Biking in Boston

sm89 said:
design survey for it linked at the top.
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Thanks for linking that. There is one thing that stands out in those proposals for Main Street. My understanding is that the car-parking buffer for a bike lane really helps reduce the number of cars right-hooking bikes. (There's more time and space for a car to see the bike and stop; the car has to turn more, so the bike isn't in a blind-spot along the side of the car, etc.)
With that in mind, the parking layout matters for bikes:

On those blocks, the southside parking option gives that right-hook protection at all but one intersection. The northside parking option does worse, and side switching option gives no right-hook protection at all.
 
This isn't actually new, per se, but I don't think it's been discussed on AB. At least Boston and Cambridge have allocated funding in their submitted FY2024 budgets for ebikes to join the BlueBikes system. Evidently, the goal right now is for them to make up ~10-15% of the total bikes in the system, and they should be showing up in Spring 2024, but potentially sooner because these things are functionally off the shelf as they're identical to the latest generation deployed by NYC CitiBikes.

That said, that doesn't seem like enough of them - I'm of the opinion they're going to be immediately popular. Nothing stopping them from adding more once they get started though!

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Stlin said:
This isn't actually new, per se, but I don't think it's been discussed on AB. At least Boston and Cambridge have allocated funding in their submitted FY2024 budgets for ebikes to join the BlueBikes system. Evidently, the goal right now is for them to make up ~10-15% of the total bikes in the system, and they should be showing up in Spring 2024, but potentially sooner because these things are functionally off the shelf as they're identical to the latest generation deployed by NYC CitiBikes.

That said, that doesn't seem like enough of them - I'm of the opinion they're going to be immediately popular. Nothing stopping them from adding more once they get started though!

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Manual Bluebikes are currently flat rate $2.95 for 30 minutes. Electric Citibikes are $4.49 plus $0.26 per minute, aka $12.29 per 30 minutes. Chicago e-bikes (also same operator) are $0.42 per minute ($13.60 per 30 minutes). That plus their much higher downtime makes me not want many of them. I've been to both Chicago and NYC and their docks are clogged with out of service e-bikes waiting to be charged.

Until we fix the cost and reliability I prefer a larger fleet of reliable and cheap manual bikes with a few of the e-bikes mixed in, not the other way around.

Those two line items could fund approximately 30 new docks across the system, as a daily Bluebikes user I think I'd much prefer that.
 
Ive used ebikes in two cities: San Francisco and San Juan. Both were great.
 
FK4 said:
Ive used ebikes in two cities: San Francisco and San Juan. Both were great.
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I used them in Minneapolis before NiceRide died (RIP), and also thought they were great. However, given the expense, they seemed like a better option for tourists or occasional users rather than commuters.

That said, on a recent trip to Chicago it seemed like anecdotally half the bikeshare riders I saw were on ebikes, so I imagine there is demand!
 
This is purely anecdotal but has anyone else noticed an uptick of aggressive drivers while you're biking? In the past few weeks I've had several cars get angry and get close to me, speed near me, yell and honk at me even when I'm not in the way at all (which, I have a right to be "in the way").

Again purely anecdotal but I'm wondering if this is a trend others have noticed. I've been suspecting if it is its the result of the extreme politicization of 15 min neighborhoods from conservatives and the policies associated with them like bike lanes/cycling in general.
 
DAVE said:
This is purely anecdotal but has anyone else noticed an uptick of aggressive drivers while you're biking? In the past few weeks I've had several cars get angry and get close to me, speed near me, yell and honk at me even when I'm not in the way at all (which, I have a right to be "in the way").

Again purely anecdotal but I'm wondering if this is a trend others have noticed. I've been suspecting if it is its the result of the extreme politicization of 15 min neighborhoods from conservatives and the policies associated with them like bike lanes/cycling in general.
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Eh - I've noticed the marked difference in city drivers learning and now looking to expect bikers around them in Boston/Camb/Sville, and some in outer metro bike network. You can even see drivers in Saugus starting to slow down near bike path crossings. My guess is tourists definitely don't expect bikes, and it is absolutely summer tourist season.
 
