N.Y.ers shift to 2-wheel transit
Pandemic spurs cycling boom as ...
New Yorkers ditched the subway for good old-fashioned pedal power this summer, cycling a near-record number of times across the East River bridges as the COVID-19 pandemic scared people away from crowded mass transit.
More than 25,000 cyclists crossed the city’s four East River bridges on an average weekday from July through October, according to data from the city Transportation Department.
That’s up by some 4,300 daily cyclists — or 21% — from the same period of 2019. October saw the biggest gains in biking, with 25,537 cyclists crossing the bridges, 30% more than last year.
The bike boom happened as subway ridership fell to just 25% of what it was before the pandemic. Ridership has since rebounded to roughly 32% of prepandemic levels.
“My read is that these are people who mostly would have used the subway and learned in the spring the advantages of biking for both work and other travel,” said transportation analyst Bruce Schaller, who noted the surge occurred as car traffic dropped in the city, giving cyclists more space on streets.
“For people not so comfortable riding in traffic, it was a chance to bike without traffic. Then as traffic slowly came back, it would seem, many people had built enough comfort and confidence to continue cycling.”
The bridge bike counts are a key metric in determining the popularity of cycling in the city, and are usually reported during peak bike season from April through October.
The number of cyclists counted during this year’s season were among the highest ever recorded — even after April’s bridge count dropped by 50% from 2019 as all nonessential businesses in the city closed and New Yorkers hunkered down to contain the spread of COVID-19.
More cyclists have meant big business for the city’s bike shops, said Charlie McCorkell, owner of Bicycle Habitat, which has two locations in Brooklyn and one in Manhattan.
McCorkell said wait times for repairs at his two Brooklyn locations were regularly 45 minutes to an hour over the summer — and said repair work was still up 35% in November from last year.
People bought more bikes, too.
“While we normally stock 1,000 bikes in our shops for the bike season, we often saw our inventory levels drop below 300 and once or twice dipped below 200,” said McCorkell. “People wanted to stay out of the subways, and biking proved to be a good choice for many.”
But as more New Yorkers have converted to two wheels, cyclists deaths are also up from years past.
The Transportation Department reports 22 people have died riding bikes in the city so far this year. That’s down from the 29 killed in all of 2019 — but still the second-highest total for a calendar year since 2007.