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Access-A-Ride Renders Bike Lane Inaccessible
By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 12, 2009
Modified Nov 12, 2009
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By
John Del Signore
Published Nov 12, 2009
Modified Nov 12, 2009
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If you spend enough time riding a bike around New York, you learn to steer clear of those insane Access-A-Ride drivers, who are employed by NYC Transit to provide transportation for people with disabilities who can't take the subway or bus. In our experience, Access-A-Ride drivers are maniacs, and in recent years, the drivers have been in some high-profile accidents, including a fatality and a hit-and-run.
This morning we spotted this Access-A-Ride van parked on the new elevated bike lane on Sands Street in Brooklyn. (Yes, this is the same spot previously favored by a Time Warner cable van.) The Access-A-Ride driver had to pull up over a curb to park there, and when asked if he was aware that he was blocking the bike lane, he said, "What's the big deal? Just go around." Classic. But because this bike lane is raised, pedaling out into traffic is even more risky/annoying than when a street-level bike lane's blocked.
A spokesman for NYC Transit gave us this statement after viewing the photo: "Access-A-Ride drivers are instructed to observe all restrictions on parking and standing. However, due to traffic, drivers are often challenged to find safe locations to either pick up or drop off customers."
This year the DOT reached a goal of adding 200 more miles of bike lanes in NYC—but to many motorists, these are actually parking lanes. We should probably put together a year-end "wall of shame" gallery of the most egregious bike lane blocks, so if you've got any particularly galling photos, send to tips(at)gothamist(dot)com or tag your Flickr shots "gothamist."
Tagged
access-a-ride
bike lane
brooklyn
dumbo
nyc
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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