Amsterdam Bikes!

This is a guest blog by Car-less Long Island board member Sharon Stanley.

On Saturday, May 7, 2016, I hopped on my bicycle for the first time in at least 15 years and joined Car-Less LI on their first annual, “Bike to Work Parade and Fashion Parade.”  We had friends in suits, medical gear, dresses and other forms of fun garb. It was a marvelous experience and it encouraged me to think about using my bicycle for fun and business.  It also reminded me of the serious problems with bicycle and pedestrian safety, and the need for better public transportation options on Long Island.  More importantly, the need to reduce driving time will reduce carbon emissions and take a small step towards helping in the fight to stop climate change.

This summer my family and I traveled to the Netherlands and Scandinavian countries for the first time.  I was intrigued by the bicycle culture in Amsterdam.  Here was a living and breathing bike to work parade.  Bicycles were everywhere and people were in suits, dresses and pumps and here I was seeing a living representation of an everyday “bicycle parade.”  Everywhere we went, bicyclists were zooming by.  Bicycles were parked everywhere.        

The prevailing bicycle culture inspired me to share my photos and experience with Car-less LI. 

Of course, everywhere you go there is theft and Amsterdam was no different.  When someone stole a bicycle here, they might use it for a small distance and then toss it away into the canal.  Sadly, Amsterdam needs a mechanism to retrieve these stolen bicycles from the canals.  A large crane attached to a canal boat is used to pick up all of the water logged bicycles and place them in this accompanying canal boat. 

I wish I had gotten photos of some of the different bicyclists and their professional garb.  But everywhere we went, cyclists were zooming past us.  Experiencing a “living” bike to work parade was insightful.  The Scandinavian and Netherlands countries have a very strong bicycle culture, in addition to a commitment to environmental concerns. People outfitted their bicycles with wooden boxes and milk crates in order to carry any needed supplies and run every day errands.  Parents had wooden wagons with large sides that provided safe shelter for small children attached to the front and the back of the bicycles.  We even saw groups of children on class trips, in a wagon that seats 6 attached to the back of bicycles.  Not only were these groups having fun, the fresh air and exercise is a healthy lifestyle to live by.  I came back home inspired to join the “Car-less LI” group in their quest to develop a better and safer bicycle culture on Long Island.

May 7, 2016 Bike-to-Work Fashion Parade. From left to right: Bill, Sylvia, Sharon (blog author), Chris, Mark, Steve and Kelly.

Don't let the bullies define the culture

(The letter below was submitted to Newsday on 11/16/2015. Since it hasn't been published, two weeks later, I will assume it won't be published and hence it is safe to publish here.)

Sunday was the World Day of Remembrance of Road Crash Victims. As such, it is worth noting that in just the past two months on Long Island there have been at least 30 serious traffic crashes with pedestrians and cyclists, 22 of which were fatal. (www.Car-lessLI.org/crash-list )
 
This comes on the heels of a report released on Thursday by the University of California that estimated that by the year 2050 cities could reduce their carbon emissions by as much as 10% and their infrastructure costs by as much as $25 trillion by encouraging more cycling. Many municipalities around the country have already found that major Complete Streets renovations have not only led to a healthier and happier population, but have been a boon to small business, sales tax revenues and property values. Of course, these overhauls also lead to fewer pedestrian and cyclist deaths.
 
Many localities in Long Island have begun Complete Streets planning, but it needs to be island-wide. The deadliest streets are the major thoroughfares such as Hempstead Turnpike, which happen to also be major centers of commercial activity as well. We need to make every street in Long Island safer and friendlier, even monsters such as Hempstead Turnpike.
 
In the mean time we can incorporate small, inexpensive changes that could save pedestrian and cyclist lives such as signage reminding turning traffic to yield to pedestrians and watch for cyclists and reminding motorists of the share-the-road policy: leave 3 feet between you and a cyclist sharing your lane.  We should also ticket motorists who don’t follow these rules. Most Long Island drivers want friendlier roadways, but are bullied by the small percentage of aggressive ones who blare their horns or race around them when they deign to stop for pedestrians.
 
Let’s not let the bullies dictate our driving culture.
 
Sincerely,
Sylvia Silberger, Founder
Car-less Long Island

* Addendum:  Since sending Newsday the letter, the crash-list has risen to 34, 24 fatal. Also, I have learned since then that NYS does not have a 3-foot share-the-road law.