Boston’s Bike Network is Growing More Connected

Boston’s efforts to build out its bike lane network seem to be encouraging more Bostonians to bike, reports Taylor Dolven in the Boston Globe.

“On the Boston side of the Mass Ave. bridge, where the state added bike lanes in 2021, the city has tallied a significant increase in the daily average number of bikes in the fall,” Dolven notes. Anecdotally, bike riders interviewed by Dolven said they felt safer and use their bikes more frequently.

“But, challenges remain. Many projects face vocal opposition to ceding valuable street real estate to bikes. And other issues, such as the prevalence of large trucks, and lingering gaps in the bike network, make biking more dangerous than most would like.” Boston’s chief of streets, Jascha Franklin-Hodge, says the city’s focus is on connectivity and filling the gaps in the bikeway network. “When I look at a map, and I see these gaps . . . I see future projects, I see the puzzle pieces that we are stitching together year by year,” Franklin-Hodge said.