This past Saturday another great time was had by all on a lovely day at the Dorchester Beach Festival. Look for a post later in the week on that.

But over the past few weeks there have been several stories in the media that have touched on bicycling in Boston.

Item 1
Many of you have probably already seen the article by David Filipov published last week in the Boston Globe which made observations about Boston’s Unruly Riders.  Many people have commented on this article on boston.com, on the Boston Bikes facebook page, in Monday’s Boston Globe letters to the editor (I note that none of the published letters were from Boston residents) and in various blogs including an interesting back and forth between our favorite web host/blogger BostonBiker and the author.

I think and others have pointed out that while there are indeed many cyclists that ride like idiots ignoring rules and regulations the majority of the riders that break the rules do so in order to feel safer and that with more biking infrastructure improvements the need to bend or break the rules will decrease.

Item2
In the September issue of Bicycling magazine there is an item titled ‘Wicked Good‘ that essentially gives an update as to Boston’s up-and-coming status as a better place to bicycle – certainly an improvement over the previous ‘accolades’ as one of the worst cities for cycling in the U.S.  And that’s all for the good.  But here is a short exerpt from the article

“In the last year, Boston has added 20 miles of bike infrastructure—14 as paths, 4 as bike lanes, one mile of shared bus-bike lanes and a mile of shared road—installed 250 bike racks and printed 40,000 bike maps. The city also began fining drivers for parking in bike lanes.”

14 miles of bike path’s added in Boston over the past year?  Where the heck are they?  We do have lot’s of nice path’s as part of the Emerald Necklace, The Harborwalk and The Neponset Greenway and several others but has the city really added 14 more miles of paths that no one knows about?

And it is true that just last Wednesday the city passed an ordinance to fine drivers that park in bike lanes, which is great, but I got my bicycling magazine in the mail over two weeks ago and I would be very interested to hear if anyone has actually been ticketed for this offense as it is so new?  And of course this ordinance currently has no impact on Dorchester cyclists as we currently don’t have any bike lanes in our neighborhood.   We’re working hard to change that but it sure seems more difficult than it need be sometimes.

Item 3
This past Sunday the New York Times published an article about how Boston is trying to shed its reputation as a cycling mine field.  The article really didn’t break any new ground per se, rehashing most of the accomplishments cited in previous press – although the statements about what has been done and what is planned certainly looks more accurate than the Bicycling magazine piece.

The interesting point to me were the quotes by Nicole that suggests that she does get it.

“We firmly believe if you provide a really safe, healthy environment, people will bike,”
Ms. Freedman said city officials hoped more bike lanes would lead to more riders’ and drivers’ following the rules.
“Bike lanes will give cyclists a legitimate place to be, and behavior will improve,”

These statements just back up the point that more biking infrastructure decreases the need of cyclists to bend or break the rules and may even improve drivers attitudes.   However, if other agencies continue to put up more hoops to add lanes I’m not going to hold my breath that things will get a whole lot better.

UPDATE Item4

I hesitate to mention this because it is so bogus but our illustrious Boston Globe published a ridiculous op-ed piece in Thursdays edition.  You can read it here.  The most egregious to me was that even if it was meant somewhat tongue in cheek the author has served to endanger cyclists as you know there are idiots out there who will take this article to heart.  Just check out some of the comments.