This week, The Observer looked at the Department of Transportation’s $4.3 billion capital campaign over the past for years. Despite all the attention paid to bike lanes and pedestrian plazas, like those at Prospect Park West and Times Square, those account for less than 1 percent of the entire budget. There have been 757 projects undertaken in the past four years. Here are a dozen of them.
WASHINGTON - DECEMBER 08: (L-R) Musician and author David Byrne, Janette Sadik-Khan, Commissioner, New York City Department of Transportation, and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) attend the Cities, Bicycles, and the Future of Getting Around panel discussion hosted by The Brookings Institution and the National Association of City and Transportation Officials (NACTO) at the NEWSEUM on December 8, 2009 in Washington, DC. Panelists drew, in part, discussion topics from David Byrne's recently released book, "Bicycle Diaries". (Photo by Paul Morigi/WireImage) *** Local Caption *** Earl Blumenauer;David Byrne;Janette Sadik-Khan
NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 17: A man rides his bike along a controversial bike lane next to Prospect Park on August 17, 2011 in New York City. In what is being viewed as a victory for the Bloomberg administration, a judge on Tuesday dismissed an effort by Brooklyn residents to remove a bicycle lane installed by the city on Prospect Park West. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, along with his transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, has attempted to make New York more bicycle and pedestrian friendly with numerous bike and pedestrian lanes around Manhattan effort has angered some in the city who see the lanes as adding to traffic, taking up parking spaces and giving more power to bicyclists. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Bottom line: bicycles are cheap. Low public capital costs, as this article shows, and (unlike transit) no public operating costs. And they are relatively cheap for users, too.
And the United States of America is broke — federal, state, local, financial, personal and private equtiy buyout firms, all in debt up to the eyeballs. With a currency that will not be able to buy oil on favorable terms that much longer.
This is the world Generation Greed is leaving behind. Bicycles are one of may adaptations that will be required.