square and sees those signs frequently, and they concern her.

?There are too many people who will see those signs and take them literally, which can be a danger,? DeCoster said during the meeting.

Making biking a city priority

Another task is getting elected officials to pay closer attention to this issue. City planners in the past decade have studied how to incorporate bicycling into everyday traffic on different occasions, but progress has been slow.

In 2000, the city had the Transportation Policy Institute of Rutgers University prepare the Jersey City Bicycle Plan for the Jersey City Division of Planning, calling for the city to be divided into five sections with signs pointing out various biking destinations. In 2006, the Planning Board approved an amendment to the city?s master plan to include the ?Jersey City Bikeway System? plan, but excluded bicycle lanes and advocated for signage.

In 2007, the city?s Department of Public Works studied whether the bikeway system could include actual bike lanes in possible locations such as Mallory Avenue, Washington Boulevard, Washington Street, Christopher Columbus Drive, and Phillip Street, all wide lane thoroughfares. But the study ran into an impasse over the possibility that parking would be eliminated to make room for bike lanes.

Bicycling enthusiast Chris Bray, a Bergen-Lafayette resident for the past five years, recalled at the meeting a conversation with Mayor Jerramiah Healy about making Jersey City more amenable to bicycle riding.

According to Bray, ?[Healy] said, and this is a direct quote, ?You bike around here, are you crazy? I want people to use public transportation.? ?

Riding some optimism

Chris Englese, co-owner of Easy Riders JC, a bike rental and tour company, said that a bike path could be forthcoming based on a recent article in the Jersey City Reporter. That article in October addressed the $72 million extension of Jersey Avenue in downtown Jersey City. In that plan, Jersey Avenue going into Phillips Avenue in Liberty State Park would become a 36-foot wide boulevard with two travel lanes and one parking lane. Also included, a 10-foot-wide bike path would be adjacent to the travel lane on one side of the roadway and separated by a landscaped island. Construction is scheduled to start in August.

Other optimistic moments from the meeting were suggestions not just from newcomers to town, but also from veteran advocates, such as activist and former mayoral candidate Dan Levin, a longtime champion of a more bike-friendly Jersey City. Open space enthusiasts Maureen Crowley and Mike Selander also participated.

Those attending were ready to take on their assignments as part of the new group, so that they can report their progress at a next meeting tentatively scheduled for Jan. 26 at a site to be determined.

But Rodney Morweiser, co-owner of the bike shop Grove Street Bicycles, cautioned that this initiative will not bring about changes ?overnight.?

Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com.


Sign Online Petition Here

A bit off topic - but shows the need...

Boy on bike is hit-run victim; driver charged

Tuesday, December 08, 2009
By KARINA L. ARRUE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

UNION CITY - A 16-year-old boy riding a bicycle was struck and severely injured in a hit-and-run Friday shortly before 10 p.m., police said.

The incident occurred at 19th Street and New York Avenue.

The boy was transported to Jersey City Medical Center with severe head trauma and other injuries and remained in critical condition yesterday, officials said.

The driver of the vehicle that was allegedly involved, Carlos M. Then, 36, of West New York, was arrested at his home shortly after the incident and charged with resisting arrest, criminal mischief, driving under the influence, and leaving the scene of an accident with injuries, officials said.

Witnesses told police that a black Lincoln Town Car struck the boy and left the scene with the bicycle dragging beneath the car, officials said.

The incident was also caught on video by a surveillance camera.

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I agree however is the city worried about liability ? Knowing that there are bike route signs all over the city I would think they would welcome the idea to finish the bike destination project with painted lines. Perhaps we can find out what and where the monies came from to fund the project. Some do feel that silly bikes should stay off the roads and riding on the sidewalk is for pedestrians only so what is a biker to do ?? I use the bike all the time to get around Jersey City I couldn't get to nearly half the places with my car (ouch) It's a shame that the new parking meters on Central Ave. are being replaced by these little poles with no meters on them. The meters on the poles prevented bike theft. Try doing business near the county court house such as Maloney Meats I would never get a parking space there never but with the bike I'm there every week...spending money.

the city maybe a little corrupt but it shouldnt cost millions to lay a little white paint on the roads to make some bike lanes. its really the least the city can do, especially since healy claims to promote alternative modes of transportation. i dont think a lot of people who live here would be that opposed to it. im going to try to make this meeting.

How about you learn about the merits of having more bikes on the road and less cars instead of just being an uneducated ass. There are all sorts of benefits, including personal health, pollution reduction, and traffic decongestion to name a few.

