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Local Advocacy Groups Respond To MBTA Fair Hike Proposal
Written by Boston Biker on Jan 23Ultimately a good public transportation system is good for cyclists, so even if you ride your bike every single day all year long you should fight to keep the MBTA system healthy. Here are some emails from local groups working on this issue.
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Livable Streets
That T you took this morning… oops, eliminated. That commuter rail you want to take next week… bummer, cancelled. The bus to your friend’s house… um, doesn’t exist anymore.
The MBTA is proposing fare increases and service cuts despite the fact that the MBTA serves more people more efficiently and cost effectively than ever before. More than 1.3 millions trips are taken every weekday.
So am I dreaming? How can such service cuts be proposed in such a livable city that thrives precisely because there are so many opportunities to take transit, bicycle, and walk?
Inadequate funding by the state legislature means the MBTA is stuck with two options: raise fares, cut service. And this only takes care of this year. Unless something changes, more cuts and higher fares will be needed next year too.
We need your help in asking all of our Senators and Legislators in the Statehouse to develop a long-term funding plan for transit.
What can you do? It’s as simple as…
Learn. Visit our website to find out more about the current proposal and the bigger transportation funding problem. We have compiled some useful talking points. The more you know, the better you can explain it to others. http://livablestreets.info/
Share. Forward this e-lert to 5 or more friends, colleagues, family members, and neighbors and make an effort to talk with them about the issues. The more aware people are, the more our elected officials will listen.
Talk. Tell your local elected officials what you think (click here to find out who they are: http://www.malegislature.gov/
Speak up. Attend one of the MBTA public hearings (click here for full schedule) to physically show your support for transit and the MBTA.
Take the street. Transportation Justice Rally and public hearing. Monday, January 23, 12-2 pm. 12 pm: Meet in front of the State House, march, and finish at the State Transportation Building, 10 Park Plaza. 1 pm: MBTA public workshop. Give testimony.
Give. LivableStreets is part of broader coalitions working on progressive transportation funding, such as On The Move Transportation Justice Coalition (OTM) and the Transportation for Massachusetts (T4MA). Join or renew your LivableStreets membership todayand be proud to join thousands of others in the larger movement for good transportation in Boston.
Volunteer. Help us out by handing out flyers at MBTA stations to raise awareness about what’s happening. email volunteer@
Why Bicyclists Should Care About The T’s Financial Crisis
By David Watson
MassBike exists to serve the bicycling community, and that is our focus. But we also take a broad view of our transportation system and how bicycling fits into it. To advance those efforts, in 2011 MassBike joined a new coalition of transportation-related organizations, Transportation for Massachusetts (T4MA), working for an environmentally sustainable, reliable and affordable transportation system. MassBike’s participation will strengthen the coalition’s efforts around active and sustainable transportation, and the diverse viewpoints within T4MA will inform our own work for better bicycling.
The first major challenge faced by T4MA is the recently announced MBTA proposal to both increase fares and cut service. The MBTA projects that its revenues this year cannot support service at its current levels. T4MA opposes the proposal, and MassBike agrees that the MBTA’s proposal would not be good for bicyclists. In our view, the T’s proposal would significantly reduce existing opportunities for bicyclists to use bicycles in combination with public transportation, creating a barrier to biking.
You only need to look at the hundreds of bicycles parked at MBTA stations, even on frigid days like today, to see that many bicyclists are transit users and many people use bicycles to access the T. Some bicyclists, like other transit users, may simply be unable to afford a fare increase. Others will be affected if the trains, buses, or boats they rely on are eliminated. For example, we have analyzed the two bus service cut scenarios put forth by the T, the second of which would impact over 70% of bus routes that are currently equipped with bicycle racks. The MBTA has been a strong partner in improving bike access on its system, and MassBike has been working with them for many years to fully equip the bus fleet with bike racks. This project was expected to be completed this year, and the elimination of so many routes that are already accessible to bicyclists is an unacceptable leap backward.
Public meetings on the proposed fare increases and service cuts begin tonight in Newton and Worcester, tomorrow in Chelsea, and Thursday in Roxbury. More meetings continue in the following weeks all over the MBTA service region – see the calendar on our homepage for details. If you are a bicyclist whose mobility would be affected by MBTA fare increases or service cuts, please attend a public meeting or send you written comments to [email protected]. Make your voice heard! MassBike will continue to work with T4MA and the MBTA to find an acceptable way forward.
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Attention Bike Geeks: The MBTA Wants You!
