Biking in Boston

Ah yeah, good catch. The favorite thing of these guys is to take numbers from the whole country. As if Boston had any similarity to Alabama in terms of commuting mode choice...
 
This is where people on bikes, like any minority wanting to assert itself, have to mix advocacy and assimilation.

Same roads, same rules is that assimilation strategy--stressing how "like" any other road user we are. Don't focus on how stopping at lights slows you down or makes you "less cyclist" focus on how it builds political sympathy.But it is two edged. Running reds in traffic is a Black Power salute at a Country Club: likely to reinforce fear, anger, and alienation.

Advocacy for segregated bike lanes is also two-edged. It gives us safe ghettos (which we need to make newbies feel safe) and it undermines our claim to full use of ordinary lanes.

Politics ain't easy.
 
Arlington said:
Same roads, same rules is that assimilation strategy--stressing how "like" any other road user we are. Don't focus on how stopping at lights slows you down or makes you "less cyclist" focus on how it builds political sympathy.But it is two edged. Running reds in traffic is a Black Power salute at a Country Club: likely to reinforce fear, anger, and alienation.
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I normally agree you Arlington, but I think there's some complexity here. Bikes are not like other roadway users, they require proper infrastructure - sharing a lane, especially on a tightly packed, well-trafficked urban street isn't good enough. It isn't safe, it keeps a lot of potential riders from the system, and it's a pain in the ass for both bikers and drivers. The bike lane needs to be segregated - there are no examples in the US or in the world where a broadly-accessible and well-trafficked bike network is founded on non-segregated lanes. Not every lane need be segregated; but is any of the following: a) sees higher than 25 mph on average speeds, b) is a well-trafficked commercial destination, or c) access route to rapid transit - it' should have a proper lane. (and I recognize I'm leaning heavily on the fantastical - you're right there's a very gradual, but constant political process - as long as it remains slowly but surely, I'll be happy). An there are good enough systems that rely on shared lanes, but even those don't come close to matching the biking modal share of systems with proper infra.

If Boston doesn't go the route of segregated lanes, it's purposefully choosing for lower service quality, and it's an opportunity cost. I know it's probably an unpopular opinion ("separate but equal"). As you say its, "two-edged. It gives us safe ghettos (which we need to make newbies feel safe) and it undermines our claim to full use of ordinary lanes" - I think that's a fair compromise to make, honestly. Swinging too far one direction or the other induces a lot of uncertainty - but I think the emphasis has to be, and can only be, on proper lanes.

How that's implemented, I have some ideas (and am willing to share) - so I'm not just trying to mouth off and play devil's advocate.
 
I ride a bike in the suburbs, but not the city. The cyclists in the city that run through lights, cross lanes to shoot between cars, go the wrong way down streets and almost run over pedestrians in a cross walk don't help the case for the cyclists who do follow the rules. You don't remember the good citizens, which are most of the cyclists. As a driver, I try to be very mindful of cyclists, but I have little sympathy for the cyclists who flagrantly ignore all rules.
 
TallIsGood said:
I ride a bike in the suburbs, but not the city. The cyclists in the city that run through lights, cross lanes to shoot between cars, go the wrong way down streets and almost run over pedestrians in a cross walk don't help the case for the cyclists who do follow the rules. You don't remember the good citizens, which are most of the cyclists. As a driver, I try to be very mindful of cyclists, but I have little sympathy for the cyclists who flagrantly ignore all rules.
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Somehow I'm more comfortable in the city than the suburbs. I can handle riding in Boston, Cambridge, Brookline, Somerville, Chelsea, and Everett pretty well. But when I'm in Quincy, Medford, Weymouth I get intimidated. It's the speed, the road culture, and the lack of infrastructure. Now I put my bike on a car or on the commuter rail to skip the first few rings of suburbs when I want to go for a rural ride.

Also, I haven't yet read that Globe piece everyone is raging about. I really want to strap on my heart rate monitor and record my bpm with Strava as I read.
 
The stats say that urban bike riding is much safer than suburban riding. My hypothesis is the safety in numbers effect. And if your suburb has lots of biking (and walking) then it would be safer too.
 
