bigeman312
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Somerville fits the mold. I wonder when the city will join Cambridge in year-round Hubway participation. Maybe next year?
Biking in Boston
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Somerville fits the mold. I wonder when the city will join Cambridge in year-round Hubway participation. Maybe next year?
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I'd have thought so, but somewhere there's enough difference. While Boston and Somerville are "Silver" in the League of American Cyclists ratings only Cambridge is "Gold" (and shooting for Platinum, apparently). I wonder, too, of Harvard and MIT (Gold, and Silver, respectively) help chip in on costs in a way that Tufts (unrated...and only half in Somerville) doesn't.
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The winter subsidy is probably fairly daunting for pretty lame political payoff. You add snow costs, get near-zero tourist revenue, and charge nothing more to your year-round users. It's like keeping Six Flags open just so a small number of {season passholder} roller coaster enthusiasts can ride.
You have to be a True Believer to lay out that much cash for that little payoff.
I love hubway. It's what got me back into biking and caused me to buy a nice bike and commute. I'm still an annual subscriber and will probably keep using the Cambridge stations on dry winter days.
But really, the extra $ are wasted on me. I'd rather they spent those $ instead pushing the system out farther and offering better service to occasional cyclists--evangelical/missionary work--and build a broader base for biking, not a deeper one.
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Boston was able to extend the season through December and open up again in March because they realized the contract was already set up for that without any modification. They only removed the stations they couldn't find off-street locations for because of plowing.
rinserepeat
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grand junction bike path construction could start next year:
http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2014/12/08/cambridge-grand-junction-bike-path-developments-2014-2015/
http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2014/12/08/cambridge-grand-junction-bike-path-developments-2014-2015/
rinserepeat
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it's really needed further south (connections to Forest Hills, red line stops in dorchester, etc..), but bike infrastructure really needs to improve dramatically in this area.
also - there is broad support for better bike facilities in much of the southern end of the city - the few neighborhood meetings I've been to there seems to be far more resistance from BTD than there is in the community. they don't want to do anything - first response is always along the lines of "but you'll lose parking" to get the crowd riled up. when that doesn't get the response they hoped for, they try to make excuses that there is a long list of projects and there would need to be a study but we don't have enough funding or something. Walsh is also currently on damage control with bike/ped advocacy groups - He just got rid of the head of BTD... so we'll see if maybe there's a culture shift in the next couple years.
I bike everywhere so I feel dimwitted to be critical of any cycle improvements, but the MIT campus portion of this project strikes me as one of the least bike infrastructure-needy parts of the region. Most of the MIT-area of the trail runs parallel to Vassar Street, 150 feet to the southeast. Vassar is all bike lanes and mostly separated cycle tracks.
The only two bits of Grand Junction that have ever made much sense to me are the parts north of Galileo Way in East Cambridge, and the potential crossing to BU -- neither of these bear much fruit for MIT.
If Cambridge really wanted to be the bike-friendly city is aspires to be, it would remove parking from Prospect Street and (where there's no bike lanes) Mass Ave, creating a north-south and east-west preferred routes. Particularly in north-south route, Cambridge and Somerville are sorely lacking -- and that's how most students, faculty and staff are cycling between these two cities.
First of all, they didn't get rid of the head of BTD, it was the Operations Director (oversaw the yard). Second, Boston Bikes is the planning arm for all bike programs and it has its own design firm on call and its own budget for projects. Though part of BTD in terms of administration, they operate somewhat separately. What happens is that parking almost always kills these proposals. It's gotten to the point where the Boston Bikes and its consultant will propose something great, but it just gets so watered down by the community process that no one is happy and we just get sharrows as a "compromise". It's hard to explain to residents that they will no longer be able to park near their home after living there for 40yrs because commuters want more bike facilities (in their mind). Unless there are more advocates that can explain why bike accommodations are good for everyone, not just cyclists, there's only so much that can be done. I truly believe that BTD is doing the best they can with what they have.
