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."
Thanks to Benjamin Boshnack
Comments
Too little, too late
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.