bikelash! presentation at the national bike summit, washington d.c

@naparstek @brooklynspoke #bikelash

Doug Gordon | Aaron NaparstekNational Bike Summit

Tuesday, March 3, 2014

Moving Beyond

Bikelash!


Dr. Naparstek

Advocate

Journalist

Cyclist

Dr. Gordon

Advocate

Journalist

Cyclist


BIKELASH!Know how to identify and treat it.


PATIENT ZEROProspect Park West Bike Lane


Prospect Park West: Lay of the Land

You are

here.

New York City


Prospect

Park

West

Prospect Park West: Lay of the Land


For $1.8 million you can have a 3-bedroom on PPW.

It's an

"exclusive"

address!


A PPW townhouse sold for $8.45 million in 2010!


The address of Brooklyn's stars.

Movie stars!

Paul Bettany & Jennifer Connelly

Political stars!

Governor Hugh Carey

U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer

& NYC DOT's Iris Weinshall

Literary stars!

Jonathan Safran Foer & Nicole Krauss


The pedestrian safety problem has been around for a while.

Death-o-Meter at Grand Army Plaza, 1927.


June 2010, DOT redesigns Prospect Park West.

Before:

Intimidating three-lane speedway.

After:

Two-way protected bike lane.


Transformed overnight into a fantastic street for biking.

Photo by Dmitry Gudkov



Transformed overnight into a fantastic street for biking.


The impact of the redesign is dramatic:

Surge in the number of people

biking on PPW.

Speeding went way down:

From 74% of cars to 20%.

Sidewalk cycling disappeared:

From 46% of cyclists to 3%.

Car traffic volumes and travel

times stayed the same.

Crashes resulting in injuries went

down 63%.

And it's popular. 70%+ approval.



Surprise, surprise.

Not everyone is happy about it.


This is not your typical group of NIMBY bikelashers.

Former Deputy Mayor &

Sanitation Commissioner

Norman Steisel

Former DOT

Commissioner

Iris Weinshall


Did we mention Iris Weinshall's all-powerful husband?

Sorry… Wrong slide.


U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer

Did we mention Iris Weinshall's all-powerful husband?


Also atypical:

These bikelashers are mobilizing online.

291 members!


It's OK.

We can play that game…

291 members!

1,969 members!!!


A major litigation firm takes NBBL's case "pro bono."

"As a former federal prosecutor I've never seen something like this."

-- March 9, 2011


Sometimes a bike lane is more than just a bike lane.

"When I become mayor, you

know what I'm going to spend

my first year doing?" Mr.

Weiner said to Mr. Bloomberg,

as tablemates listened. "I'm

going to have a bunch of

ribbon-cuttings tearing out

your f*#king bike lanes."

-- March 4, 2011

Rep. Anthony Weiner

Remember this guy?


They launch a smear campaign attacking NYC DOT and advocates.

Video camera in the window of the mansion at 14 PPW


Chuck + Marcia: BFF's

CBS 2 Chief Political

Correspondent Marcia Kramer


Big rally on October 21, 2010

They're willing to hit the streets too.


This stuff can get… emotional.


Zombies for Better Bike Lanes?

Note to self: Try to be gracious toward your opponents.


What it's really all about…

The rallying cry of the aptly named Lois Carswell


We staged a counter-demonstration.

Transportation Alternatives' Director Paul Steely White


As on Facebook, supporters outnumber opponents 300 to 50.

We are also a much more generationally diverse crowd.


August 2011:

It takes more than a year, but we win in court.


BIKELASH SYMPTOMS


“This isn’t Amsterdam!”


“What is our objective in this city? To stigmatize the use of cars?

Do we want Brooklyn to replicate Amsterdam?”

– Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn Borough President


"One political consultant said the idea of expanding the use

of bicycles was foolhardy. Hank Sheinkopf told me:

'This isn’t Amsterdam.

We have many narrow streets and a great number of cars

and trucks.'”


“We will never be Amsterdam; never be

Copenhagen. We are never going to be Portland.”

– Louise Hainline, President,

Neighbors for Better Bike Lanes


“Beijing is looking more like New York City and New York

City is moving towards Beijing of the 1960s & '50s.”

– Marty Markowitz, Brooklyn Borough President


Beijing, 1960s


Beijing, 2013


“We keep hearing that St. Paul wants to be like

Portland, and I always ask, ‘How long does the snow

last in Portland?’”

– Clare Malloy Bluhm, Local Taxpayers

for a Livable Community, St. Paul, MN


"This is a city made for people who want to

go from point A to point B. This is not some

Seattle coffee, grunge, pothead experiment.

This is Chicago."

– John Kass, Chicago Tribune


But…


"…But a lot of people are not particularly calm

about bicyclists, and we are deeply sympathetic."


"Some of my best

friends are cyclists."


"We’re not opposed to bike lanes. We’re

opposed to this one and the way it was

done. You have to be concerned about all

who use it, and that includes drivers,

pedestrians, and the bicyclists."

