What If We Presented New York's Bike Lanes Like Transit Lines?

Today's thought comes from a post on the Atlantic Cites featuring the work of Mat Kladney. Kladney developed a bike map for San Francisco which radically simplified the official SF Bike Coalition map into one that resembles a subway map. Instead of detailed road maps and indications of type of bike land (protected, sharrow, etc.), Kladney's map shows crisp routings with critical features along the route denoted like stops and transfers between "lines" clearly marked.

There's much to be said for bike maps that do the opposite; maps which clearly define whether a lane will be adjacent to traffic or set off from it, or whether a road is simply "bike friendly" are invaluable resources, especially for first time riders. But I can't help but think the transit map model is a valuable one. New York features an extensive - and growing - network of protected bike lanes. They aren't always perfect (i.e. mixing zones for vehicle turns), and they are not always continuous, but they are by and large the closest thing this city has to permanent, dedicated bicycle infrastructure.

For this top-tier infrastructure, we could benefit from official (or unofficial) maps that abstract away the details and simply show what cyclists need to see: major routes with key features and transfers along the way. Much as a subway rider doesn't need to know every street and place a line passes under, a cyclist on the Brooklyn Greenway or 1st/2nd Avenue lanes doesn't need a detailed schematic. A map which only shows the major routes would give cyclists a better understanding of where the fastest and most protected lanes are (a particularly great benefit to Citibike users). It is not - and should not be - a replacement for the more detailed maps that already exist, but it could be a valuable complement, identifying the most robust portions of our bike infrastructure as being equivalent to bus or subway networks. What's more, such a map would clearly identify to anyone viewing the map gaps in the protected lane network. Making clear where cycling infrastructure doesn't make the cut, e.g. is not featured on the map, could be a tool for activism and a rallying cry for expansions of the protected lane network.