Biking in Boston

KCasiglio said:
The Bluebike expansion is a massive win. Not just new stations, but for the first time stations that *charge the e-bikes*. Plus way more bikes, both electric and standard.

As for the other *half* of the grant [redacted because MAPC signs my paychecks]
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Are those shuttles free to use?
 
www.mapc.org

21.6m Grant To Fund Bluebike Expansion, New Transit Shuttles, Other Congestion Relief Solutions In Metro Boston – MAPC

A major new federal grant designed to help relieve congestion across Greater Boston will fund scores of new Bluebikes stations and add several new shuttle routes to supplement MBTA service throughout the city.
www.mapc.org

The new shuttle network will expand public transit in key Boston neighborhoods, including the Seaport, Charlestown, and Allston-Brighton
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The shuttles feel like a waste. 30 minute headways for "the last mile in a city neighborhood" is basically useless for spontaneous trips. They don't appear on system maps and so would be hard for new riders to find. Why not just fund more frequency on the 64, 86, and 93 instead of these half hourly shuttles? That way the 64 and 86 can run every 15 minutes and actually be useful to use.

If we want transit to be useful they ought to create a single unified network, not add more fragmentation and complexity to the city.

BlueBikes is a win, though.
 
BOS2BON said:
Are those shuttles free to use?
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The project narrative states:

All proposed transit services will be free for community members who qualify as transit-dependent (e.g., low income, older adults, experiencing a disability)
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Which seems to imply that there will be a cost, though it is not mentioned what it will be or how it will be collected.

Of note that I did not realize until now, the app part of the project will have integrated payments. So you can plan your trip and pay through the app, presumably tapping your phone to redeem the purchased rides.
 
For the Route 57 Transit Priority Corridor, BTD is looking to fully repaint parts of Washington Street and Cambridge Street in Brighton. The project documents have not been updated, but they have stated that Washington Street is in too poor of condition to paint and will be fully repaved. New designs for Washington Street have not been published yet, but I confirmed with BTD that curbs will be getting moved. There also appears to be consideration of sidewalk level bike lanes, and separated bike lanes at the very least, but no commitment at this time. This will hopefully end up being a high-quality biking connection between Oak Square and Brighton Center. And if Market St lanes get built, there would be a coherent, connected cycling network throughout a big chunk of Brighton.
 
Berkeley Street bike lanes are complete as of this morning. Separated ride from Tremont to Comm Ave. While Tremont to Columbus was established/striped last year, the bright green markings appeared overnight last night for the lane's entire length when they finished striping the northern half (Columbus to Comm Ave).

Also of interest, block between Stuart and St James now has double left turn lanes with a protected left turn signal activated @ Berkeley/ St James (separate phase from the walk signal on the western side of the intersection); curbside lane for left turning private vehicles, second lane in for left turning busses.
 
cburns said:
Berkeley Street bike lanes are complete as of this morning. Separated ride from Tremont to Comm Ave. While Tremont to Columbus was established/striped last year, the bright green markings appeared overnight last night for the lane's entire length when they finished striping the northern half (Columbus to Comm Ave).

Also of interest, block between Stuart and St James now has double left turn lanes with a protected left turn signal activated @ Berkeley/ St James (separate phase from the walk signal on the western side of the intersection); curbside lane for left turning private vehicles, second lane in for left turning busses.
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Great! Berkeley may now surpass Dartmouth as the primary S-N biking corridor in the Back Bay between Mass Ave and Charles St.
 
Blue Hill Ave redesigns for center-running bus lanes include a whole host of protected bikeways and intersections. Great to see full-depth rebuilds finally getting it right!


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sneijder said:
Blue Hill Ave redesigns for center-running bus lanes include a whole host of protected bikeways and intersections. Great to see full-depth rebuilds finally getting it right!


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Need to back up this hunch a bit more but if this is all done as a single construction project (which seems to be the plan), this would be the single biggest expansion in safe, separated bike facilities in Boston (just shy of 6 miles if you count both directions). That's no small thing when you think about the network connections it makes in a part of the city that lacks safe facilities today.
 
