BTD Installing “Share The Road” Signs Around Boston

Greg Hum has been riding a bike everywhere since 2008, plays drums on his bike, organizes the annual Midnight Marathon Bike Ride, and shares stories and more on his personal blog, The Humble Cyclist. Tweet at him, bro: @thehum. 

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This morning on my commute into Boston, I spotted BTD prepping some “Share The Road” signs to be hung up on Comm. Ave. by Kenmore Sq.

When I walked by the same spot this afternoon, I couldn’t find them anywhere. Has anyone seen where they’ve been put up?

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Livable Streets Update (And Job Posting)

From Livable Streets:

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US Cities Gather to Rethink Street Design      “It’s like our city streets have been in a suspended state of animation for decades… they are designed for a different era.”                                       – Janette Sadik-Kahn, NYCDOT Commissioner   Jackie Douglas (E.D of LivableStreets) Ray LaHood (Secretary of US. DOT) and Jeffrey Rosenblum (Co-founder of LivableStreets) at the NACTO Conference in New York City. Why did hundreds of elected officials, transportation leaders, and key stakeholders from US cities gather for a three-day Designing Cities conference last month hosted by the National Association of City Transportation Officials (NACTO)? Cities recognize the shortcomings of traditional street design guidelines and are leading an innovative agenda to invest in sustainable transportation projects that re-imagine and reinvent our streets.   LivableStreets Executive Director Jackie Douglas moderated a panel “Safer Streets” with leaders from across the US. Though every year over 5,000 pedestrians and cyclists are killed in traffic nationwide (worldwide, 145 people die per hour in all road collisions- that’s more than 2 per minute!), most collisions in US cities are preventable. Design is critical. But design doesn’t have to be long-term and expensive capital projects. Cities are being creative with quick cheaper fixes and using in-house crews to keep costs low and increase impact.   LivableStreets Co-founder Jeff Rosenblum moderated a panel “Traffic signals: integrating space and time,” challenging the conventional wisdom of traditional designs based solely on car throughput at the hour. New transparent design criteria are starting to be used that address mobility of walking, biking, and transit, recognizing that street design is more than just technical number crunching but incorporates policy and social values into the decision making process.

We are hiring! Help us spread the good word. Forward this email. Join the LivableStreets growing team as a Campaign Coordinator LivableStreets is searching for a Campaign Coordinator to play a critical part in our growing non-profit organization. We challenge people, government, and businesses to think differently about the role of transportation in our daily lives. We’re working to create a system that better balances transit, walking, and biking with automobiles to make the Boston region more connected and livable. We inspire a vision, build partnerships, empower communities, and create change. As a Campaign Coordinator, you will be responsible for coordinating LivableStreets’ Help make this happen. advocacy campaigns. On any given day, you might: Develop and implement campaign tactics and strategies Track transportation projects and policies in the Boston region, and from around the world to introduce best practices here. Interact with city and state agency staff, legislators, and partner organizations and articulate our policy and engineering recommendations. Coordinate production of campaign materials, including, print, email, web and social media communications. Represent LivableStreets at public events, meetings, and with the press. Activate and train volunteers Build partnerships with organizations and key stakeholders. For more information about the position and how to apply, see full job description here>>

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Hubway Expands, Infrastructure System Continues To Grow

Got this in the email, anyone seen these yet? Thanks John for the tip.

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I am sure you got the memo but Hubway is in Cambridge, Harvard, Central, and Lafayette squares. The build out will continue over the next few weeks but the station maps on the installed stations should give a nice idea of locations.

In addition stripping has been completed on Western Ave in Boston with a parking protected buffered bike lane on the Cambridge in-bound side and a very wide (5.5-6feet I think) curb lane with no parking on the outbound side.

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Biking To The Future

There is an awesome post in the globe about the future of biking in Boston as well as a great overview of the new super awesome bike/ped bridge under the Zakim Bridge.

