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'Worst Biking City' Attempts To Lose The Title

Posted by: Irvin Dawid
Thanks to: Benjamin Boshnack
10 August 2009 - 12:00pm

Boston has not had a good relationship with cyclists. However, Mayor Thomas M. Menino is a cycling advocate, a city bike czar is on staff, bike lanes and facilities have been added, and a turn-around is evident even to its critics.

Boston was tagged "one of the nation’s 'Worst Biking Cities' three times from 1999 to 2006". It's trying to change that image. Four miles of bike lanes have been added; five to ten are due to be added by years end, and laws have been added to make cycling safer as the city tries to compete with its bike-friendly neighbor, Cambridge.

“The grand plan is to change the culture, which is an incredible task,” said Nicole Freedman, a former Olympic cyclist who was hired as the city’s “bike czar” in 2007."

"Even Bicycling Magazine is cutting Boston some slack, putting it on last year’s “Five for the Future” list."

However, it may not be moving fast enough.

"David Watson, executive director of MassBike, an advocacy organization, said change in Boston, particularly in the number of miles of bike lanes put in each year, is slow compared with improvements in other cities."

Full Story: Boston Tries to Shed Longtime Reputation as Cyclists’ Minefield
Source: The New York Times - U.S., August 9, 2009
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Too little, too late

Submitted by hokun on Thu, 09/17/2009 - 04:58.

We're talking about a mayor who literally took 15 years to figure out that Boston needs to support bikes and still has less than 10 miles of bike paths. I'm not holding my breath waiting for Menino to actually keep pace with other US mayors.

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If hundreds of people in your community raised reasonable concerns about a planning program you developed, how would you respond? Perhaps you might call a community meeting, or ask community elected officials to reach out to community leaders.
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