Biking in Boston

Also it appears that the western bike lane is the city's first parking protected lane.

The yellow area is for legal parking.

western.jpg
 
Interesting. I saw a pilot project like that done in New York. I forget what street it was on and I'm not sure it's still there since this was a couple of years ago, but I was really impressed. You're separated from cars and there's enough space for when people open doors that you won't get a Door Special. I guess the only thing to really be concerned about is idiots not paying attention as they walk across the bike lanes to get to and from their cars; something, I hope, that will reduce with time.
 
erikyow said:
Interesting. I saw a pilot project like that done in New York. I forget what street it was on and I'm not sure it's still there since this was a couple of years ago, but I was really impressed. You're separated from cars and there's enough space for when people open doors that you won't get a Door Special. I guess the only thing to really be concerned about is idiots not paying attention as they walk across the bike lanes to get to and from their cars; something, I hope, that will reduce with time.
Click to expand...

The city has been expanding them now and they are awesome. The streets just feel safer.
 
Charlestown removed brand new bicycle lanes on Main Street....Lurker angry!
 
Why did they do that? Neighboring Somerville (which was once part of Charlestown) is very happy with its new bike lanes on Somerville Ave.
 
Because Charlestown is the red-headed demon stepchild of the Boston-Cambridge-Somerville neighborhoods.
 
I read it on Bostonbiker.org. It's rather infuriating that brand new bicycle infrastructure, which cost a decent amount of money, can get dismantled overnight, at an additional cost, without any notice. It's even worse considering that many lanes and sharrows the city temporarily marked to be painted this year were never finished or installed improperly. So when the city is paying for infrastructure which isn't getting properly finished anywhere near on time, how does it make sense for the city to remove properly installed infrastructure?

If this turns out to be the nefarious actions of the local business association, they should should be stuck with the bill. Since when does any organization get to demand BTD immediately change a non life-threatening condition without a formal public notice or comment period?
 
Why did the business association want them removed? Was the bike lane taking up parking spots?
 
^^ I wouldn't be surprised. If I owned a business I'd rather parking spots too, not sure if thats the case here. But lets be honest shopping on a bike is often very impracticle/ just not done, one of the many examples of when transporting your self via bike sucks. To be honest I think there are more examples of when riding a bike is less desirable than more, so I take all these bike lanes w/ a pinch of salt.
 
Panniers and baskets on a bicycle are easier to use that the canvas bags and those impossible to turn folding push carts everyone is milling about with these days. Imagine the reduction in traffic/travel time if every college student in the city got their groceries this way instead of driving or holding everyone up on the Green Line.

I also take it you haven't seen the two people in the South End with bakfiets yet? Or the Surly Big Dummy long-tail cargo bicycle frequenting the Home Depot at South Bay? Not quite Amsterdam or Portland but, much to my amusement, some people are trying.
 
There's certainly nothing wrong w/ bicyclists getting around via the bike. There are many reasons why it's a good thing. But for me, and I think a whopping majority, unless its a mild day and your in casual clothes and going to do a casual thing, like going to your buddy's place, biking has a lot of inconveniences to it. Unless I'm buying an ipod on a nice day, I'm not shopping w/ a bike. If its freezing, pouring, or a lot of snow on the ground, nah. If its hot as hell and I don't feel like being a sweaty mess when I get to my location, nope. If I have to be in nice clothes, niet. For a work commute allways bringing a change of clothes and using a shower is just a whole lot of extra work. Also I imagine your clothes must get pretty wrinkled in the nap sack. There's a reason why a majority of the bicyclist you see on the road are 20 and look like they're up to nothing important (not to be confused w/ no good).
 
The bike lanes weren't taking up any parking spaces. They were between the travel lane and the parallel-parked cars. So I don't see the point of removing it.

Have you ever seen the bike racks around the Porter Square shopping center? They are constantly in use.
 
Yep, right next to a parking lot. And I'd wager some of those bikes are the min wage workers. I highly doubt most on this forum would grocery shop w/ a bike, certainly not a family.
 
Whenever I'm parking or unparking my bike there, I see someone else doing the same thing at an adjacent rack. They not only have high use, but high turnover.
 
GW2500 said:
Yep, right next to a parking lot. And I'd wager some of those bikes are the min wage workers. I highly doubt most on this forum would grocery shop w/ a bike, certainly not a family.
Click to expand...

I don't post on here often, but I wanted to chime in about this comment. While I probably don't represent "most on this forum", I personally do grocery shop with a bike. I go to Northeastern; I'll bring an empty backpack with me to the grocery store--usually go to Shaws, Whole Foods, or Trader Joe's (except Joe's is near impossible to find bike parking nearby). I usually only cook for myself, and I don't have to make more than 1 or 2 trips to the grocery store every week.

I've actually recommended to many of my classmates that they ride their bikes to the grocery store as it has kept me on a budget with my food and I never exceed $50 to $60 each trip to the store. That's about how much money's worth of food will fit in my backpack. It makes me happy that biking in Boston has improved tremendously in the three years that I've lived in the city. I've noticed newer and a greater number of bicycle racks in multiple parts of the city; the colleges and museums seem to be doing a better job of accommodating cyclists; and the connectivity between bike paths seems to have improved as well.

Now if only we can get the bike-share program rolling...
 
^Thats cool, I respect that and sure, if anything your more part of the solution than the problem. But honestly what percentage of people would find putting their groceries in a nap sack and only being able to buy a small chunk of groceries at a time appealing (especailly in winter). I'd guestimate it's a very small percentage. Thats all I'm really saying, that there are plenty of instances when riding a bike isn't all that great. And to add further, in specific cases where bike lanes replace car lanes, don't kid yourselves FAR more people got from point A to B when it was a car lane than a bike lane.
 
Not everybody is going to shop by bicycle, not everybody will commute that way, not everybody will ride for recreational purposes. But that really doesn't matter. Cyclists are members of the community, and it is quite reasonable for us to expect amenities, just as drivers, walkers, and transit users do. Most of us will use all four of these transportation modes depending on situation. Shouldn't cyclists have some available infrastructure?
 
HenryAlan said:
Not everybody is going to shop by bicycle, not everybody will commute that way, not everybody will ride for recreational purposes. But that really doesn't matter. Cyclists are members of the community, and it is quite reasonable for us to expect amenities, just as drivers, walkers, and transit users do. Most of us will use all four of these transportation modes depending on situation. Shouldn't cyclists have some available infrastructure?
Click to expand...

If some people had their way we wouldn't even have sidewalks. See non-streetcar suburbia for details.
 
By not everybody I think the more accurate word is most, and sure I'm for bike lanes. But recognize that this Country/State/City dosn't spend billions/millions on road creation and maintance for your huffies. It's main reason is for the hundreds of millions of automobiles which plays a VASTLY larger part of our economy, you guys kind of benefit from the infrastructure required. And I'm not against bike lanes, but in SPECIFIC cases where car lanes are removed for bikes lanes, all and all I'm convinced transportation volume goes down.

Also do you bicylclists pay an excise tax? And while the gax tax should be increased, again its more the car drivers paying for those roads more so than bicyclists.

And to speak hypothetically, if you were to take all of the trips a metropolitian area does in a day (not really sure how you could every really calculate that) by all methods, auto, mass transit, walking, and biking. I'm pretty sure bicylcists would be a sliver. And the main reason I think it to be that is for all the times when doing it by bike isn't that desireable.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top