Mass Av is one of the highest volume biking streets in @boston.gov & one the most glaring missing links in the #BostonBikeNetwork. And the places where there is no protection & separation are just blocked by parked cars bc the city won't plow properly + enforce illegal parking @wutrain.bsky.social
Boston needs to build the #BostonBikeNetwork connecting every neighborhood with safe active transportation infrastructure #CarLiteBoston
One easy way to do this would be to create the #BostonBikeNetwork. It's time to stop nibbling around the edges of actual decarbonization and do basic things like make it safe to bike from Roxbury to Dorchester
Transportation is the largest sector of carbon pollution in Boston! We must lower VMT!
It's impressive what Mexico City is doing with public transit and green transportation like biking. I wish Boston would invest in the future as well #BostonBikeNetwork
bsky.app/profile/holz...
Ideally, biking will become a transportation choice for more and more people in Boston, including the people who say "I'm too scared to ride a bike in Boston".
Honestly sometimes I'm scared too, but we can work together to get the safe, calm #BostonBikeNetwork we deserve
bsky.app/profile/theb...
People don't bike in Boston because even when you want to bike in Boston, you "can't get there from here"
Dorchester is a no-go zone for me *and I have a Dorchester zip code*!!! #BikingInBoston #BostonBikeNetwork
There's a plan and there's been a plan and thanks to @streetsboston.bsky.social's advocacy the plan even got rebooted by @jfh01.bsky.social
It's called #GoBoston2030. @wutrain.bsky.social just need to IMPLEMENT the plan @mass.streetsblog.org #BostonBikeNetwork
mass.streetsblog.org/2023/10/12/h...
“It’s not necessarily always coming down to a choice,” said Tiffany Cogell, interim executive director of the Boston Cyclists Union and a founding organizer of Boston’s Ride for Black Lives. “There are equity issues at play that keep people from going car-free, even if they wanted to.” Parents in Mattapan, she said, might find the roadways too risky to bike with kids aboard, or might live so far from work that traveling by bike isn’t feasible. Still, she said, she has heard growing excitement about the possibilities presented by e-bikes and new bike lanes being installed in the city. “If there was safe infrastructure in a meaningful way,” she said, “there would be a lot more people with children taking that leap.”
Shout out to @bikeboston.bsky.social for pointing out that plenty of neighborhoods in Boston don't offer the same choices to bike safety for parents @wutrain.bsky.social @ruthzee.bsky.social @clrhenrysantana.bsky.social @enriquepepen.bsky.social
To #ArriveAlive we need the #BostonBikeNetwork
Nobody knows Boston streets by bike better than @bostonaruban.bsky.social ! Enjoy this tour of our city and learn the history of how bike activists have fought for every inch of our nascent bike network.
Thanks to @activetowns.bsky.social for your visit! #BostonBikeNetwork #BikingInBoston
Do folks have opinions on the transportation parts of this plan? If so please share your feedback.
To me the bike "plan" seems vague and thin. If people don't have a safe biking route they won't bike. Where's our #BostonBikeNetwork? 🧵w screenshots @bikeboston.bsky.social @massbike.bsky.social
This could be the future of Boston: green travel modes that support family health and togetherness
But we need a safe, protected bike network to allow parents to all the destinations they need to reach in a week: school, childcare, stores, libraries, parks, friends & family #BostonBikeNetwork
Public opinion always polls lowest before a change actually happens. Then it skyrockets This is proven time and time again with Congestion Pricing
You know about the valley, right? It's that well-documented place where all congestion pricing schemes — from London to Stockholm to Singapore — briefly dwelled in the period between the tolls were approved ("Boo!" screamed the drivers) and when they went into effect ("Boo!" screamed the drivers). Of course, we all know what happens:
A reminder to @wutrain.bsky.social that positive change that transforms the status quo must go through "The Valley of Political Death", until it eventually becomes *popular*
To see Boston become bike friendly enough to have a mom on her cargo bike with young kids? We need the #BostonBikeNetwork
Contrary to the comic book images her enemies offer, Wu is checking all the boxes. She’s been a top vote-getter in the city for so long, the out-of-towner attack just doesn’t stick; if it didn’t work for Annissa Essaibi George, it certainly won’t fly for Kraft. She projects unflappable body language and vocal tone, and when stuck in a ditch of her own making – as with the unpopular, arrogantly-administered, bike lane expansion – has shown a capacity to stop digging.
But speaking of cartoonish... safe streets and #CompleteStreets are incredibly popular. What people hate is gridlock and traffic congestion
Reminds me of the reporting on NYC's congestion pricing where people only hate a proposed change, not the actually thing once it exists #BostonBikeNetwork
One thing that would lessen the need for every single person in the city limits of Boston to drive to every single destination is to make the city safe to bike with a protected #BostonBikeNetwork & have events at White Stadium provide a bike valet
It's basic city geometry! #CarLiteBoston
This was a fantastic letter from @bikeboston.bsky.social ED Tiffany Cogell on the importance of quality bike infrastructure and building the #BostonBikeNetwork to ebike adoption
www.bostonglobe.com/2025/04/23/o...