I'm all for alternatives to transport, specially bicycling, but I truly believe bike lines alone aren't sufficient if they're not accompanied by their corresponding infrastructure & proper planning, so bicycling commuters are "safer' & mostly "follow traffic flows" & "rules". Gee- I had the typical accident while bicycling in Cambridge, because an Idiot/A$$Hole opened his car door wide open in front of me, as a result of the damn bike line being placed next to parking spots
these type of incidents can be easily prevented by "proper design" & not by simply tracing a path on the tarmac...
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I'm all for alternatives to transport, specially bicycling, but I truly believe bike lines alone aren't sufficient if they're not accompanied by their corresponding infrastructure & proper planning, so bicycling commuters are "safer' & mostly "follow traffic flows" & "rules". Gee- I had the typical accident while bicycling in Cambridge, because an Idiot/A$$Hole opened his car door wide open in front of me, as a result of the damn bike line being placed next to parking spots
Sorry to hear about your accident. Lots of people should be doing lots of things to see to it that that doesn't happen. Nothing alone is likely to be sufficient.
I am very much in favor of the GJ Path, and notch it as a big win, even though it is guaranteed to induce demand on less safe parts of the network.
Off-street paths even where they seem duplicative (like the GJ Path) are very helpful on many levels:
- as the safest (fully-separate) alternative to some less-safe way,
- as new routing (a bike grid should work best just like the street grid does),
- and as new capacity that will meet current demand and induce more
(building bike's modal share...it is good politically).
As for on-street lanes, biker education and behavior are part of the whole solution too. Motorists should look, but we can help them get in the habit of looking by:
- giving them something to catch their eye more often: day-glo colors & a headlight.
- saying "Thank you for looking" whenever we notice that they notice (particularly when you see their door edge open and then hesitate...their behavior is very very valuable to us all). I do this as much as I possibly can on Mass Ave in Cambridge--I appreciate it, and they'll probably find themselves in the same door zone on Mass Ave or nearby hundreds of times a year.
The law already requires a white headlight for night operation. Fewer folks would get doored if they rode with that same white light on-and-flashing by day. It isn't going to spare us being doored by the boorish, but its going to write a happier ending wherever there are attentive motorists.
Recent studies have also shown that cyclists should basically ride as far to the left in their bike lane as they can. That we don't is partly the misleading paint, but also partly that nobody told us.
The cheapest and fastest solution is simply getting this word out there (this forum plays a role). No matter how wide the lane is or how it is marked, you get safer and safer as you move left, because you're avoiding more and more of the bell curve of door length and car position.
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Honestly the biggest issue with bicycle knowledge and etiquette - on the part of everyone - drivers, pedestrians, and many cyclists alike is that no one is taught how to commute on a bike, or use it as primary transportation in this country.
We explicitly teach driving cars - and even then we have some pretty miserable outcomes. But for bikes? Most people, I figure, are given bikes at a young age and taught how to ride it for recreation; around the neighborhood, or on vacation, or something. There's some safety lessons involved there, but mostly biking is a middle-class family activity for recreation or exercise, where kids ride on quiet streets, sidewalks, bike paths, etc. It's not - generally - seen, or used as a transportation mode.
People aren't taught how to cycle as part of the transportation system. Most cyclists don't know the tips people are mentioning in this thread, let alone drivers and pedestrians. Until bicycle safety is actually valued and taught - a la driver's ed - people will keep having to pick it up as they go, get in accidents, and have fundamental misunderstandings with those using other modes.
We explicitly teach driving cars - and even then we have some pretty miserable outcomes. But for bikes? Most people, I figure, are given bikes at a young age and taught how to ride it for recreation; around the neighborhood, or on vacation, or something. There's some safety lessons involved there, but mostly biking is a middle-class family activity for recreation or exercise, where kids ride on quiet streets, sidewalks, bike paths, etc. It's not - generally - seen, or used as a transportation mode.
People aren't taught how to cycle as part of the transportation system. Most cyclists don't know the tips people are mentioning in this thread, let alone drivers and pedestrians. Until bicycle safety is actually valued and taught - a la driver's ed - people will keep having to pick it up as they go, get in accidents, and have fundamental misunderstandings with those using other modes.