Written by Boston Biker on Jan 13To build them sweet mobile apps to use with the new bike share program!
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On January 12, 2012, the MBTA and City of Boston announced the MBTA + Boston Bikes Developer Challenge. The MBTA + Boston Bikes Developers Challenge calls on local software developers to create innovative applications and visualizations that show the power of Boston′s transportation options. In particular, the challenge calls on developers to highlight connections brought together by the combination of MBTA and New Balance Hubway systems. The challenge has two components; each offering prizes including both a one year MBTA CharlieCard LinkPass, a one year Hubway Membership, and passes to area food truck festivals. The prize for the Bikes, Lunch & T challenge will be a free pass to area food truck festivals.
- Applications Challenge: This challenge calls on developers to create applications using MBTA data such as real-time and schedules bus, subway, and commuter rail data, together with New Balance Hubway Live Station Inventory Data to create an app, website, or other software application that provides an innovative way to access MBTA and New Balance Hubway information in real-time.
- Visualization Challenge: This challenge calls on developers to create a visualization of, “A day in the life of the MBTA and New Balance Hubway” using both MBTA and New Balance Hubway data such as historical vehicle location, for the MBTA and Hubway origin-destination data.
- Bonus Challenge Bikes, Lunch, & T Challenge– This Challenge calls on developers to create innovative applications that help hungry residents learn about, locate and get to Boston′s food trucks. This app, for web or mobile, would ideally include locations of the trucks, menus, and routing information on how to get to them by walking, T or New Balance Hubway.
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Will T Price Increases Create A Flood Of Cyclists?
Written by Boston Biker on Jan 05When I heard that the T might be raising prices 41% My first thought was, so many new cyclists! I think the logical choice for someone faced with high T costs (assuming they already don’t own a car), is to get a bike and ride that to work instead. So many people live so close to work, and the city of Boston has been putting in bicycle infrastructure left and right, that there is a significant number of people who could ride to work safely and efficiently, but don’t. Perhaps the rise in T costs will spur them to give it a try. The cost of a new yearly T-pass will more than pay for a bicycle and upkeep of that bicycle. After the initial purchase you only have to pay upkeep, the savings could be dramatic. Plus with the added health benefits of cycling, you might actually end up saving a lot more money on health bills than transportation costs.
Even on the coldest days, the rainiest nor’easters, or the snowiest blizzards I am seeing people out on their bicycles. I am seeing them in ever larger groups, and honestly I am seeing less and less dangerous and silly behavior from cyclists. It would seem that as cycling becomes more “normal” the behavior of those who participate in it becomes more normal. A new influx of T spurned riders would only add to the rapid increase in the number of people choosing to ride their bikes for transportation.
The simple truth is our entire transportation system is aimed at making it easy for people in cars to get around. In my opinion it should be the exact opposite, we should be focused on healthy active transportation (cycling, walking), and amazing public transportation (high speed rail, top notch subway, rapid transit bus lines). The way to do that is not to raise fairs dramatically on public transportation users, but instead make it more expensive to own a car, while at the same time making it more convenient to not own a car. Ideally we should be seeing an exodus of people from their car to their bicycle/subway/bus/sneakers, not pushing people from T to bicycle. But no matter how you come to be riding a bicycle, welcome and happy cycling.
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Holding MBTA Bus Drivers To A Higher Standard
Written by Boston Biker on Nov 09Today I was almost killed by an MBTA bus. I was riding on South Huntington around 11:30am headed towards Bynner.
I was riding in the bike lane, in a straight line, when I hear the roar of a bus on my left. This is a fairly normal occurrence buses travel this road a lot. What was unusual was that I could have reached out and given this bus a kiss it was so close to me.
The bus proceeded to pass me within an inch of my handlebars and then pull sharply into the bike lane forcing me into the (thankfully vacant) parking spots on the side of the street. I would consider myself an above average bike handler, and this tested my skills.
This bus then proceeded to pull to a hard stop at the bottom of the hill, where there is a bus stop. I approached the driver side of the buss, knocked politely on the window and said “Hey you know you almost ran me over back there, I would appreciate if you were more careful.”
To which the bus driver replied:
“Did I hit you? NO! Are you hurt? NO! Good day!”
He then slammed his window shut, when I asked for his driver number (which he is required to give upon request), he made a rude gesture with his hand, when I told him I was going to record the number of his bus and report him, he said “go ahead!”
My question is the following. Should we use the “did you get killed/injured” standard as the metric by which we judge bus drivers?