Chart of what prevents biking shows mostly its about safety and being apart from drivers "As noted before, the biggest barrier to getting people on bikes is fear, as Lauren Pearson noted in Barriers and enablers of bike riding for transport and recreational purposes in Australia. “The most highly reported barriers to riding a bike for transport included not wanting to ride on the road with motor vehicle traffic (56%), concern about collision with a motor vehicle (54%), bad weather (53%) and motorist aggression (53%).”"
Conclusions: Bikes, e-bikes, and other forms of micromobility have significantly lower carbon footprints than ICE cars or electric cars. Bike lanes encourage more people to ride longer distances. Properly designed, bike lanes do not significantly delay drivers. The e-bike revolution will put more people on bikes and will unlock the suburbs, which are the source of the cars. Promotion of cycling and micromobility could be the most significant approach to reducing carbon emissions.
If we want the benefits of a #CarLiteBoston we need to modernize our roads and create #CompleteStreets
Building the #BostonBikeNetwork will create a virtuous cycle, reducing transportation carbon emissions, improving air quality and resident health. We can't take no 4 an answer: stakes are too high
The study found that people who cycled on a daily basis had 84% lower carbon emissions than those who drove, and even just switching from car to bike one day a week reduced emissions by 3.2kg. He concludes: “So the race is on. Active travel can contribute to tackling the climate emergency earlier than electric vehicles while also providing affordable, reliable, clean, healthy and congestion-busting transportation.”
In an article written for the University of Oxford, Brand discusses e-bikes, noting that as many as 50% of car trips are less than five km, and could easily be replaced by bikes. E-bikes push the rante to 10km; in the Netherlands and Belgium, e-bikes have become popular for commutes of up to 30km, which seems a bit niche to me. Brand then talks about what keeps people off bikes: “What deters many people from cycling or e-biking is safety. Accidents rates for cyclists are still considerably higher than, say, for car drivers (although accident rates for motorbikes are even worse). Therefore, an important prerequisite for cycling is the availability of safe cycling infrastructure, including segregated cycling lanes.”
Make your city healthier and decrease carbon emissions with this one weird trick: A CONNECTED AND PROTECTED BIKE NETWORK @ruthzee.bsky.social @clrhenrysantana.bsky.social @enriquepepen.bsky.social #BostonBikeNetwork
The information in all these comprehensive studies can be summarized in 2 points:
1. bikes decarbonize cities even with a single trip per person taken every week
2. safety is the reason people won't use bikes
Want a #BostonGreenNewDeal? We MUST build the #BostonBikeNetwork @wutrain.bsky.social
Bike lanes improve safety for EVERYONE and give new bikers safe routes. Traffic congestion existed long before bike lanes but #Bikelash is coming for Boston bike lanes and even @wutrain.bsky.social is catching nerves
But we NEED to build the #BostonBikeNetwork
www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
I'm getting worried that the billionaires and multi millionaires of "Boston" are going to take apart our cycle lanes before we even have a chance to build a network
Without a network, people reasonably fear for their lives and won't bike #BostonBikeNetwork
Biker on a double bike lane with a bridge in the background and a turning car behind them. Blue sky and white clouds above
Mass Av between Melnea Cass and Columbia Rd is a crucial link in the #BostonBikeNetwork and is a great protected and separated two way bikeway on the west side of the street.
Biking there you don't conflict with either highway traffic or the South Bay Mall traffic
www.boston.gov/departments/...
If I had a dollar for everyone who said "I'm scared to bike in Boston" I would be a hundredaire!
And yes, the goal of Boston trying to catch up with more protected bike lanes here and there is an ultimate goal of building the #BostonBikeNetwork that allows people to travel safely outside of cars
Do you recognize these scofflaw parts of the #BostonBikeNetwork? Mass Av is far more dangerous than it needs to be @jfh01.bsky.social
If you bike in the Boston metro area and hit blocked bike lanes, use the BLU app & show our city planners where we need protection
www.bikelaneuprising.com/boston
This is a great example of how important creating a #BostonBikeNetwork is. I live about 2 miles from Codman but it's not a comfortable bike ride to go directly
Because I know enough to ride through the park not on Blue Hill Av I could do it. But new protected bike lanes would make it accessible!
Happy New Year Boston! My new year's resolution is to help make our city a safe and inviting place to move freely outside of cars #CarLiteBoston #BostonBikeNetwork #AutomateSafeStreetsMass
What's yours?
Winter biking is possible in Boston if we prioritize moving people and not just cars #BostonBikeNetwork
Boston could unlock economic prosperity by creating the #BostonBikeNetwork because you can fit a lot more people in bikes in our city than you can drivers in their mega sized cars #CarLiteBoston
