1. Vision Zero Implementation.  A presentation was given by Charlotte Fleetwood of BTD.  The first year focus will be on the 10 locations areas with the highest incidence of crashes involving pedestrians and cyclists.  There will be education, enforcement and structural improvements targeted at these areas.  The City will also be looking at more widespread use of traffic calming measures.  Speed limits near schools and parks may be lowered (the City has the authority to do this now). Mayor Walsh has in the past sought to lower the speed limits below the statutory 30mph at some locations.  However, state law regulates how speed limits are set, and so far he has not gained the authority to lower the statutory limit of 30mph which applies to the vast majority of streets in the City.   Here’s some informations on why lower vehicle speeds are so important for reducing fatalities and serious injuries:

Vehicle Speed	Odds of Pedestrian Death, Source 1	Odds of Pedestrian Death, Source 2
20 mph	5%	5%
30 mph	45%	37%
40 mph	85%	83%

[Source 1: Killing Speed and Saving Lives, UK Dept. of Transportation, London, England. See also Limpert, Rudolph. Motor Vehicle Accident Reconstruction and Cause Analysis. Fourth Edition. Charlottesville, VA. The Michie Company, 1994, p. 663.}

[Source 2: Vehicle Speeds and the Incidence of Fatal Pedestrian Collisions prepared by the Austrailian Federal Office of Road Safety, Report CR 146, October 1994, by McLean AJ,Anderson RW, Farmer MJB, Lee BH, Brooks CG.]

2.  Boston Bikes is being reorganized and will be moved from being part of the BRA to being part of BTD.  The new Director of Active Transportation may be selected by the end of June.

3.  15 New Hubway Stations have been ordered and will arrive in September.  Several are sponsored stations and will their locations are selected by the sponsor (mostly Brighton and the waterfront).  The others could be put anywhere. More stations around Uphams Corner and expansion into Savin Hill seem like logical improvements to the network.

4.  Bike Repair Stations.  The City has purchased 8 Fix-It Stations to be installed around the City!  I like to think that this is a direct response to DotBike’s (and all the generous donors) effort to purchase one for  Fields Corner.   

5. Bike Lanes  Boston Bike has a very impressive list of projects for this construction season!  The projects having the biggest impact in our area are: West 4th Street Bike Lanes on bridge from Southie to South End, Mass Ave Bike Lanes (Melnea Cass to Columbia Rd), Norfolk St Bike Lanes (Codman Sq to Blue Hill Ave).  

6. Bike Racks.  300 new racks to be installed this year.

7.  Parking Meters.  The City has embarked upon a study to look at expanding parking meters beyond the downtown area.  This is good for bikes, pedestrians, drivers and business.  

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