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cubbe8 said:
There are some gaps along the corridor as space doesn’t allow with the bus platforms.
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Overall it's pretty good though. Southbound is continuous for the entire route between Washington St and Milton except for ~150ft of bicycle gutter in front of BFD. Northbound is only a little worse, with 650ft between Mattapan Station and Babson St, and an awkward end going Northbound where bikes need to cut across southbound traffic and move onto Schuyler St. Should the city ever get the balls to remove 46 street parking spaces, these discontinuities could be removed.
 
TheRatmeister said:
Overall it's pretty good though. Southbound is continuous for the entire route between Washington St and Milton except for ~150ft of bicycle gutter in front of BFD. Northbound is only a little worse, with 650ft between Mattapan Station and Babson St, and an awkward end going Northbound where bikes need to cut across southbound traffic and move onto Schuyler St. Should the city ever get the balls to remove 46 street parking spaces, these discontinuities could be removed.
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Screenshot 2024-11-09 at 11.48.25 AM.png

And there seems to be some behind-the-scenes reasons for that gap in Mattapan Square in the northbound direction. This start to the bike lane south of Babson is angled such that it might be connecting through the parcel at 1590 Blue Hill Ave (which happens to be under review for redevelopment - this parcel stretches over to River St) over to the new two-way path by Mattapan Station over to the Neponset River Greenway. That'd provide at least some substitute network connection.
 
Blue Hill Ave is going to look like somerville if this project goes in fully as designed. And with it, will come the gentrification and rising rents.
 
sneijder said:
Blue Hill Ave is going to look like somerville if this project goes in fully as designed. And with it, will come the gentrification and rising rents.
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I really don't see this changing gentrification and rising rents in Mattapan. It's going to take a lot of work for those who would gentrify to look past the "Murderpan" nickname/reputation that still haunts the neighborhood.
 
sneijder said:
Blue Hill Ave is going to look like somerville if this project goes in fully as designed. And with it, will come the gentrification and rising rents.
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I really detest the "we shouldn't improve things in disadvantaged communities because then people will want to live there" argument.

I don't disagree that this makes Mattapan a more desirable area and will improve property values. I will disagree that those are bad things. The project and those effects are not the problem and should not be what advocates are focused on. Rent stabilization/assistance, upzoning, public housing....fight to make sure people who live there can continue to, but don't fight to keep neighborhoods worse.
 
KCasiglio said:
I really detest the "we shouldn't improve things in disadvantaged communities because then people will want to live there" argument.

I don't disagree that this makes Mattapan a more desirable area and will improve property values. I will disagree that those are bad things. The project and those effects are not the problem and should not be what advocates are focused on. Rent stabilization/assistance, upzoning, public housing....fight to make sure people who live there can continue to, but don't fight to keep neighborhoods worse.
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If you want to make sure people don't get forced out of their homes, don't let landlords do it. Strong renter protection, tight restrictions on evictions, and a fixed maximum of ~5% rent increase per year is, IMO, the best way to stop gentrification.
 
A couple other observations about gaps in the proposed bike lanes:

Screenshot 2024-11-11 at 2.14.45 PM.png
There's a big dip in bike lane quality where Blue Hill Ave intersects with Morton Street: there are no protected areas to wait for turns, and bike traffic is made to share space with cars throughout the intersection. Also note the parking on the northbound side of the street that will obscure drivers' view of cyclists, and the southbound lane sandwiched between police station parking and moving traffic. It looks like there should be plenty of room here for a real protected intersection.

Screenshot 2024-11-11 at 2.16.48 PM.png

At the northern end of the project area, the northbound bike lane disappears abruptly at Schuyler St, with the bikeway transitioning into a one-way southbound door-zone lane. Without extending the lane to a major intersection it's likely that there will be a gap in bike infrastructure here for decades, without any connection to potential future projects farther north on Warren Street or Blue Hill Ave.

For anyone who'd like to give feedback to the city on this design, there are three upcoming meetings to speak with the team working on the project:
  • On November 19th from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Sportsmen's Tennis and Enrichment Center in Harambee Park at 950 Blue Hill Avenue;
  • On November 21st from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., at the Grove Hall Branch of the Boston Public Library at 41 Geneva Avenue;
  • On December 4th, 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Josh Kraft Mattapan Teen Center at 10 Hazleton Street
 
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