Urban – Transport for London Strategic Cycling Analysis, Regional Plan Association Jamaica Bay Greenway, 1997 NYC Bicycle Master Plan, Brooklyn Greenway Initiative—Greenway Adventures, San Francisco Slow Streets, NYC Council Intro 0291-2022 – CityWide Greenway Bill, 34th Avenue Open Street

Benefits

Extend Access to Green Space 

• Grayways furthers the objective of DOPR’s Walk to a Park by making all parks available to all residents, even those typically accessed by car—Shirley Chisholm, Orchard Beach.

• By regarding the act of travel as a recreational activity, the network would blur the boundaries between parks and their environs—the objective of Parks Without Borders.

Hamilton Beach

• It would showcase the $130 million invested in the Community Parks Initiative and broaden the constituency for further improvements.

• Adding recreational capacity outside Central/Prospect Park drives, Coney Island/FDR boardwalks and Hudson Greenway will reduce overcrowding during periods of peak use.

NY Times

Nationally, twice as many people bike for recreation as transportation. This infers that projects which prioritize recreational use will draw twice as many users vs. those that facilitate commuting.

“U.S. Bicycling Participation Benchmarking Study, 2015,” People for Bikes (p.22)

• The NYSERDA-Urban Cycling Solutions NY Cycling Census, found that “a third of respondents currently use their bikes for tourism purposes and that most are very likely to.”

Benefit Underserved Constituencies

• Extend opportunities for exercise and recreation to residents across NYC, particularly to communities with limited access to green space.

• Bridge transportation deserts.  Reduce household spending on travel.

• Enhance the already cost-effective health benefits of bike infrastructure by increasing rider exertion, the duration of trips taken and the safety of numbers.

• Create a rationale for bike share providers to extend service to outer boroughs—and a literal road map for where to site docking stations.

• Create the impetus for NYC’s bridge operators to expand bike capacity.

MTA’s seven toll bridges—none of which support bike access.  Bike map NYCDOT.

Create Jobs, Develop Local Economies

Cycle tourism added $97 billion to the U.S. economy in 2017.  Per capita, that’s $248 million per year in NYC—but that doesn’t factor the City’s 1300 mile bike grid, 20 million bike share trips and that 10% of adult residents ride regularly.

• Leverage the billions of dollars invested in bike paths and city parks as a vehicle to drive tourism and support the trend toward staycations.

• Support Business Improvement Districts’ promotion of local business and special events—Bronx Night Market.

• Enhance home values.  Smart growth studies by National Association of Realtors correlate a 5-10% increase to a homes’ proximity to bikeways.

• Bike shops rely on recreational cycling to generate the bulk of their profits.

• A network of attractive routes and destinations and regular rest stops will draw cyclists from Long Island, Westchester, Connecticut and  New Jersey.

Brookville Park

Have a Positive Effect on Climate Change

“There may be nothing more frustrating for a cyclist or advocate than a bike lane to nowhere—one that ends in a dangerous roadway, or at an intimidating intersection, or only exists for a block or two.” — League of American Bicyclists

Each of the 23 routes below comprise a map (red is outbound), RidewithGPS links, turn-by-turn directions (“cue sheet”) and a featured food stop. Total distance is 632.2 miles.  Average trip length is 27.5 miles.

Bronx #1 – Pelham Bay, 28.1 miles – GPS, cue sheet, food stops – Barino’s Market, Bronx Brewery 

Bronx #2 – Van Cortlandt, 23.7 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Kingsbridge Social Club

Bronx #3 – City Island, 28.0 miles – GPS, cue sheet, Johnny’s Reef, Tony’s Pier

Bronx #4 A-D – Harlem> Yonkers, Classon Point> Highbridge,  Soundview> Mt. Vernon, Ferry Point> Pelham