Red Light District
A few parts from a Camgagnolo Record hubset.
Part of the problem with the recent enforcement of laws governing cyclists in Central Park (if you haven’t read elsewhere, the NYPD has included Central Park in its current program to cite cyclists who disobey traffic regulations, including those riding during car-free hours) is that in the past the laws have been only intermittently enforced. Actually, I have never seen them enforced. I’ve ridden in Central Park and blown through every red light in that park over and over again, even with cops in the immediate area, and never been ticketed. Even if I do stop for a red light, the runners who use the same section of the road I do never stop for a red light, no are they being ticketed during the current “crack down.” I am not arguing that going through a red light isn’t against the law. I am saying that past police activities have created a tacit “enforcement-free” zone that nearly anyone who rides in the park knows exists. That is, until suddenly it doesn’t.
However, the problem isn’t this sudden or increased enforcement. Rather I think the problem comes from the larger question of what the park’s role in the city actually is. Is it a static space set aside for recreation or is it merely a thoroughfare where some people happen to linger? I would argue that it is a space for recreation to the exclusion of through travel, and that cars should be permitted on roads in the park that do not bring them in direct contact with pedestrians, runners, cyclists, and pedicabs only – the several east-west transects that run through the middle of the park. The only exceptions should be for park vehicles and those assisting the handicapped who require access to the various venues within the park – restaurants or performances. The park should otherwise be closed to car and truck traffic all day, every day, all year. No taxis. No hired cars.
The reason this should happen is not because I want to ride my bike in Central Park without having to look over my shoulder to see if a guy in an SUV is about to take me out on his way to anger management class. No, this change should happen because having cars in the park intermittently creates confusion that decreases safety, just as the intermittent enforcement creates confusion about what is allowed and what is not. I have seen many tourists wander out into traffic during the summer months. They don’t know when cars are allowed and when they are not. Neither do many residents. None of these people goes into Central Park expecting a phalanx of automobiles whipping around the blind S-curve near the the carousel at 55mph as the cars try to get the green light all the way to 79th St. Astonishingly, I have only seen three people get hit. Fortunately, none of them seemed seriously hurt. I am not a fear monger, but I think this is only a bit of luck.
I am certain that eliminating cars from Central Park will not happen. This city loves cars masochistically and will fight to be abused by them. So what I would suggest is this: During non-car hours from 10AM until 3PM and before/after 7AM/7PM weekdays and all weekend, reprogram the lights in the park to switch from red-yellow-green to flashing yellow for pedestrians and runners & cyclists. Then eliminate access to the park for cars from 6th Ave. to 79th St. to get rid of that potential confusion. Flashing yellow communicates caution in all directions. In the absence of vehicular danger, red-yellow-green invites confusion, because each party must decide whether or not the other will obey its instructions. Leave decisions about right-of-way up to the pedestrians, the cyclists & the runners by using a flashing yellow light to alert each to the necessity for vigilance. Perhaps this is counter-intuitive, but I think with a flashing yellow light at intersections, right-of-way will be granted correctly with more consistency and predictability than with red-yellow-green.
Ideally of course, cars should be banished from the park. Think of the money that would save the city in maintenance of signs, lights and road surfaces, not to mention the lowered need for enforcement of traffic regulations in the park. But that being virtually impossible, changing the light system over to what may at first seem a more ambiguous system will actually create a more cooperative atmosphere in the park between those people who use the park for a stroll and those who use it for exercise.
What the Chinese have mastered however is the art of enjoying a public park and its something that I think we as Americans can learn from. about 100 000 with an area of no more than 5 sq miles we have numerous parks ranging from a long walking street where no cars or bikes are allowed to a peoples park a central square to small neighborhood parks.
Perhaps. But the difference is that the Chinese are moving from a pedestrian society into a car-owning society. The United States has the difficulty of already having car-ownership central to its culture. After all, we build rooms in our houses for cars and eliminate sidewalks in neighborhoods so the streets can be wider. Public parks have to ween Americans off the use of cars in order to open it for use by bicycles and pedestrians, whereas in China, my sense is that cars are invading space that has been used by bicycles and pedestrians for many many years. I wish we had the same number of cyclists as there are in China. I only hope that China’s new super-prosperity does not cause it to forget the advantages of being a cycling nation.