Vagabond said:
Eh - I've noticed the marked difference in city drivers learning and now looking to expect bikers around them in Boston/Camb/Sville, and some in outer metro bike network. You can even see drivers in Saugus starting to slow down near bike path crossings. My guess is tourists definitely don't expect bikes, and it is absolutely summer tourist season.
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Its more than just people not expecting me though. I've had multiple people attempt to intimidate me out of nowhere.
 
DAVE said:
Its more than just people not expecting me though. I've had multiple people attempt to intimidate me out of nowhere.
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So, I think I sense this uptick too, but it's admittedly just a perceptual guess (also not verified, and not huge enough in magnitude to be sure).
But I have a slightly different theory than you. As much as I agree there is politicization of urban lifestyle, aside from fringe cases (and as polarized as our era is), I don't think people who are anti-urban lifestyle go out of their way (in meaningful numbers) into cities to wage intimidation campaigns on city dwellers. At least not in as nuanced a way as intimidating cyclists in situ as a proxy for being anti-city. I agree with you that the political underpinnings for this certainly exist, but I am just not sure I believe it is behavioral in a "notable uptick of incidents" sort of way.

My different theory is that there's a real increase in road rage recently. The main (hypothesized) reason is that our roads have become quite congested recently as the transit system mode share is still way down relative to cars (and transit system performance and frequency are still way down); yet, person mobility is comparably way back up. Sure, white collar workers aren't back to the office like pre-pandemic, but if you combine office workers with service workers and those going into the city for a good time/etc, the question is whether overall city utilization (requiring mobility) relative to increased automobile mode share (decrease in transit mode share) puts us in a place where we're straining road capacity. I think we are. And I think there's a ton of angry and aggressive drivers out there at present as a result.

Again, just an alternative theory. Could be some of both.
 
DAVE said:
This is purely anecdotal but has anyone else noticed an uptick of aggressive drivers while you're biking? In the past few weeks I've had several cars get angry and get close to me, speed near me, yell and honk at me even when I'm not in the way at all (which, I have a right to be "in the way").

Again purely anecdotal but I'm wondering if this is a trend others have noticed. I've been suspecting if it is its the result of the extreme politicization of 15 min neighborhoods from conservatives and the policies associated with them like bike lanes/cycling in general.
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I think drivers are way more aggro than in 2020-2021. But, calmer than 2018-2019. When I would go on weekend rides in the city in 2018-2019, I would totally expect close passes, "I'm behind you get out of my way" honking, and spitting/bottle throwing. I did not experience that interpersonal level of conflict in 2020-2021 - it was more just extremely reckless speeding. Now, it's mostly honking and less than comfortable close passes (but nothing like I experienced before the pandemic.)

Edit: I'm too quick to finish my thought.
 
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DAVE said:
This is purely anecdotal but has anyone else noticed an uptick of aggressive drivers while you're biking? In the past few weeks I've had several cars get angry and get close to me, speed near me, yell and honk at me even when I'm not in the way at all (which, I have a right to be "in the way").

Again purely anecdotal but I'm wondering if this is a trend others have noticed. I've been suspecting if it is its the result of the extreme politicization of 15 min neighborhoods from conservatives and the policies associated with them like bike lanes/cycling in general.
Click to expand...
My own anecdotal experience is counter to that perception. I find more and more that drivers are staying behind me, rather than making dangerous passes, and people are paying better attention to my presence at a right turn conflict. Overall, of course, the greatest safety enhancement is slower traffic, which congestion is helping with.
 
I had two people offer me a "close shave" in their SUV/ Jeep on East Berkeley between Shawmut and Tremont this morning alone. It is one of the most dangerous stretches of road in the city for a cyclist.

And unfortunately, that block is out of scope for the BERKELEY STREET BIKE LANES project.

