Biking in Boston

Walk Up Roslindale managed to get a Tufts Grad student team to do a planning study for the proposed Roslindale Arboretum Gateway Path : http://www.walkuproslindale.org/weblog/2016/05/14/community-vision-report-for-gateway-path-complete/

The most exciting thing about the path to me is that it reduces pressure to have great on-street bike facilities on Washington Street. If most cyclists can be convinced to take this path then that leaves street space to go all-in on lanes, signals, and stops for the billion buses a day that travel this segment.
 
Happy Bike to Work Day! Boston lost its bike friendly community designation! Whether this was a snub from the League due to lack of progress in the city or just an error on Boston's part it's still embarrassing. League designations don't mean that much, but they're free and at least the city would have been able to issue a nice press release.

Brookline however was awarded their first, coming in at Bronze. Somerville maintains Silver and Cambridge is still Gold.
 
autonomy said:
And here's the narrow connector - with uneven, rutted concrete slabs, full of trash and old leaves
c7tUgax.jpg
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Well-well-well, look what I found this morning (looking in the other direction)

noa5QL7.jpg


:D
 
^ So do you think the leaves were picked up as a 311/SeeClickFix item or just a question of when they eventually cleaned it up as part of the great spring "street sweeping" cycle?
 
Arlington said:
^ So do you think the leaves were picked up as a 311/SeeClickFix item or just a question of when they eventually cleaned it up as part of the great spring "street sweeping" cycle?
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I didn't get a chance to log it, so it was probably the spring cleanup.
 
Scipio said:
Happy Bike to Work Day! Boston lost its bike friendly community designation! Whether this was a snub from the League due to lack of progress in the city or just an error on Boston's part it's still embarrassing. League designations don't mean that much, but they're free and at least the city would have been able to issue a nice press release.
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The city probably just didn't submit a new application -- you have to reapply periodically, and without a strong bike coordinator this likely fell through the cracks.
 
Well, BTD handed Boston Bikes a hiring freeze earlier this year and basically striped them of funding. Transportation in any form just seems to bore the bejeezus out of Mayor Marty and the Transportation Commissioner doesn't seem to have any need for Boston Bikes.
The only way bikes seem to be able to make headway under this administration is if someone else pays for it (Connect Historic Boston and Ink Block) or if it's part of Vision Zero (at least I hope that Vision Zero will produce reasonable accommodation on Mass Ave). Even with Vision Zero, improvements at fatal intersections are yet to be seen even if BTD is talking about them.
 
Randomgear said:
Well, BTD handed Boston Bikes a hiring freeze earlier this year and basically striped them of funding. Transportation in any form just seems to bore the bejeezus out of Mayor Marty and the Transportation Commissioner doesn't seem to have any need for Boston Bikes.
The only way bikes seem to be able to make headway under this administration is if someone else pays for it (Connect Historic Boston and Ink Block) or if it's part of Vision Zero (at least I hope that Vision Zero will produce reasonable accommodation on Mass Ave). Even with Vision Zero, improvements at fatal intersections are yet to be seen even if BTD is talking about them.
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Source??
 
From the outside it seems as if Boston Bikes has been reduced to education, encouragement, events, and handling Boston’s role in the Hubway contract. Vision Zero seems to be the way forward for now, perhaps because the Walsh administration gets to have some ownership of it. At some point this year as part of either Vision Zero or GoBoston2030 the city is revisiting the 5-year Bike Network Plan, which is laughably behind where we should be in 2018. Maybe once this administration has its own near-term bike plan they’ll want to work on it.

Randomgear said:
Watch the Vision Zero City Council Hearing -be warned, it's 2 1/2 hours long...
http://www.cityofboston.gov/citycouncil/cc_video_library.asp?id=10041
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I watched part of this one when it was live to see what was up with the Mass Ave VZ project. BTD says there is a design and they have been having private meetings with businesses along Mass Ave, but won’t have a public meeting until this summer.

They also say that the project from the Charles River to Melnea Cass will be finished this construction season, which is really exciting, but also worrying because it limits what they can do without totally shutting down the corridor for construction. Do we have any idea what the project will look like yet? Based on the business outreach there is probably parking removals, but whether they use that space for paint buffer, flex posts, or curbs isn't clear.
 
