If any of you read Streetsblog NYC (or actually watch CBS 2 News), you will know that for some odd reason, the editorial staff at the Channel 2 News seems to have it out for New York City's innovative and bold bicycle planning initiative. Well, not content to just focus their displeasure on only NYCDoT on this issue, the news staff CBS 2 has crossed the Hudson to take a shot across the bow of New Jersey's most progressive town on bike/ped planning, Hoboken.
While their bias is again heavily slanted, as is evident in the way the piece opens up, it’s not as bad as I feared it could have been, particularly if you saw any of Marcia Kramer's truly anti-bike lane pieces from the past 6 months.
Unfortunately CBS 2 News never got anyone from the City of Hoboken, like the mayor or Ian Sacs (Director of Transportation and Parking for the City of Hoboken), to rebut any of the article's insinuations. If they did, they might have been informed that bike riding on the sidewalk is a sign that the city streets are perceived by some cyclists to be too dangerous to ride on. The best remedy for this problem would be some sort of bicycle facility, like a bike lane, sharrow or even a cycletrack to give cyclists a more comfortable and appropriate place to ride. This is a much more effective solution to prevent cyclists riding on the sidewalk then any level of police enforcement.
Thanks goes to Streetsblog for staying on top of daily local news articles focused on sustainable transportation issues.
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