Jacoby is a tool and his rant is so full of lies and mistruths it's not even funny. But I do think there are a lot of people who agree with him.

When I bike I always obey all red lights and stop signs. I know I CAN safely proceed much of the time, but I don't because I want to set a good example. Running red lights enrages motorists. (And I know pedestrians jaywalk too, but that doesn't make it right either.) I always ask my fellow bicyclists to please just humor everyone and bike according to the law. I know it's frustrating when pedestrians and drivers don't obey the laws either, but it's worth the slight inconvenience to set the good example and take the high road. That's my opinion at least. And if you are in a crash, it's much better to know that you were doing the legal thing rather than not.
 
As I biked down Columbus Ave through the South End yesterday, I stopped to let a woman cross the street. As I waited there, four cars passed by me without stopping for the woman in the crosswalk.

A few blocks down, a family was trying to cross. I stopped again. Two cars went right by. I then turned my bike out of the bike lane and blocked the travel lane with it to make the cars stop. One of the same drivers who blew through the previous crosswalk started laying on the horn as the woman and her two children made their way across the street. The crosser thanked me.

I sort of enjoy forcing these drivers to follow the law. I also tend to pull far enough forward at red lights to block cars trying to make illegal turns on red.
 
sm89 said:
As I biked down Columbus Ave through the South End yesterday, I stopped to let a woman cross the street. As I waited there, four cars passed by me without stopping for the woman in the crosswalk.

A few blocks down, a family was trying to cross. I stopped again. Two cars went right by. I then turned my bike out of the bike lane and blocked the travel lane with it to make the cars stop. One of the same drivers who blew through the previous crosswalk started laying on the horn as the woman and her two children made their way across the street. The crosser thanked me.

I sort of enjoy forcing these drivers to follow the law. I also tend to pull far enough forward at red lights to block cars trying to make illegal turns on red.
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I stand on my pedals when I spot a pedestrian as a mix of "I see you and will yield" and brake light" and "lay off the gas" and plain old "something requires you driver's attention"
 
Arlington said:
I stand on my pedals when I spot a pedestrian as a mix of "I see you and will yield" and brake light" and "lay off the gas" and plain old "something requires you driver's attention"
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I definitely do the same.
 
I do the same thing! Although, I will say it is usually much more effective with cars than cyclists. When I stop to let pedestrians cross in this fashion, there are often a few cyclists who blow by me. It's like "why do you think I stopped, dumbass?"

Anyways, as always, there are lots of ass holes. Some ride bikes, some drive cars, some drive buses and some ride buses. That's life.
 
I must have picked up this pedal-stand-for-pedestrians safety habit from others/you guys :)

To actually have enough lead time for standing up to be possible and change other's behavior, one has to be going at sub-velodrome speeds, have your head looking up, and be constantly scanning up ahead for obstacles/dangers/movement. Generally that means a "city" bike posture not a "road" bike posture.
 
Ayanna Pressley is convening a city council hearing on bike infrastructure in Boston. Monday, 9/14, 4pm at City Hall.

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Yet another good find on twitter. Does it seem to anyone else like there's a really good Boston Bike Twitter community forming these past few months?
 
Saw this horrifying story earlier on Reddit about the bike lane situtation at the same intersection:

https://www.reddit.com/r/boston/com...mpletely_ignoring_protected_bike_lane/cups3a1

This actually happened to me this morning. A large dump truck was pulling across the bike lane (and newly painted divider) to take a right onto beacon while the light was red. I got his attention to let him know he was crossing the bike lane, and that you can no longer go right on red there. His response was "I can do whatever the fuck I want". Verbatim. I replied "You know a person was killed just over a month ago from a driver pulling the same thing right?" and he then said "Yeah maybe it should have been you instead". That pissed me off so as the light was turning green, I stopped in the crosswalk on beacon in front of his truck to prevent him from making the turn and stood there flipping him off while the cars laid on their horns behind him. I apologize if you were caught up in that this morning, but assholes like this need to learn that they don't own the road, and their choices can have pretty serious impacts on people surrounding them.
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I would've been terrified to get in front of a truck driver who has already shown how blase he is about letting cyclists die. But I also would've been livid.
 