Sadly the reality that you described is what Americans view of bicycling is merely for, but if Boston ever aspires to achieve a better & more sustainable bicycling orientated transport to the likes of Copenhagen or the Netherlands then "Learning" how to ride a bike in a city is fundamental. Check out these videos
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyrTx9SXkVI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22XM8-YTC98
Love my new high intensity headlight. Really draws attention. Have to keep it down a bit so it doesn't blind people.
Gotta say that having my driving experience is very helpful for avoiding bad situations. I have an idea of what drivers are about to do and I anticipate it.
Gotta say that having my driving experience is very helpful for avoiding bad situations. I have an idea of what drivers are about to do and I anticipate it.
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Link? Amazon? Buying more safety stuff means I'm able to give my old lights to somebody who has none at all
Got the Cygolite 360 (USB rechargeable): http://thesweethome.com/reviews/best-commuter-bike-lights/
Oh, BTW, that reminds me: Boston Bikes sponsors free handouts of the cheap silicone lights like these. They run on watch batteries, so that can be an issue. But better than nothing.
Oh, BTW, that reminds me: Boston Bikes sponsors free handouts of the cheap silicone lights like these. They run on watch batteries, so that can be an issue. But better than nothing.
Is that one of them whose beam looks more like a traditional strobe light? I've seen a couple of those and it was the first time I've ever thought a bike light was actually TOO bright, to the point of posing a risk to other road users. Maybe if they were directed more towards the ground, it would be OK. But it honestly looked like they took a white strobe out of a police cruiser's light bar and stuck it on their bike. I'd rather stare into someone's high beams...
I'm not entirely sure what you mean.
The Cygolite 360 that I have is the "360 Lumen" version. There are stronger ones, but they may suffer from some of the problems to which you allude. In online reviews, the 360 is regarded as a reasonable "middle ground" between good lighting vs being too bright.
Additionally, there are 6 modes on these kinds of lights: low, high, medium, "Steadyflash", "Daylightning", and super-low.
Steadyflash is a combination of medium intensity steady light with a flash effect that draws attention, and it is the normally recommended mode for night biking on city streets. I don't believe it is blindingly bright and I keep it pointed slightly at the ground anyway, for the purpose of seeing what's on the ground.
The "high" mode might be overly bright -- I haven't tried blinding anyone with it -- but it's largely intended for night biking in quiet areas with no other lights around.
The Daylightning mode flashes at high intensity very briefly, every half-second or so. It's intended to be used for drawing attention only during the day, and not lighting the way. The package warns that it should not be used at night. Indeed, I find it highly distracting at night, as it creates some of that 'strobe effect' if used at night. Is that what you meant?
None of the watch battery powered lights are "too bright": they are only useful for alerting others to your presence, they cannot light the way.
The Cygolite 360 that I have is the "360 Lumen" version. There are stronger ones, but they may suffer from some of the problems to which you allude. In online reviews, the 360 is regarded as a reasonable "middle ground" between good lighting vs being too bright.
Additionally, there are 6 modes on these kinds of lights: low, high, medium, "Steadyflash", "Daylightning", and super-low.
Steadyflash is a combination of medium intensity steady light with a flash effect that draws attention, and it is the normally recommended mode for night biking on city streets. I don't believe it is blindingly bright and I keep it pointed slightly at the ground anyway, for the purpose of seeing what's on the ground.
The "high" mode might be overly bright -- I haven't tried blinding anyone with it -- but it's largely intended for night biking in quiet areas with no other lights around.
The Daylightning mode flashes at high intensity very briefly, every half-second or so. It's intended to be used for drawing attention only during the day, and not lighting the way. The package warns that it should not be used at night. Indeed, I find it highly distracting at night, as it creates some of that 'strobe effect' if used at night. Is that what you meant?
None of the watch battery powered lights are "too bright": they are only useful for alerting others to your presence, they cannot light the way.
I'll put this here too:
http://bostoncyclistsunion.org/unca...rack-questioned-by-waterfront-advisory-group/
http://bostoncyclistsunion.org/unca...rack-questioned-by-waterfront-advisory-group/