NEW YORK, NY June 07, 2009 —New York City has doubled the number of bike lanes since 2006, while the number of bicyclists commuting to work has risen 35 percent in the past year alone. But the rising popularity of bikes doesn’t always sit well with the drivers who are used to having the streets all to themselves. WNYC’s Matthew Schuerman takes us on his ride to work from his home in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn.

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I live in Ditmas Park. It’s a bucolic section of Brooklyn on the far side of Prospect Park. About two years ago I rode to work on a whim and discovered I could do pretty much the whole thing on bike lanes. That’s eight miles. It takes an hour, which is longer than by subway. But I get to notice what’s happening around the neighborhood. SCHUERMAN ON THE ROAD: Ah, looks like someone has rented out the old mansion here for a movie. It’s not until I hit Lincoln Place in Park Slope that I see my first fellow bicycle commuter. SCHUERMAN ON THE ROAD: Up -- she sneaks through the intersection even though it’s red and also crosses right in front of a dad and his boy. Technically, bicyclists have to obey all the traffic rules cars do. You’ve got to stop at red lights, you can’t roll a stop sign, and you absolutely can’t ride on a sidewalk unless you’re under the age of 13. Many cyclists don’t know these rules. Some bicyclists who do, deliberately ignore them. But that attitude is changing. McCORMICK: I wiped out a few months ago and that made me sort of stop and take stock of the safety of my cycling style. That’s Amanda McCormick. She’s stopped at a red light on Bergen Street, a small one-way street that connects Park Slope to the East River Bridges. McCORMICK: My rule of thumb is that if there is no one coming and there’s no danger there’s nothing wrong with going through a red light although I know that’s going to wrangle a lot of people. Transportation Alternatives, a pro-biking group, is so worried that poor bike behavior is going to jeopardize future bike lanes that they’ve undertaken a public awareness campaign. They don’t expect bike commuters to observe all rules, but the main point is to respect pedestrians. I ask a truck driver for his perspective. His name is Mike. MIKE: They’re in the way. SCHUERMAN ON THE ROAD: They’re in the way. What about if they stick to their bike lane. Isn’t that their way? MIKE: Well, yes and no. Like Bloomberg’s making too much of it in Manhattan. SCHUERMAN ON THE ROAD: What have you seen bike riders do? MIKE: Cut in front of me. Not stop at stop signs. Not stop at red lights. It’s hard to say who’s the worse offender. Police have stepped up enforcement against bikes, particularly for riding on the sidewalk. But Transportation Alternatives also gives the NYPD good grades for cracking down on cars that stop or park in bike lanes, which is also illegal. Ian Fisher started to ride to work three months ago. FISHER: I’m afraid I’m going to die. SCHUERMAN ON THE ROAD: Why? FISHER: Car’s here aren’t quite used to you riding next to them. Carl Collins has been riding for the past year. SCHUERMAN ON THE ROAD: What’s the worst thing about biking in New York? COLLINS: Jay Street. SCHUERMAN ON THE ROAD: How so? COLLINS: It’s just you know the only way to get to the Manhattan Bridge and it’s kind of a mess with the bus lanes, and the traffic and the pedestrians all sort of mixing together. As I get back on my bike and head into downtown Brooklyn, I see what he means. SCHUERMAN ON THE ROAD: Whup, car door. Here there’s a UPS truck parked in front of a hydrant at a bus stop so the bus has to double park, let people off into the bike lane. Here’s a police car parked in the bike lane. On the Manhattan Bridge, I don’t have to deal with cars at all. There’s a bike lane on the north side. The East River is on my right, the subway on my left. Cars use the upper level, above me. There aren’t even any other bikes around. In Manhattan, on Spring Street, I ask a cabbie, Richie Owusl what he thinks about all the new bike commuters. OWUSL: You have to squeeze through in between the cars and all. SCHUERMAN ON THE ROAD: So you have sympathy for the bikes. OWUSL: I sure do. REPORTER: City transportation officials say they want to triple the number of bike commuters over the next 10 years. To do that, they’ll paint another 500 miles of bikes, install bike racks in every neighborhood, and force owners of office buildings to provide indoor bike parking for employees.