HUB AND SPOKES: IMAGEABILITY OF THE DAILY BICYCLE COMMUTE IN NEW YORK CITY
Matthew Ides
Matthew Ides worked with Prof. John Chin on an independent study project to understand the myriad needs and concerns of bicycle commuters in New York City.
Abstract: In a city that is dominated by automobiles (1.6 million people enter Manhattan by car daily and of those 1.2 million of them drive alone), I wanted to find out how its residents who use other modes of transportation actually view the built environment. Although all forms of transit modes can be studied, I find this small minority (0.5%) who commute by bicycles the most marginalized by the existing infrastructure of New York City. The sole purpose of this study is to record the subjective perspective (mental mapping) that New York City bicycle commuters have of the build environment, good or bad. While New York City has a vibrant and active bicycle commuter culture, there still exists a stigma attached to people who commute by bicycle. While a cultural shift is important to making bike commuting more acceptable in New York City and nationally, to achieve an equal and multi-modal approach to our street space New York City must prioritize the creation of a comprehensive bicycling network that supplements pedestrian, open/green space, and public transit improvements.
The full paper is available here. (PDF 618 KB)
SURVEYING THE EXTENT AND PRACTICE OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS
Richard Amanna
Richard Amanna, a second-year graduate student in the Urban Planning program, recently received an $800 travel scholarship that enabled him to attend the University Consortium of Geographic Information Science Summer Assembly held on June 23-24, 2008 in Minneapolis, MN. Richard’s scholarship support was provided by United States Geological Survey. Richard delivered a paper entitled "Surveying the Extent and Practice of Public Participation Geographic Information Systems," based on an independent study project he undertook with Professor Ramasubramanian in the 2007-08 academic year.
Richard will also present this work at the upcoming conference of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) conference in New Orleans later this year.
Abstract: Geographic Information Systems are no longer the sole domain of professional geographers, planners, administrators and researchers. The domain of Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) explores the myriad ways in which members of the public engage in a broad variety of GIS activities – from simple web mapping to community-based spatial data analysis – and includes methods and approaches that place the power of geospatial analysis directly in the hands of citizens or citizen advocates. In order to understand the scope and scale of PPGIS practice in the United States an online survey was developed that was available to respondents from February 1, 2008 to April 1, 2008. The survey was designed to identify and address the following themes: Data sources, organizational practices and goals, user profiles and expectations regarding user outcomes. The goal of the survey research, built on Sawicki & Peterman’s (2002) earlier work, was to develop a baseline of current practice to examine if and how trends of PPGIS practice have changed as PPGIS adoption and use has become widespread and has matured. The survey was advertised and promoted through a wide variety of outlets. These included direct email contact with organizations such as university research centers, municipal planning offices and nonprofit groups. The survey was also distributed the survey link via various discussion forums and mailing lists, such as IAPAD’s PPGIS.net, as well as GIS and community development-related listservs. This paper describes the entire survey effort (from design to implementation) and shares preliminary findings with the audience in order to facilitate an informed discussion about next steps in PPGIS research.
The full paper is available here. (PDF 488 KB)
For additional information about this research, please contact Prof. Laxmi Ramasubramanian at: laxmi@hunter.cuny.edu.
THE NEW YORK CITY BIKE RACK SURVEY
Jason Nu and Wallace Murray
Two Hunter College graduate students, Jason Nu and Wallace Murray, created The New York City Bike Rack Survey to understand the bicycle riding patterns and parking needs of the city’s bicyclists. The survey, conducted during Fall 2007, is now complete. The project was undertaken as part of a class called Participatory Approaches to Geographic Information Science taught by Prof. Laxmi Ramasubramanian.
The survey’s findings are being incorporated into the city’s own planning processes. In recent months, the city has emerged as advocate for bicyclists, and appears committed to creating bicycle infrastructure improvements. In partnership with the Department of City Planning’s Transportation Division, Nu and Murray developed the survey in order to better integrate the public voice into this decision making process. To accomplish this, the researchers launched a website - NYCbikerackstudy.com – complete with an online survey and maps to share the accumulating results. The survey asked a variety of questions related to respondents’ bicycle parking habits and needs.
Over eight hundred people participated in the survey! Thanks to this tremendous response, a rich data set was compiled that was analyzed to reveal the public’s bicycle riding patterns and parking needs. Based on this information, Nu and Murray developed a set of conclusions and recommendations on how city agencies can better serve New York’s bicycle riding public.
Nu and Murray concluded that the public is very eager to engage in bicycle parking issues and that there is an extremely high demand for more secure and covered bicycle parking, especially at workplaces, transit hubs and parks. Based on these conclusions, the researchers developed the following general recommendations: the city should install more bike parking near transit hubs and parks, provide covered spaces for longer term parking, encourage workplaces and residential buildings to offer more indoor parking, and that improved coordination is necessary between city agencies such as the Department of City Planning, the Department of Transportation, the MTA and the Parks Department.
The students presented these findings to the Department of Transportation as well as the Department of City Planning. According to Jack Schmidt, Director of the Transportation Division, “The data will be used as inputs for specific projects that we are currently working on - for example we are beginning a NYCyclist Net project that will map out all of the on- and off-street bicycle parking in the city. We are also going to be changing the zoning resolution to include bicycle parking requirements and the data will inform this process.”
To learn more about the results and conclusions and view the analysis maps visit www.NYCbikerackstudy.com and click on RESULTS.
Contact: Wallace Murray and Jason Nu
Questions@nycbikerackstudy.com
