Welcome to the electronic version of Transportation Alternatives' Bicycle Blueprint. This exceptional document was originally published in April 1993 as a challenge to New York City to treat its cycling citizens better and to promote bicycling as a tool for achieving a more livable city. The Blueprint is a specific action plan full of well thought out and pragmatic recommendations for city and state agencies and departments. Whether you are a bicycle enthusiast, urbanist, student, or planning professional, the Blueprint will answer your specific questions about a host of cycling issues. It will also provoke you to seriously consider what it will take to bring bicycling into the mainstream of everyday life in America.

Six years after it was published, the Blueprint remains a vibrant and spirited reminder of how tantalizingly close New York City is to becoming a cycling paradise.It makes clear that the obstacles to cycling here are not physical or financial but the result of ignorance, prejudice and pessimism. Indeed, the Blueprint and lots of hard work by Transportation Alternatives (T.A.) have since inspired New York City to provide bicycles with 24 hour access to the subways, new lanes, parking and increased police traffic enforcement.

At some future date, T.A. will update chapters of the Blueprint to reflect these changes. However, for the time being, the work remains in its full, unabridged glory. Congratulations to Michele Herman, Charles Komanoff, Jon Orcutt and David Perry for originally producing this masterwork and to Ken Zirkel for bringing it to the World Wide Web. This work shows the way to a more vibrant city, one in which you are free to ride without fear.

Lastly, please read and enjoy the lyrical original author's preface and introduction.