Please post back on Reddit: Your leverage with commercial drivers is not physical, it is legal. Please get yourself out of harms way and use legal leverage to change driver behavior, not angry interactions.

You will get much better results by letting him know that his job is on the line, not your life.

There are three levels of legal pressure here:

- The driver really does care: Remind them that moving violations risk loss of commercial license.
- The owner of the truck definitely cares too much hinges on safe operation: punctual operation, insurance rates, licensing, DOT inspections. As inhuman as it sounds, traffic stops and accidents piss off customers whose cargoes are delayed. That's bad for business.
- The US DOT FMCSA cares and has a web app for reporting unsafe driving witnessed by the public. Bookmark it.

If all you did was say (from a safe distance) any one of "Moving violation" or "Commercial License" or "Calling [Truck's owner name]" (as read from side of truck) or "DOT" it would probably be enough to change behavior immediately in an exchange like that.

Better, actually change the guy's long-term behavior by following up:
- Call the owner. Say to whomever answers "I saw your truck operating unsafely. Is this something you are interested in?" Their answer will be "yes" and 100% of the time I've been immediately transferred to somebody whose job actually is to care and takes safety deathly seriously. They know that six figures worth of trouble is at stake.
- Submit an FMCSA complaint. Operators may think the FMCSA is silly, arbitrary, or farcical, but they can't act like it. They have to take it seriously, and they and any driver should take "Calling DOT" seriously

There are owner operators of non-DOT (intrastate non-hazardous) trucks out there--an entrepreneur who has *everything* riding on the safe operation of his truck. These guys are generally a cut above the hired hands so it is hard for me to imagine them being that bad operator that you'd have to confront in the streets. But, yea, if you call his office, you'll get his cell, his brother or his wife, who likely isn't going to give you quite as good a response as I've outlined.
 
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Arlington said:
Please post back on Reddit: Your leverage with commercial drivers is not physical, it is legal. Please get yourself out of harms way and use legal leverage to change driver behavior, not angry interactions.

You will get much better results by letting him know that his job is on the line, not your life.

There are three levels of legal pressure here:

- The driver really does care: Remind them that moving violations risk loss of commercial license.
- The owner of the truck definitely cares too much hinges on safe operation: punctual operation, insurance rates, licensing, DOT inspections. As inhuman as it sounds, traffic stops and accidents piss off customers whose cargoes are delayed. That's bad for business.
- The US DOT FMCSA cares and has a web app for reporting unsafe driving witnessed by the public. Bookmark it.

If all you did was say (from a safe distance) any one of "Moving violation" or "Commercial License" or "Calling [Truck's owner name]" (as read from side of truck) or "DOT" it would probably be enough to change behavior immediately in an exchange like that.

Better, actually change the guy's long-term behavior by following up:
- Call the owner. Say to whomever answers "I saw your truck operating unsafely. Is this something you are interested in?" Their answer will be "yes" and 100% of the time I've been immediately transferred to somebody whose job actually is to care and takes safety deathly seriously. They know that six figures worth of trouble is at stake.
- Submit an FMCSA complaint. Operators may think the FMCSA is silly, arbitrary, or farcical, but they can't act like it. They have to take it seriously, and they and any driver should take "Calling DOT" seriously

There are owner operators of non-DOT (intrastate non-hazardous) trucks out there--an entrepreneur who has *everything* riding on the safe operation of his truck. These guys are generally a cut above the hired hands so it is hard for me to imagine them being that bad operator that you'd have to confront in the streets. But, yea, if you call his office, you'll get his cell, his brother or his wife, who likely isn't going to give you quite as good a response as I've outlined.
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And take a picture of him doing it!
 
Stopped by Mass Ave and Beacon this evening for the first time in two weeks and found traffic to be abiding be the new striping even though no bike symbols are on it.

Someone has stenciled a call for better facilities on the bike lane:
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