Rant - $270 fine for running a red light on a bike, really???

Tokyo's 23 core wards have a population of 9 million people, and 14% of them bike to work. Berlin has 3.4 million people and 13% bike to work:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modal_share

http://app.lta.gov.sg/ltaacademy/doc/J11Nov-p60PassengerTransportModeShares.pdf

Both of them have 4 distinct seasons. I'm sure many more non-work trips are by bike, just as assuredly many Brooklynites ride the subway to work and use bikes for local trips.

Bike trips aren't the right way for everyone to get everywhere, but they're a quick, cheap, and easy method for trips of less than 10 miles, suitable for almost everyone ages 8-80 so long as proper infrastructure is available. New York isn't at that point yet, but it could be.

I definitely see NYC's bike infrastructure growing over the next several years, and the use of bikes continuing to grow in tandem with the infrastructure and population shifts.

At present, the population using bikes seems to be overwhelmingly young.   In order to have more people use bikes, the present risks and hassles are going to have to be overcome.

If recent history is a guide, a lot of bikers are going to die, become injured and get tickets while it is sorted out.