Thanks to Hoboken Councilman and Assemblyman Ruben Ramos, eight new bicycle racks (holding 16 bikes total) have been installed at the Hoboken PATH station.

Ramos requested the racks last month after numerous constituent requests, he said. And kudos to NJ Transit for their speed getting them up. But with the bike situation so overcrowded, they might not be enough.

New Bike racks at PATH station (Carly Baldwin, Hoboken Now)

Through this class, you’ll gain confidence riding in traffic, learn how to fix a flat tire, maintain your bike, lock it up securely and more. The class is free, but you must register to attend. Visit BikeNewYork.org for more details and registration information.

Watch their youtube video to get a sense for what you’ll learn.

“Drivers are getting more used to [bikers],” says Ted Timbers, spokesman for the DOT. “Bikers are more prevalent. When a driver goes to make a turn, and there is a bike lane, more often they are expecting to see a biker there.”

According to the DOT, there is a 46 percent decline in biking fatalities in the city over the last decade, at the same time as bike commuting has grown by an estimated 77 percent in the past eight years. “The idea is to create an interconnected bike network where lanes connect North, South, East, West, and people can get to schools, parks — places they want to go — and be in bike lanes for the entire trip,” says Timbers.

“I do think I’m seeing more respect for the bike lane,” concurred Milton Puryear, director of planning for the 14-mile Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, which is planned to run from Greenpoint to Bay Ridge. “There is an increasing sensitivity and awareness from drivers, who historically reacted with annoyance to bike riders rather than seeing them as co-commuters,” he added.

Puryear thinks the increased visibility of the lanes, through city measures such as painting them bright colors, is helping to increase drivers’ acknowledgement of bikers’ rightful claim on the road.

Below is a draft version of the proposed layout of bike lanes and bike racks. ­Only Class II and III bicycle lanes are proposed, meaning only some paint will be needed to make the adjustments. Class II lanes where a strip of paint is used to delineate a lane for bikes on the left hand side of the road are proposed on wider streets including Madison St, Grand St, Sinatra Dr and northern portions of Park Ave and Garden St. The left hand side is preferred because it is safer for bicyclists since parked driver side car doors are 3 times more likely to open than passenger side doors. For more narrow roads, class III lanes would be used where “sharrows” (see image on right) would remind drivers that the road is to be shared with bicycle riders.

Although bicyclists have the same right to the road as cars, the plan creates a grid of designated bike routes designed to raise awareness of drivers, thus creating a safer environment for both bike riders and drivers. Park Ave and Madison St are designated routes running north from Observer Highway to 15th St while Grand St and Garden St run parallel in the south-bound direction. East-west bike corridors conecting to the light rail stops are proposed at 3rd & 4th and 8th & 9th along with another pair at 12th & 13th.

Since part of the purpose is to encourage more people to bike within Hoboken, more heavily trafficked roads like Washington St or Observer Hwy were not included in the proposal. Bike racks are also proposed all along Washington St, 1st Ave, at the PATH and Light Rail stops at 2nd and 9th streets. A draft of the proposal is below.

Draft Hoboken Bicycle Plan by Ian Sacs & Jacob Mason ­(click for larger version)

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