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Entries tagged: Massbike

This month, Boston joins the ranks of cities like Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago and Washington DC as it rolls out a new citywide bike sharing program called Hubway Bikeshare. As more U.S. cities consider these popular programs and the number of bike users on the streets increases, one of the biggest concerns in city officials’ minds is safety. As voiced in a recent Boston Globe article, concern is particularly high in Boston, due to the city’s skinny lanes, cobblestone roads, and unpredictable drivers.

Lucky for Boston, MassBike is on top of this concern.

As part of the Hubway Bikeshare program, advocates at MassBike are ramping up bicycle safety efforts, teaming with the City of Boston to offer free bike safety classes for all Hubway users. The idea behind this new initiative is to quickly get Hubway riders up to speed on all aspects of bike commuting.

The one-hour workshops will go over the rules of the road, strategies for staying safe and tips for staying comfortable. According to Price Armstrong, MassBike’s education program manager, the class will be an adapted version of the group’s proven Commuter Workshop Series and will reflect the themes embodied in the Same Roads Same Rules campaign.

“We at MassBike are really excited to be working with the City of Boston to offer these free classes,” Armstrong says. “There will be 600 shared bikes and thousands of bicyclists out on the streets of Boston that might not have been there before. We’re trying to make sure these bicyclists get where they are heading safely, with confidence, and cooperatively with the other users of the road.”

Information about the free classes is currently available on the Hubway safety page. Stay tuned to MassBike’s newsfeed for up-to-date information about this initiative.

In my post last week about the new bike-friendly developments with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, I failed to give the Boston Cyclists Union their due. The BCU played a key role in discussions with the MTBA and their work should have been highlighted in the headline. Thanks to BCU founder and director, Pete Stidman, for bringing the omission to my attention!

Speaking of progress in Boston, several other Alliance member organizations — MassBike, LivableStreets, and the Boston Cyclists Union — have been building on their relationships with the local transit agency to enhance bicyclists’ access to stations and safety on the streets.

Back in April, advocates from MassBike and the Boston Cyclists Union met with officials at the MBTA to discuss how they could work together to better align cyclists and buses as allies, instead of enemies, on city streets. The result: An improved bicyclist safety training for bus drivers that draws on best practices from other areas, like Chicago.

Last month, David Watson, executive director for MassBike attended one of the trainings. “We are happy to report that the new training is a vast improvement over past policies and should go a long way to making bicyclists safer on the roads,” MassBike reported in its newsletter. “During the training, a bus driver will review past incidents, participate in a classroom session with a bicycling advocate present to answer questions, go through a number of bicyclist-driver simulations, and finally be tested through road evaluations. The end result should be a bus driver who is knowledgeable and well-prepared for operating a bus safely around bicyclists.”

The MBTA is also making it easier, and safer, for cyclists to take advantage of public transit themselves. Again, with some urging from Boston advocates, the agency is upping its parking options for folks on two wheels.

“From now through next spring, the MBTA will be installing 50 BikePorts around their stations,” MassBike says. “The BikePorts are canopied bike racks, so you’ll be able to lock up with some protection from the elements… During 2011, the T will also complete six more Pedal & Parks — the T’s secure bike-parking facilities. So far, the three operational Pedal & Parks have been a huge success, and are constantly filled with bicycles. The new facilities… will be able to hold 100-150 bicycles… Lastly, over the next 18 months, 100 percent of the MBTA’s bus fleet will be equipped with bike racks, so you’ll finally be able to rely on the next bus having a rack (and let your bike do some of the riding for a change).”

Learn more and follow Boston’s progress via MassBike’s blog and the Boston Cyclists Union.

Beginning this week, thousands of public transit users are hearing the voice of David Watson (pictured right), executive director of MassBike, over the loud speaker.

For decades, the leaders at MassBike have been pressing officials at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority for better bike access to Boston-area bus, train and ferry service. But the group’s latest success — a series of bike-promoting public service announcements now airing on platforms across the metro — came from an unlikely source.

“Strange but true story,” Watson says. “At the first Boston Bike Safety Summit last month, a masked bicyclist — Biker Boy — stood up and asked the assembled officials to create bike safety PSAs. The general manager of the MBTA said ‘Yes’ on the spot and invited Biker Boy to record them. The GM later asked me to help. We had asked the T to help us promote biking and safety before, but the charged atmosphere of the summit made it happen. Having a masked superhero make the ask apparently helped, too!”

Though the Bike Week announcement expires on Friday, Watson says the MBTA has committed to airing the other PSAs at least through the end of the summer. Click on the links below to listen. (For later reference, you’ll be able to find them in our Resource Library, too.)

Bay State Bike Week PSA

Biking on the T PSA

Folding Bike PSA

Livable Streets, MassBike, and other bicycling and walking advocates claimed a victory when the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) agreed to modify its plans to remove a portion of the bike lane on the Longfellow Bridge last week. Removal of the bike lane would have allowed for the installation of sidewalks where none currently exist. After much persistence from advocacy groups MassDOT chose to both build the sidewalks and keep the bike lane by implementing an alternative proposal submitted by MassBike, LivableStreets, WalkBoston, and the Institute for Human Centered Design.

According to MassBike, “MassDOT also agreed to perform further analysis of the traffic patterns on the bridge in order to determine whether the lane configuration currently planned for the long-term reconstruction of the bridge is necessary, or if alternative proposals to provide even more space for bicycles and pedestrians are feasible. Finally, MassDOT agreed to continue the discussion with the advocates about the future configuration of the Longfellow Bridge. “

Livable Streets, MassBike, and their partners will remain active throughout the process continuing to promote biking and walking throughout the state.  For more information and to view the rehabilitation proposal visit www.massbike.org or www.livablestreets.info

In March 2010, 29 new Pioneer Valley Transit Agency (PVTA) buses will be equipped with new bike racks because of MassBike’s continuing efforts.

Through the organization’s hard work, PVTA buses in the Northern and Southern Tier will now have year round bicycle racks. MassBike and other advocates have been lobbying the Pioneer Valley Transit Agency for years through letters to key officials, comments on the Regional Transportation Plan, and other various advocacy efforts. With these new bike racks, Mass Bike hopes to continue their mission in promoting a bicycle-friendly environment and encouraging bicycling for fun, fitness and transportation. For more information visit www.massbike.org

MassBike is expanding its bicycling skills classes by popular demand. The new Intro To Bicycling Skills class covers bike-safety principles, bicycling laws, guidelines for riding in traffic, and more. The Basic Bicycling Skills class is designed for adults who want to get back into bicycling, improve cycling skills, learn to ride more effectively and safely in traffic, and/or participate in a large-scale benefit ride. This half-day weekend session provides guided instruction with simple practice drills in a parking lot, easy-paced riding on local roadways for short distances, and group-discussion breaks along the way. Topics covered include bike and helmet fitting, starting and stopping your bike in traffic, shifting gears, scanning and yielding, choosing the correct lane position in the road, handling intersections, and more.

Learn more about MassBike’s safety and education efforts here…

After eight years and four legislative sessions, the MassBike-backed Bicyclist Safety Bill has been signed into law. MassBike played a central role in this new bill, from drafting the language to lobbying for its passage. The new law adds police training on bicycle law and dangerous behavior by bicyclists and motorists; explains how a motorist should safely pass a bicycle; explains how a motorist should safely make a turn in front of a bicycle; makes “dooring” (opening a car door into the path of a bicycle or other vehicle) subject to ticket and fine; permits bicyclists to ride two abreast when it does not impede cars from passing; and adds legal protections for bicyclists who choose to ride to the right of other traffic.

For more information and details on this new law visit MassBike.