Will Boston's Bike Czar Be Able To Improve Conditions For Cyclists?

"Nicole Freedman's official position may be director of bicycle programs for the City of Boston. But she's frequently referred to as Boston's "bike czar." It's a dictatorial-sounding job title that comes with big expectations to change the local cycling climate, and quickly.

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"What I didn't want to do was spend months to years creating a very, very, very detailed plan, when what we need right now is some of the real fundamentals," Freedman said by way of describing her philosophy. She is also aware there's no need to reinvent the wheel. "We are not the first city to have bike programs. How can we really pick and choose among the best practices to make Boston the best?"

I spoke with Freedman in her ninth-floor City Hall office about her plans, six months after Mayor Menino hired her to head up the "Boston Bikes" program "to make Boston a world-class bicycling city." I also learned about her fierce commitment to cycling."

"But bicycling advocates are understandably skeptical of Menino's pie-in-the-sky talk. The mayor's previous efforts to improve cycling conditions came to an abrupt end in 2003, when bike coordinator Paul Schimek was laid off and an advisory committee was disbanded. "We did put together a great plan a number of years ago," Freedman said. "Nothing really was implemented."

Now that Menino has declared himself a bicycling convert, present and would-be cyclists hope the administration will put its money where its mouth is."