The city wants to get more wheels on the city’s bridges and buses.
The Department of Transportation will undertake a study to improve bike access on the four East River bridges and the Harlem River bridges, Commissioner Polly Trottenberg told the City Council on Thursday. Meanwhile, she said the DOT will work with the MTA to put bike racks on the front of buses on key routes.
“Our bridges are a critical component of the transportation system here in our island city and are especially important access points for the bicycle network,” Trottenberg said.
The DOT would recommend short-term improvements and use capital money for bridge rehabilitation projects in the long-term, she said.
“With these improvements we can significantly enhance the cycling experience in upper Manhattan and the Bronx,” she said.
There are few details about the bike-racks-on-buses pilot. But the MTA in its 20-year lookahead report noted that bike storage on buses should be considered.
Trottenberg hinted that the buses that cross the Verrazano Bridge — an MTA bridge that has no bike lane — between Staten Island and Brooklyn could be a route to test out a pilot.
