Transportation Alternatives

They do great work for commuters both cycling and pedestrians. These two groups effectively have no one else to lobby for them, so I think its important that they help the (driving) public see things from the cyclists point of view. Motorists have plenty of interested parties lobbing for them, so give the TA a brake; they have made the city a better place.

They put together some very fun New York City Bike-​athons like the Century. They are massive but well organized and everyone is so nice along the ride: all the marshalls and all the captains. The fellow bikers are the best.
This organization also provides great biking information materials.

these guys are a great resource for cyclists and anybody who uses public transit. friendly and helpful, trans alt provides tons of activities, from rides to workshops for people of all ages. recently they put together a ‘rules of the road’ type booklet of rules for city bicycles, which is great for aspiring riders (like me!) this organization could be compared to a high five, slapping you with loads of great bike stuff.

TransAlt provides excellent resources and connections for cyclists & pedestrians in the city. I’m particularly impressed with Bike Week & the number of borough-​based action committees they help run.
My only issue is that the literature does heavily blame car traffic (fair) without asking cyclists & pedestrians to follow the rules of the road (unfair). I’m sure we can find a happy medium together.
**also — I called their office once asking for a bike shop referral. They were SO nice & knowledgeable. Thank you TA!

One star is taken away for being too eager to place the blame for any cyclist’s death on the nearest possible scape goat. Sometimes, accidents just happen, and more often it’s the rider’s fault for something stupid like not tightening the skewer that keeps a wheel from popping off when you hit a bump, or not wearing a helmet, or because they didn’t get it in their heads just before they cracked open on the asphalt that you can’t ride with total disrespect of other traffic.
My main reason for liking TranAlt is because of the cycling events – particularly the New York City Century ride and the Tour de Brooklyn – and secondly because they’re not total nazis like the folks in Critical Mass – which seems to have nothing to do with cycling or other tranportation, they just like to protest and piss off the cops.
I would almost take another star away for the president of the organization joking at the starting line of the NYCCentury 2006 that it was like a «mini Mass.»
«This looks like a Mini-​Mass.»
[no reaction from the crowd]
Then proceeding to explain the joke, «Whenever more than three bikes are at an intersection we refer to that as a Mini-​Mass, so it’s funny because. .. «and he trailed off perhaps only then realizing that we knew exactly what he meant, but didn’t like the metaphor referring to us.
Honestly, we were just short of throwing our water bottles at him.
Anyway, Tranportation Alternatives does well to not advertise any connection to Critical Mass with the exception of the above slip up, and does quite a lot of good for the city. However – and I just took another star away when I thought of this – their efforts are far too concentrated on the borough of Manhattan. Manhattan is not even safe to drive in, but it is safe to drive in the other four boroughs, while all other forms of transportation require that you be very aggressive.
I ride thousands of miles a year in this city, and riding in Manhattan is near foolish, while driving in Manhattan is just plain stupid. I like that Central Park is now free of cars on the weekends, though I think they should start encouraging cyclists and joggers to whip out their subway passes and explore the other four boroughs. Perhaps at some point they’ll have to ban bicycles in the park as well during the summer months, the way things are going. Even in Manhattan, we do have other parks.