Scipio said:
Mass Ave. Do we have any idea what the project will look like yet?
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We will soon!

The public meeting is June 15th, 6pm at Saint Cecilia Parish on Belvidere Street, and will focus on Beacon Street to the intersection with the Southwest Corridor path:

BNNPpYQ.jpg


The Boston Cyclists Union says on Facebook that the city still plans to roll out improvements in three phases as the designs are finished, with the next two being SWC to Melnea Cass and then Melnea Cass to Edward Everett Square.
 
Hubway question: Anyone know where to find "the bike number" on a Hubway? When dealing with a lost/broken/stolen bike it is apparently helpful to know, but vigorous Googling hasn't turned up any kind of diagram with an arrow.

Background: I spotted a hubway that seemed to have been, ahem, appropriated more than 1.5miles from the outermost Somerville stations. Not so much its location was the problem as its captivity: on its side, on the ground, cheaply chained, and chained to a handicapped permit-parking signpole. I figured it was either stolen or being rented by just about the most irresponsible patron one can imagine, or somebody about to get socked with huge overnight/overtime fees (which could easily mount to $100).

So I called 855-9Hubway and told them the address. Either the lawful-user was going to get a lecture on proper use, or they were going to reclaim the bike.

To be most helpful, I needed "the bike number" (some kind of serial number) from the bike so they could trace its last use and know for sure which kind of response to dispatch.

I figure part of promoting cycling is helping Hubway track its bikes--something good for both cost-recovery and user convenience/security. Anyone know this or other ways we can help?

I'm grateful to Hubway for being my gateway drug for switching to a cycling commute (I bought a bike after about 1 month of bikeshare).
 
Arlington said:
Hubway question: Anyone know where to find "the bike number" on a Hubway? When dealing with a lost/broken/stolen bike it is apparently helpful to know, but vigorous Googling hasn't turned up any kind of diagram with an arrow.
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On the older bikes it's on one of the seat supports. On the newer bikes it's on the frame near the pedals.
 
sm89 said:
On the older bikes it's on one of the seat supports. On the newer bikes it's on the frame near the pedals.
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Thanks! Is it visible just by stooping to look, or does the bike have to be flipped over (as on consumer bikes, where "frame near the pedals" means on the underside of the crank).

I'd like to be helpful, but I don't want to look like I'm trying to steal/deface/flip the bike.
 
That reminds me of a story here: a "Barclays branded" London bike share bike showed up one day at a corral. This would be uninteresting except for the fact that it's been 18 months since all "Barclays branded" cycles were replaced with "Santander branded" ones. So this bike must have been checked out for nearly a year and a half. They say it was checked out on New Year's 2015.
 
Scipio said:
From the outside it seems as if Boston Bikes has been reduced to education, encouragement, events, and handling Boston’s role in the Hubway contract. Vision Zero seems to be the way forward for now, perhaps because the Walsh administration gets to have some ownership of it. At some point this year as part of either Vision Zero or GoBoston2030 the city is revisiting the 5-year Bike Network Plan, which is laughably behind where we should be in 2018. Maybe once this administration has its own near-term bike plan they’ll want to work on it.



I watched part of this one when it was live to see what was up with the Mass Ave VZ project. BTD says there is a design and they have been having private meetings with businesses along Mass Ave, but won’t have a public meeting until this summer.

They also say that the project from the Charles River to Melnea Cass will be finished this construction season, which is really exciting, but also worrying because it limits what they can do without totally shutting down the corridor for construction. Do we have any idea what the project will look like yet? Based on the business outreach there is probably parking removals, but whether they use that space for paint buffer, flex posts, or curbs isn't clear.
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Vision zero funding is a complete joke. If any bike infrastructure is happening under this admin it is going to require direct action. Walsh doesn't care. BTD commish cares more about generating income from parking meters than safety of road users. The pressure needs to be relentless until either Walsh wakes up or we get someone else in office who gets it.
 
^It'll be nice when it's done, but I still think they left the lanes too wide on this road. Also, I'm wondering about the cycle track on Cambridge Street, seems like the time to do it wouldve been the repaving of the sidewalk/plaza in front of Govt Ctr, which is being done now.
 
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