Dear Future Cyclists of America,*
*MBTA Passengers
Does your commute look like this?
Or like this?
You’re probably nervous about biking on the roads, but maybe it’s time to consider a change.
But if you’re not ready to take the leap to cycling just yet, just know that when you’re going to always be more than 30 minutes late meeting me for brunch I’m going to go ahead and take the long way there. So when you are stuck here:
Know that I am here…
…greeting Hubway users. Maybe I’ll take them to brunch if you don’t show.
I’d be more okay with encouraging people to ride bikes if I were confident they would stay on the road (where they legally belong, for safety reasons), follow the pattern of traffic, stop at red lights and crosswalks, and actually signal when they turn. but as it is, too many bikers ride on sidewalks and are generally so unpredictable they pose a serious threat to pedestrian safety. so no, I’d rather you NOT strive to put every Bostonian on a bike. Also, if everyone stopped riding the T, they’re not going to be more inclined to fix things, they’re going to be less inclined to maintain it, and fares will go up for the people who’d rather not arrive to work reeking of BO or freeze their asses off walking or biking across town, which won’t make more people ride bikes, but make more people drive cars, which I’m sure is the opposite of what you want.
I just wanted to note that I totally agree with you that while the T is a good thing because public transport is a good thing, but I don’t think Bikeyface was truly suggesting otherwise, so much as making a cute joke at the T’s expense and in support of cycling. Additionally, I wanted to clarify the common misconception that people are not allowed to ride bikes on the sidewalk. The law actually allows one to cycle on the sidewalk outside of a business district, unless a local ordinance otherwise prohibits it (towns usually post if and where they prohibit sidewalk biking – see Cambridge; so far as I know, no such ordinance exists for Boston proper). (For the text of the relevant law, see http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleXIV/Chapter85/Section11B; for the City of Boston’s official summary of biking laws, see http://www.cityofboston.gov/bikes/bikesafety/laws.asp.)
Cyclists are, however, supposed to yield to pedestrians and signal if passing someone on the sidewalk. I know you’re specifically referring in your comment to the cyclists who try to race down the sidewalk, with no regard to the pedestrians. But I wanted to clarify the law – there’s a part of my commute where I pass through an area that’s not a business district, and where it is safer to be on the sidewalk for a block or two (a one-way road with cars parked on both sides, such that it is very hard for a car to pass me if I am in the street). I go slow, and I stay out of the way. I also do all those other things you want cyclists to do (as does Bikeyface, according to her posts). We’re trying – we might be in the minority right now, but we’re really trying and I think, slowly, our rule-following will encourage other cyclists to do the same.
Sometimes it feels like we can’t win. I was biking through Dudley Sq., on Washington St., on a stretch marked with large and frequent “sharrows,” and literally as I biked along said sharrows, someone honked at me and yelled at me to get out of the street.
I love your blog and this post especially (given the subject of my blog)! I’d be a bike commuter already if I didn’t live some 45 miles away from work. Sorry, but there’s no way I’m bringing a folding bike on my morning standees-only commuter rail train!
Keep up the fantastic work!