- Norman Steisel, former Deputy Mayor,

NBBL member.


“This is consistent with DOT’s decision to enlist an

individual (the ‘Blogger’) to wage a viral campaign against

critics of the PPW configuration, many of whom support

bike lanes generally, including on Prospect Park West.”

– Jim Walden, NBBL attorney


"I'm not against cycling. I think it’s

environmentally friendly. But they share

the roads with drivers and pedestrians

and they have a responsibility to follow

the same laws."

– Eric Ulrich, New York City

Councilman, Queens


"Listen. First off, I’m not against bicycles. My wife and I

have a bicycle. But I have an absolute right to raise a

question as to whether or not bicycle lanes should be

emphasized as a viable alternative transportation mode."

– Marty Markowitz

Brooklyn Borough President


Pre-exemptive self-exoneration.

Invocation of humorless cycling advocates.

Invocation of personal cycling bona fides.

Reference to America’s love affair with cars.

Invocation of damnable scofflaw cyclists.


Additional bikelash symptoms:

Concern trolling.

Nobody bikes, so we don’t

need bike lanes.

There are too many cyclists,

so bike lanes are dangerous.


CITI BIKEVirulent, Rapid-Onset Bikelash


The invasion…

April 7, 2013


NOMB: Not On My Block!


Citi Bike: Lawsuits


May 27, 2013

The day we’ve all been waiting for!


“The bike lobby is an all-powerful enterprise.”


"They're just f*cking bikes!”


Citibike: A pleasant way for wayward pols to pay penance.


TREATMENTYou CAN Fight Bikelash


Strong local advocacy organizations are key!

Apologies to the many great bike advocacy groups not recognized here!


In NYC T.A. has been working since the 1970's.

New York Times, November 15, 1980


Even on PPW we had a long-running community process.

Park Slope Civic Council

Forum on Traffic and Transportation

March 2006


We brought together every stakeholder we could think of.

Grand Army Plaza Coalition

Visioning Workshops

Summer 2006.


Highlight the problem.

Generate demand for change.

Super-Advocate Eric McClure speed-gunning on Prospect Park West

65 mph!


Fast, inexpensive, incremental design improvements.

Test out ideas. Circumvent fear-mongering. Create "wins."


Test out ideas. Circumvent fear-mongering. Create "wins."

Fast, inexpensive, incremental design improvements.


Show what it's all about:

Safe streets for kids, seniors, families.

April 10, 2011: We Ride the Lanes. 700 participants.


Be organized, vocal and VISIBLE.

Outstanding community meeting tactic:

Hand out Day-Glo stickers. Take a photo of supporters.


Build your own media channels!


“Digital networks have acted

as a massive positive supply

shock to the cost and spread of

information, to the ease and

range of public speech by

citizens, and to the speed and

scale of group coordination.”

- Clay Shirky

The Internet is our competitive advantage.


Access to Information

Group communication

Group coordination

Public documentation and

distribution of information.

Four things that advocates

and organizers need most:


Livable streets advocacy in the "old days."


#BikeNYC

Today we can do so much more at a fraction of the cost.


#WinterBiker

A social media campaign

by the Boston Cyclists

Union after a state

agency refused to clear

riverfront bike paths.


#WinterBiker spreads to Buffalo, New York


How I learned to stop worrying and love the bikelash.


“…a cyclist has an increased

heart rate and respiration.

That means that the act of

riding a bike results in

greater emissions of carbon

dioxide from the rider. Since

CO2 is a greenhouse gas

and a pollutant, bicyclists are

actually polluting when the

ride.”

– Rep. Ed Orcutt

Kalama, Washington


Del Close, the father of improv comedy…

…and your guru for beating the bikelash.


The Upright Citizens Brigade

TV stars, comedians, and experts in

dealing with crazy situations.


1. “Yes, and…”

2. The Game of the Scene.

Fundamentals of improv:


What if they had a War on Cars and nobody showed up?


The Game

of the Scene.


"Imagine if the man on the bike was a terrorist!"


PPW protest: lots to disagree with here...but should you?


Neighbors for Better Judgment


Infiltrating enemy lines…with humor!


How do you play “The Game”?

• Many editors, writers, and TV producers have

a narrative in mind.

• They will not deviate from it even when the

facts work against them.

• Your job: recognize their game, call it out…

…and then heighten it.


What is The Brooklyn Paper’s “Game”?


Create your own game:

• People who bike are regular people.

• It’s not “funny” by itself, but that’s the point.

• In comparison, arguments against cycling.

seem ridiculous without need for arguing.


Prevent Bikelash in Your Community:

Build and support a healthy

advocacy eco-system.

Develop your own media

channels.

Change the conversation

through agreement.


There is a cure.

bikelash! presentation at the national bike summit, washington d.c

Environment

bikelash bikelash

bikelash prospect park

bike safety

new bike infrastructure

bike lanes

new brooklyn

needed bike infrastructure

movie stars