By Shane Smith ? Dec 7th, 2009 ? Category: Lead Story, News

From Portland, Ore., which has the most bike commuters in the nation, to Davis, Calif., which boasts bike routes so comprehensive that the city recently eliminated school bus service, many American cities are finally implementing bicycle-friendly policies, spurred on by ? and further growing ? the increasing number of people who are opting to travel by two wheels instead of four.

Closer to home, our neighbor to the east has been busy improving the cycling climate ? and the real climate ? under transportation commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. In the last three years, New York City has created 200 miles of new on-street bicycle lanes, bringing the city?s all-around bike lane total, including those in parks, to 620 miles.

But in New Jersey, a state too often tarred as an asphalt jungle, progress has been a little slower to come by. For instance, the Garden State is one of only 10 states nationwide that still lacks a Bicycle Friendly Community, as designated by the League of American Bicyclists.

Jersey City?s bike culture is growing, if not quite to the extent that it is in New York City. But as anyone who rides here knows, it is not always an easy task.

Ten years ago, before the latest wave of cyclemania, a group of residents formed the Bicycle Advocates of Jersey City, an organization whose aim it was to make the city more bike-friendly. Best we can tell, despite staging the city?s first-ever bike rally in September 1999, the organization fizzled out not long after it was formed ? a recent phone call found that its toll-free phone number was no longer in service, and little information can be found about the group online.

Now a new crop of bike commuters and enthusiasts hope to pick up the torch. They will gather at Zeppelin Hall this Tuesday at 8 pm to form Bike JC, an advocacy organization that seeks to improve bicycle safety in the city and promote increased bicycle use.

Organizer Carly Berwick, who has lived in Jersey City for over seven years, became interested in joining a bike advocacy group after a few close calls between cars and her two young children. She commends the city for the steps it has already taken towards fostering bicycle culture, including the bike plan that the Planning Board added to the city?s development Master Plan in 2006. But she and others think that the city could use organized support from the community in developing future policies. In particular, Berwick would like the city to examine successful models in other places, such as her hometown of New Haven, where she says ?small things have made a huge difference? in creating a culture of sharing the road.

In addition to Berwick, local bicycle institutions will be leading Bike JC?s efforts. Grove Street Bicycles, which opened in April of this year, was for many a welcome ? and overdue ? shot in the arm for Chilltown?s cycling community. Berwick calls the bike shop ?an inspiration? to the city?s bikers. Owner Mike Wilson says that safety for cyclists is his main concern for the group; many of his customers are ?people who have not ridden a bike for many years,? and he doesn?t want them to be discouraged by Jersey City?s sometimes harrowing cycling conditions. ?Even the seasoned riders find the roads unaccommodating for bike riding,? he says.

Wilson is an advocate of bike lanes, a policy that has provoked some controversy in cycling wonk circles; some advocates would prefer to pursue policies that encourage drivers do a better job of sharing the road with bikers. Disagreements like these are among those that Bike JC will tackle as it formulates its mission on Tuesday.

Other amenities that Wilson would like to see the city create include more bike parking racks and a bike and skateboard park. He is also keen on organizing citywide cycling events to promote bicycle culture.

Easy Riders JC is another recent addition to the city?s bike scene, having opened in June. The company, which offers bike rentals and guided bike tours of Jersey City, is owned by Christopher Englese and Damian Wieczorek.

?The city should recognize that cycling is growing,? Englese says. He?d like Bike JC to push the city to to create bike lanes and install proper lighting and signage along bike routes, as well as create additional parking racks.

Englese would like to see increased driver and cyclist education, as well.

?I don?t think a lot of [drivers] understand the actual laws about cycling,? a sentiment many a biker might share when recalling encounters with overly wary or overly aggressive drivers on Jersey City?s streets. By the same token, he says that because of a general lack of signage and bike lanes, many cyclists ?don?t ? pay attention and ride properly.?

In addition to inviting the community to Bike JC?s organizational meeting on Tuesday, the organizers are asking folks to show support for the group?s efforts by signing an online petition that asks the city to help make Jersey City ?the most bike friendly city in the state.?

Link to Article

Here is some more information:

Jersey City Bikeway Plan Map (PDF)

If anyone has time and/or interest, below is the link to Jersey City Master Plan - Circulation Element (bottom of page, amended July 14, 2009). It's about 200 pages and we are trying to find anything in regards to bike lanes, better signage, racks, etc. Whatever is listed is just a recommendation, according to JC Division of Planning so we building a coalition to implement them to bike Jersey City bike friendly.

Jersey City Master Plan Page

Sign the petition here

or

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/BikeFreindlyJC/

It will be a hard task to accomplish so we could use help from everyone, including signing an online petition or a paper one at numerous establishments in Jersey City (it's a start).

