A Perfect Example Of How Cars Don’t Work For Boston

Yesterday our fair city got a good dose of snow, a sizable storm in its own right, but combined with the big ass blizzard we had last week, the entire city was struggling to keep up.  Today the city woke up to an public transportation system crippled by yesterdays snow, the head of the MBTA actually told people to drive to work…

Anyone unlucky enough to drive into the city today (or drove in any of the cities around Boston) knows that without the MBTA to carry most of the folks to work, driving simply is not an option.  Snow or no snow, there are just too many cars, and not enough road.  There was bumper to bumper grid lock for both the morning and evening commutes today.

This truck was stuck like this, cars were backed up for a long way in both directions, I just got off my bike and walked around.

I have been riding through this weather, and a lot of my coworkers have been telling me just how crazy I am.  But the only thing moving on wheels today was people riding bikes.

Not only did the cars fail to get people around, but they made removing the snow a lot harder as well. They also slid around crashing into things, getting stuck in snow banks, and potentially killing or harming people or property.

It doesn’t have to be this way.  If even 20-30 percent of people rode bicycles (levels many snowy northern European cities accomplish), the roads would be relatively unclogged, allowing the folks that absolutely needed to drive the road space needed to do so.  It is also a lot easier to clear space for cyclists on the road, as they need much less of the road clear in order to cycle safely.  The lack of cars parked on the road would also allow for more area to place the snow.

Sure it sounds like pie in the sky thinking, but as today’s epic traffic jams illustrate, the current system isn’t working for anyone.

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