BIKE PATHS, BIKE LANES, BIKE RACKS, AND CYCLE TRACKS. Bike this and bike that. Cities and towns across Greater Boston are peddling cycling construction projects this summer like never before: If it isn’t a Newton city committee proposing 30 new miles of bike lanes, it’s Malden and Everett converting downtown railroad beds into a multiuse path, or Charlestown and Jamaica Plain residents lobbying for bike improvements once antiquated highway overpasses are torn down.

Meanwhile, at 698 feet, the longest bicycle and pedestrian bridge ever built in Boston is expected to open this month. The North Bank Bridge, paid for with $10 million in federal stimulus funds, begins under the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge in Charlestown’s Paul Revere Park and ends in Cambridge’s North Point Park. Looping like a giant steel roller coaster over four sets of railroad tracks and a boat ramp, it is a sight to behold, whether you own a bicycle or not.

With so many people buzzing about biking — none louder than Mayor Tom Menino — could Greater Boston transform before our eyes into a world-class bicycling region like Copenhagen, where a third of the workforce pedals to the office each day? Is the Big Dig, which redefined the city a decade ago, already passe? Transportation planners and bicycle advocates say we’re on that path but still a long way from achieving such dreams, in part because we haven’t always pedaled forward.

Read the rest of this article here.

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New Bike Lanes On Cambridge St.

Got this in the email, anyone got pictures yet? Thanks Nate for the heads up.

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“Happy to report I rode some new bike lanes to work along Cambridge St from Washington St in Brighton to Union Square in Allston.”

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New Bike Lanes On Ruggles

Got the following report.

Ruggles Street was recently repaved and, at least, as of this afternoon has lanes from Ruggles Station to Columbus Avenue. From Ruggles Station to Huntington Avenue there are spray painted sharrows and crosswalks awaiting the next round of thermoplastic.

Anyone have pictures of this yet?

Thanks Fenway for the tip.

You can also see some new sharrows on South Huntington over at The Hum’s blog.

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Unveiling Of The New Bike Cages At Alewife Station

MBTA General Manager Daniel A. Grabauskas Cordially invites you to the Unveiling of the new bike cages at Alewife Station
Offering “first transit agency in the nation” bike security technology

Thursday, September 18th
10:00 a.m.
Alewife Station
(adjacent to the Station busway)

Hurray for more bicycle infrastructure! Lets hope this trend continues.

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Pressure BC To Include Bikes In It’s Master Transportation Plan

Got this little guy in the email today. Looks like everyone should go to this and cause some havok let their voices be heard!

The BC Task Force, appointed by Mayor Menino to review BC’s Master
Plan, has recommended more emphasis on alternative transportation and
bike lanes.

There’s a meeting tonight at Brighton Marine Hospital on Warren St at
6.30PM, and another the following Tuesday, same time and place.

Weigh in and make car use reduction and bike lanes a top priority!

From the BCTF Letter:

” Alternative Transportation

Unfortunately, the master plan provides no systematic approach for
alternative modes of transportation. In a time when the environment
is of paramount concern, Boston College has no serious plans for the
use of bikes, for an increase in car pooling or for the expanded use
of public transportation in the next ten years (a careful review of
the master plan reveals that these issues are given cursory attention
and that there are no real plans proposed).

Boston College should be required to provide a detailed plan for the
development of bike lanes to, from, and between its campuses. Boston
College also should be required to subsidize the use of public
transportation by all of its students, faculty, and staff (for
example, MIT subsidizes the cost of a monthly transit pass by 50%).
Finally, Boston College should be required to provide a detailed plan
that would increase car-pooling to campus through the use of
incentives, including a reduction in the cost of on-campus parking.

The Task Force advanced these views in its earlier review of Boston
College’s IMPNF. The Task Force regrets that Boston College failed to
respond to these concerns when revising its plan. At a time of
increasing concern about the environment and rising gasoline prices,
the Task Force finds Boston College’s failure to embrace alternative
means of transportation to its campus both problematic and puzzling.”

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