I really don't understand why this hasn't been addressed yet; it's a critical missing link between the W 4th bridge lane that vanishes under 93, the current Tremont St work, and upcoming Berkeley St work.
 
cburns said:
I had two people offer me a "close shave" in their SUV/ Jeep on East Berkeley between Shawmut and Tremont this morning alone. It is one of the most dangerous stretches of road in the city for a cyclist.

And unfortunately, that block is out of scope for the BERKELEY STREET BIKE LANES project.

I really don't understand why this hasn't been addressed yet; it's a critical missing link between the W 4th bridge lane that vanishes under 93, the current Tremont St work, and upcoming Berkeley St work.
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I don't know how the City is going to reconcile the competing interests along East Berkeley. You are correct that it is a missing link in the bike network, but it is also horribly overtaxed as a car link from I-93 to Back Bay (and South End businesses wanting parking much of the day). There isn't enough road there to serve all its purposes, and there are no good alternative routes (for any modes).
 
JeffDowntown said:
I don't know how the City is going to reconcile the competing interests along East Berkeley. You are correct that it is a missing link in the bike network, but it is also horribly overtaxed as a car link from I-93 to Back Bay (and South End businesses wanting parking much of the day). There isn't enough road there to serve all its purposes, and there are no good alternative routes (for any modes).
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I would argue that stretch should not be serving private automobile interests, but we know that isn’t a politically correct stance.
 
bigeman312 said:
I would argue that stretch should not be serving private automobile interests, but we know that isn’t a politically correct stance.
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It is not just "not politically correct". It is politically unviable in our society. No politician would survive trying to throttle automobile access to Back Bay employment centers (at least not today). (and the meltdown of the T isn't helping the cause!)
 
bigpicture7 said:
So, I think I sense this uptick too, but it's admittedly just a perceptual guess (also not verified, and not huge enough in magnitude to be sure).
But I have a slightly different theory than you. As much as I agree there is politicization of urban lifestyle, aside from fringe cases (and as polarized as our era is), I don't think people who are anti-urban lifestyle go out of their way (in meaningful numbers) into cities to wage intimidation campaigns on city dwellers. At least not in as nuanced a way as intimidating cyclists in situ as a proxy for being anti-city. I agree with you that the political underpinnings for this certainly exist, but I am just not sure I believe it is behavioral in a "notable uptick of incidents" sort of way.

My different theory is that there's a real increase in road rage recently. The main (hypothesized) reason is that our roads have become quite congested recently as the transit system mode share is still way down relative to cars (and transit system performance and frequency are still way down); yet, person mobility is comparably way back up. Sure, white collar workers aren't back to the office like pre-pandemic, but if you combine office workers with service workers and those going into the city for a good time/etc, the question is whether overall city utilization (requiring mobility) relative to increased automobile mode share (decrease in transit mode share) puts us in a place where we're straining road capacity. I think we are. And I think there's a ton of angry and aggressive drivers out there at present as a result.

Again, just an alternative theory. Could be some of both.
Click to expand...

Weirdly I feel like more and more drivers are exercising proper caution around people cycling in Boston and Camberville largely because cyclist counts in many areas are growing and we are much more visible. That said, I do see a lot of reckless driving that endangers all street users regardless of mode that seems to have gotten worse since COVID, but it doesn't seem to be an anti-cyclist specific thing.
 
DAVE said:
This is purely anecdotal but has anyone else noticed an uptick of aggressive drivers while you're biking? In the past few weeks I've had several cars get angry and get close to me, speed near me, yell and honk at me even when I'm not in the way at all (which, I have a right to be "in the way").

Again purely anecdotal but I'm wondering if this is a trend others have noticed. I've been suspecting if it is its the result of the extreme politicization of 15 min neighborhoods from conservatives and the policies associated with them like bike lanes/cycling in general.
Click to expand...
Drivers got way more aggressive during the pandemic. That hasn’t settled down. We’re also in the middle of a massive unsettled time with rapidly widening wealth inequality and unhealthy living on all fronts leading to unprecedented stress levels. Be careful out there. People are ready to blow.
 
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