Any business owners who would like to support this cause and have a petition in your store, please contact us via email.
We are in the very early stages of this movement and will be announcing more news in the upcoming weeks.

Make Jersey City Bike Friendly Online Petition

I gotta say that NOT having bike lanes forces cyclists to be more aware of their surroundings. I ride daily, both in JC and NYC, so my experience in riding in the area is wide and varied. Drivers in JC, as everybody already knows, are wild savages with little regard for pedestrians, cyclists or even other cars. I feel ambivalence towards bike lanes because I think they could lull recreational bikers into a false sense of security. Even when riding in a bike lane, I am constanly amazed by how little regard people pay to these lanes. Taxi drivers and delivery trucks constantly invade these lanes by parking, stopping and/or loading and unloading over them. People walk in bike lanes, to avoid crowded sidewalks, and never think that bikes are travelling at very high speeds right in those lanes. Bike lanes are no panacea... Still, I wouldn't give them up. They offer us a greater level of safety, and can lead to a more orderly co-mingling of different modes of transportation.

To be perfectly honest, I can not imagine bike lanes in JC... I am not trying to be a downer. For bike lanes to be a successful and viable concept in JC, we would need a very serious education campaign. Speeding needs to be tamed, and enforcement of all types of traffic violations need to be stepped up. To date, I have experienced lots of hostilities while riding in JC. I have been yelled at, cursed at, and I have even had several cars play intimidation games in which they get progressively closer to me until they almost force me to stop, or get off the road. Not a pleasant experience. Now, I just simply limit my JC riding to my commuting to the PATH route, which is about 1.5 mile each way, or to hit the gym. Most of my riding takes place in NYC, where I continue my commute after getting off the PATH.


To those of you fighting the good fight towards a more bike-friendly JC, you have my support and admiration. I would like to cooperate one way or another. Keep us posted!!

I have never tried riding a bike sign. I wonder if it's hard to learn? It seems REALLY uncomfortable.

Oh well, I guess if you can't have bike lanes for bikes, then signs are second best.

The city spent $150,000 on those bicycle signs with a vague promise of "looking into" doing a proper bicycle lane impact study at some point in the future "if cyclists responded" to the sign installations.

If they were serious, that meant that we cyclists were nothing more than guinea pigs to test out a dangerous semi-random "route" system, with unaware cyclists being under the impression that the bike routes had been thoroughly investigated for safety when that was far from the truth.

I'm even more cynical than that though, and think that the city thought they would look nice and give Jersey City a little bit of a cosmetic sheen of civility that it certainly lacks. Either that or some developer was crying about the lack of things to include in brochures besides a thousand different ways to say "vibrant community".

Now all the signs are starting to disappear, which might be a good thing.

Quote:I like the effort, but there aren't any bike lanes on Montgomery or Columbus or Grand. Probably not on a lot of those. Unless you mean the bike signs?


I've been pretty confused by the signs. I thought they were indicators of bike lanes in the future but I guess not. What a waste of money. Bike path signs do exactly jack shit to help anybody. Bikers don't notice them, cars don't notice them, pedestrians don't notice them.

Does Transportation Alternatives have a JC group? I know that they have been critical in the fight for bike rights in NYC. Might be worth teaming up with them.

sounds good !! drop em off

I ride a lot and have several friends in town who do as well. An advocacy group is sorely needed, I agree. I would like to help, and can spread the word about any meetings that might be held on this.

I think it would be great if Easy Riders and our great new bike shops could hand out small laminated cards with the NJ code regarding rules for riding. It would really be a great way to start educating people about safe biking. This way they'd know that its against the law to riding on the sidewalk, ride against the flow of traffic. People should know that the law give cyclists all the rights and responsibilities of a driver of a motor vehicle.

39:4-14.1 Rights and Duties of Persons on Bicycles.
Every person riding a bicycle on a roadway is granted all the rights and subject to all of the duties of the motor vehicle driver.

39:4-14.2, 39:4-10.11 Operating Regulations.
Every person riding a bicycle on a roadway shall ride as near to the right roadside as practicable exercising due care when passing a standing vehicle or one proceeding in the same direction. ... Every person riding a bicycle shall ride in the same direction as vehicular traffic.

Hey Rodney,
May I include Grove St as a sponsor on the petition? No strings attach. Just to let people know that you guys support this cause. I will also drop off some paper petition for customers to sign at your establishment.