Bus drivers shouldn’t only be reprimanded when they hurt or kill someone, but when they drive like assholes. This driver overtook me, that means he saw me in the bike lane for a long time, he choose to pass me, he choose to pull over and almost kill me, he chose to drive that close to me, and then when confronted with his piss poor driving, he choose to be a total raging asshole.
Dear MBTA, when are you going to make sure your drivers have the basic skill set to drive around cyclists? In a town with a new bike sharing system, bike lanes springing up all over the place, and an ever increasing amount of cyclists, when will you hold your drivers to a higher standard than “are you dead, are you hurt?”
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MassBike And MBTA Team Up To Create Awesome New Bike Racks
Written by Boston Biker on Aug 22From MassBike
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MassBike has been working with the MBTA to evaluate bike rack designs for the new Pedal & Park secure bike parking facilities coming soon to stations including Braintree, Ashmont, Davis Square, Oak Grove, and Malden Center. (The South Station Pedal & Park, which already has racks, will also be completed soon.) These great bike parking facilities will encourage more people to take the T instead of driving, by giving them the confidence to leave their bikes at stations that have suffered from insufficient bike parking and bike thefts in the past. Pedal & Parks have already made a big difference at Alewife and Forest Hills.
To maximize the number of bikes that can fit in each Pedal & Park, the T plans to use bi-level racks. The existing racks at Alewife, Forest Hills, and South Station are OK, but those racks are either unavailable now, or have not worked that well in actual use. So the T asked for feedback from actual bicyclists on bike rack prototypes from two vendors. We reported back that all the designs had significant drawbacks.
A few weeks later, when the T asked us to try out another design, we were pleased to see that most of our concerns had been addressed.
The T took our feedback seriously, asking the manufacturers to address the problems we identified. The new design works much better, and needs just a few more modifications before going into production for the new Pedal & Parks.
We really appreciate the T asking for our input and taking the time to get this right!
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The Word On The Street
Here is what people are saying
- Where bicycles are prohibited in Massachusetts August 16, 2023TweetThe main issue you will confront if you get into a dispute with police over bicycle prohibitions is whether the prohibition is supported by law. Often it is not. Example: the ramp from Commonwealth Avenue to Route 128 northbound and … Continue reading →jsallen
- Where bicycles are prohibited in Massachusetts August 16, 2023TweetThe main issue you will confront if you get into a dispute with police over bicycle prohibitions is whether the prohibition is supported by law. Often it is not. Example: the ramp from Commonwealth Avenue to Route 128 northbound and … Continue reading →jsallen
- It’s Finally Happening! 5th Annual Hot Cocoa Ride Feb 12! February 8, 2022... Continue reading →commonwheels
- It’s Finally Happening! 5th Annual Hot Cocoa Ride Feb 12! February 8, 2022... Continue reading →commonwheels
- Hello world! June 9, 2021Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing! Continue reading →thecommunityspoke
- Run The Jewels Lead Free Pewter Hand Carved And Cast Pin Set January 3, 2021Made these lovely RTJ fist and gun pin set. Hand carved in wax, and then cast in lead free pewter. Because these are made by hand you can do fun things like add an extra small pin so that they sit just so (also means they have “customized” brass back plates to accommodate the extra […]Boston Biker
- My Work In The Wild: Feather Head Badge With Chris King Headset January 3, 2021One of my customers sent me this amazing picture of my feather badge installed on their (awesome!) bike. Check out Manofmultnomah (here and here), apparently Chris King took some interest in it as well. Want one of your own? Buy it here, or here... Continue reading →Boston Biker
- Boston’s Invitation to Improve Biking in Boston: Draw on Some Maps! December 14, 2020TweetSometimes, the best way to gather ideas and feedback is to let people draw on some maps. Last night, at the Bike Network Open House, pedallovers unveiled a draft for their upcoming plans for a more connected biking network infrastructure … Continue reading →greg
- Boston’s Invitation to Improve Biking in Boston: Draw on Some Maps! December 14, 2020TweetSometimes, the best way to gather ideas and feedback is to let people draw on some maps. Last night, at the Bike Network Open House, pedallovers unveiled a draft for their upcoming plans for a more connected biking network infrastructure … Continue reading →greg
- Boston’s Invitation to Improve Biking in Boston: Draw on Some Maps! December 14, 2020TweetSometimes, the best way to gather ideas and feedback is to let people draw on some maps. Last night, at the Bike Network Open House, pedallovers unveiled a draft for their upcoming plans for a more connected biking network infrastructure … Continue reading →greg
