Transportation

While the latest expansion is exciting, the station density on the Upper East and Upper West sides is lower than both the existing Citi Bike service area and DOT’s own density targets. This makes bike-share less convenient, potentially hampering ridership in two of the city’s densest neighborhoods. At this morning’s event, Daily News transit reporter Dan Rivoli asked about station density, and Kallos said he would welcome additional bike-share stations in the neighborhood.

City Councilman Ben Kallos and others take Citi Bikes for a spin Tuesday on the Upper West Side. JEENAH MOON/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

City Councilman Ben Kallos called the expansion critical to reducing crowding on the streets and over-packed 4, 5 and 6 subway trains.

“Even when we have the Second Avenue subway it’s still going to be overcrowded, Citi Bike will offer an alternative to so many people,” he said. “Our commutes are about to get a lot better, especially on the Upper East Side where we live the furthest distance from any public transportation.”

DOT, Citi Bike and other city officials marked the program’s expansion with an inaugural bike ride this morning, beginning at the new Upper East Side station at 67^th Street and Lexington Avenue, then biking across Central Park to the new Upper West Side station at 63^rd and Broadway.

“Uptown felt left out when the initial roll out came out. We were supposed to be a part of it, and now we are,” city councilmember Ben Kallos told the Observer.

Prior to the expansion, 59^th Street was the Northernmost location for Citi Bike stations, with the exception of a single Westside station at 61^stand Broadway.

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“The Upper East Side is a place where you can be the furthest from any form of public transportation,” Mr. Kallos said. “You can be living a half mile from the nearest subway station, and that subway station is overcrowded, and so are uptown buses. This will provide another form of public transportation.”

While many of us are somewhat dreading the forthcoming winter snowstorms—and ridership in the program has, not surprisingly, dropped off every winter—Mr. Kallos isn’t worried about the impending winter weather putting a damper on Citi Bike use.

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“The winter isn’t as cold as people make it out to be, and for the couple of days that it’s snowy and icy out, most people don’t even want to get in their car. Citi Bikes aren’t really something people use for longer than half an hour or 45 minutes, so you have the choice between walking half an hour or taking a bike ride.”

Following the Upper East and Upper West Side locations, Citi Bike will expand into Long Island City, Astoria, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bushwick, Prospect Heights, and Park Slope, among other neighborhoods.

Like Reynoso, Councilman Ben Kallos, a Democrat from the Upper East Side and a member of the Progressive Caucus, opposes the cap but supports the study. “The scientific method dictates we look at existing reality as a control before we test our hypothesis,” Kallos told Capital. “The moratorium on Uber is drastic, for every single reason that is being spoused that we need this moratorium we have regulations that have been introduced by Council members that have been sitting there since last year, so this doesn’t seem like an emergency.”

Councilmember Ben Kallos announced his opposition to the cap bill last week. Councilmembers Annabel Palma, Antonio Reynoso, and Robert Cornegy have previously spoken more supportively of Uber, prompting the company to send thank you mailers to residents in the councilmembers’ districts.

The City Council takes up proposed legislation this week that would put a one-year cap on the growth of ride-sharing services like Uber, pending a traffic study. New York City Council member Ben Kallos argues against the bill. Download the Episode (10mb)

Last week, the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled its first express bus line: the 86th Street crosstown, running back and forth between York Avenue on the east side and Broadway on the west. There was a news conference to celebrate, at Columbus Avenue. Polly Trottenberg, the mayor’s transportation commissioner, hailed “modest investments” yielding dividends in terms of saved time for long-beleaguered riders, to which Ben Kallos, a city councilman, added that time saved translates into revenue for businesses whose taxes help pay for further transit improvements: a virtuous circle.

Some residents were worried about losing parking to stations that are built in the roads, as opposed to on sidewalks. In response, the city asked the transportation department to consider sidewalk stations instead for those locations, said City Councilman Ben Kallos, whose district includes Upper East Side and Midtown.

[Council Member Ben Kallos has] announced plans to add bike patrols across the Upper East Side in a pilot program that's an outgrowth of Mayor Bill de Blasio's Vision Zero initiative -- a move to reduce preventable traffic deaths. They'll combine that enforcement with educational programming and incentives, like free Citi Bike day memberships for those who take safety classes. And they'll even throw in free vests, lights and bells for commercial cyclists who complete the training.

It's an effort many -- from the City Council and the NYPD to nonprofits like Bike New York and the privately funded Citi Bike -- are getting behind. Now, local businesses and individual cyclists have to do their parts. City restaurants should take care of their bicycle delivery staffs by providing vests, bells and other gear. Individuals have to educate themselves, slow down and travel safely.