Make Jersey City Bike Friendly Petition

Grove Street Bicycles is down to help any way we can

With innovative design elements like unmarked bicycle lanes, I totally see why Jersey City won the American Planning Association award.

time does fly ....

being involved in campaigning city-wide this past year provided more and off-line opportunities to meet and discuss advancing bicycling in Jersey City including people interested in getting an advocacy group going.

we now have two first rate bike shops, a bicycle rental company, galvanized bike racks were dropped hap-hazard through out the city and folders are becoming common place.

there is a need more than ever for a common sense approach to guide and improve bicycling in JC.

perhaps the gloomy days of winter after the holiday season would be an "inspirational" time to get an advocacy group off the ground and have a kick off meeting.

I am more than happy to get an email group going or someone else can do.

Dan

danlevin@onejerseycity.org or daniel.levin@verizon.net

Quote:

I made a google map of the bike lanes in JC and Hoboken.

It would be great if JC could get someone like Janette Sadik Khan, the DOT commish over in NYC who has been working to make biking a viable way to get around. Without spending a lot of $$ she has made a huge impact already.

Easy Riders JC Tours & Bike Rentals is proud to sponsor a petition to make Jersey City bike friendly!

As bicyclists and citizens, we are committed to and a major proponent of Jersey City becoming the most bike friendly city in the state. Seeking to work with our neighborhoods, schools and politicians, we look forward to promoting and pursuing better bicycle route signage, the creation of bicycle lanes on streets and the placement of additional bike racks around transport hubs, recreational areas and shopping districts.

In regards to working with the city on the above mentioned, we are starting off with signing petitions both online and paper to be forwarded to local council officials and proper Jersey City departments.

We are also looking for business owners who would be willing to have a paper petition in their establishment, anyone who has contacts in the local government or would just like to work with us on this cause. For more information, please contact us at contact@EasyRidersJC.com.

Have a bike story you would like to share with us? Write it here or send it to us to the above address. Don't forget to email your friends, family and coworkers.

Sign Online Petition Now Here:

or

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/BikeFreindlyJC/

Cheers,
Easy Riders JC

if anyone does any city riding, let me know... i ride a track bike/fixed gear, don't see to many in downtown JC...

i'm always down for a ride, preferably through city traffic... ;)

http://velospace.org/node/1119

Did anything ever come out of this??

I like to ride a lot and would definitely be down for organized rides. I'm always doing ones in NYC, but local would definitely be better.

Cars passing me is a big fear on large streets. I saw somebody posted above that you can't ride on the sidewalk, is that true?
Do I have to have a helmet when I ride?


About Hoboken being nice to bikers, I think every city Hoboken and above are good. I followed this bike route from JC http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/NYC-to-GWB-to-Hoboken

I think the nice route ended in Fairview, but that might have been cause i was going the wrong way.

There is only one way to ride on Ocean Avenue - FAST!

Although there are laws prohibiting riding on the sidewalk, it is a big issue in the Heights because Central Avenue is packed with pedestrians. Kids will tear up and down the sidwalks. It can be dangerous, especially when they come out of nowhere.

I have biked on JFK Blvd often and during rush hour, too. There are a few hairy stretches - around Journal Square, by the turnoffs for 139 and Newark, the upper twenties to about 32nd Street in the North Bergen-UC area. Personally, I think New York and Bergenline Avenues and Summit near the Sqaure are a lot worse.

When I first started riding, I was terrified of traffic. Two more experienced riders helped me get over this by biking with me. One would bike in front of me and one would bike behind me. Following the lead of the rider ahead and knowing someone had my bck helped relax me.

I find the hostility of drivers much more of an issue than traffic. In Union City, a passing car threw soda in my face. In Union City, North Bergen and Jersey City, I have been cursed, cut off and hazed. I have also had kids cycling in groups try to play "chicken" with me. In all fairness, things do seem to be improving.

Hoboken is so polite and civilized towards cyclists it might as well be another country.

Thanks a lot for the map

Its trully awesome

Its exactly what i was looking for

Quote:

yea, but its illegal for a reason. its dangerous to ride where someone can be walking around a corner or something and its slower than riding in the road.

Manhattan and Brooklyn are good examples of urban areas with more people and more cars than JC that have successful bike lanes without taking away street parking anywhere. There are plenty of roads with wide lanes that can easily fit lanes on at least one side without compromising any traffic or parking.

We already have bike lanes in Jersey City, it's called the sidewalk. It is too dangerous to ride in the street, especially on JFK boulevard and Christopher Columbus drive where drivers often drive fast and recklessly. Like on JFK, it is physically impossible for a bicyclist to ride, because during rush hour, the cars are packed to tightly, and during the rest of the day, people drive at 60 mph in a 25 mph zone. Most of the bicyclists ride on the sidewalk, so I think the city should decriminalize riding on the sidewalk for safety reasons.