012 Motorcycle Lanes on Avenues

They are not bicycles. They are not cars. But they may be, for the rider, the worst of each.

The City doesn't have the swarms of motorcycles and scooters that Barcelona or Rome has, but it might benefit from a bit more two-wheel friendliness. Two-wheelers can squeak past garbage trucks and unlock gridlock, park anywhere and use practically no gas. Riding them one can actually smell the city; the bakeries, the salty Hudson, street Halal vendors. And sometimes, unfortunately, all the other smells too.

A center lane does a few great things: it provides a tangible large-scale divider for two way traffic, a mid crossing safe haven for pedestrians, and a bold graphic stripe down the center of our grand avenues. All while lending some structure to the avenues and wide streets while taming the free-for-all that now prevails.