Location: Let's talk about the Summer Streets program. Has it gone as good as you would have hoped?

Location: Let's talk about the Summer Streets program. Has it gone as good as you would have hoped?

With surging gas prices and Amtrak reporting record ridership in 2008, the House of Representatives passed a funding bill yesterday that will enable Amtrak to provide access for bicycles on all new rolling stock. The Bicycle Storage and Access amendment, written and negotiated by Congressman Anthony Weiner (D-NY), is a major step towards building an intercity bicycle-transit network that gives travelers and commuters a fast and flexible alternative to driving.

He oversees a bike-friendly administration, but Mayor Bloomberg thinks it makes no sense to allow the two-wheelers on the subway.

The issue came up yesterday, when the mayor mentioned on his weekly WOR radio show that he had spotted someone exiting the subway with a bicycle just as he was getting on that morning for his commute to City Hall.

"I don't run the subway system, I don't run the MTA, but if I did - if I had total power - I guess I'd say it's too crowded for bikes," the mayor said.

A bicycling advocacy group is trying to convince the MTA to catch up with the rest of the country by expanding bike parking to inside subway stations.

Transportation Alternatives, the advocacy group, has already discussed its suggestion for in-station racks with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

"It's something the MTA could do easily and cheaply with space they already have," said Caroline Samponaro, a project coordinator at Transportation Alternatives.

But the MTA is not giving the idea a green light.

The year 2007 may prove to be one of the most important years in the storied history of New York City's development. In a future timeline of urban advances, it might be printed in as big a font and as bold a type as 1811--when the grid system was adopted--or 1904--when the I.R.T. subway opened. The text adjacent to 2007 could say something like "the start of livable streets," or "the bike boom begins," or "congestion pricing kicks off." It may turn out that all of those descriptions may suit 2007. The real question is, in hindsight, will they?