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TL;DR:
TL;DR:
Real grassroots organizations:
Jay Cashman's astroturf scam:
Don't fall for Jay Cashman's “Pedal Safe Boston” scam!
Don't fall for Jay Cashman's “Pedal Safe Boston” scam!
Pedal Safe Boston gets a lot of things right, but it is clear they aren't engaging with street safety issues in good faith. Real Estate Developer and donor to Josh Kraft's mayoral campaign Jay Cashman launched the organization just this year to join Josh Kraft's call to halt all mobility infrastructure construction. Cashman began his battle against mobility infrastructure because the Dartmouth Street Safety & Mobility Project (connecting Copley Square to the Esplanade) would go in front of his $20,000,000 mansion.
“Cashman recalled telling the mayor in a phone call in January, ‘You’re going to do something about this.’”
—Emma Platoff & Shannon Larson, Boston GlobeAll their accurate criticisms of street safety in Boston don't change that Pedal Safe Boston's primary demand is to STOP building mobility infrastructure.
Cashman already got the city to remove the Boylston Street bus lane, which had reduced morning commutes by as much as 40%, and they don't intend to stop there.
Typical stalling techniques
Typical stalling techniques
The Pedal Safe Boston website is littered with them.
Insisting on perfect solutions to everything before we can do anything
Insisting projects that went through years of planning, design, and myriad many-hour public meetings and open houses were “implemented hastily”
Insisting projects that have been in planning for years always still require more “studies and analysis before moving forward”
Asking questions about why certain areas are dangerous, but rejecting the answers from local experts who have studied those questions for years
Prioritizing protecting property values in wealthy neighborhoods, even against proposals that provide value to underserved areas
And when all else fails, directly lying (e.g., calling Cambridge's 6-month extension of the Cycling Safety Ordinance deadline to accommodate planning and construction schedules a “Two-Year Moratorium”)
The reality is...
The reality is...
While the City of Boston (and surrounding region) has a ways to go before it has a complete bike network, the Better Bike Lanes initiative has been successfully achieving its goals!
44% increase in bicycling across all project areas
194% increase in bicycling on the most successful ones
15% decrease in speeding
The motor vehicle impact across project areas was only about 1%
What Pedal Safe Boston gets right is...
What Pedal Safe Boston gets right is...
There is more work to do!
We should demand more transparency from the government. The City removed curbs and bollards that protected bike lane users and pedestrians without any public process. Changes to where we live and work shouldn't catch us by surprise.
Many older bike lanes are unprotected—only paint—leading to unwanted behaviors like people biking the wrong way in the Mass Ave. protected eastbound bike lane because of drivers in the paint-only westbound lane. The City needs to make a plan for adding protection to those missing pieces of the network.
Many older bike protected bike lanes don't connect to protected intersections. More recent projects, like Tremont Street, have great protection intersection designs, but the City needs to add them to older projects too.
The lack of protection along paint-only bike lanes leads to drivers illegally driving and parking in them, which forces bike lane users to make unsafe maneuvers. More physical curbs and bollards stop drivers doing that without putting additional burden on the police to ticket all those violations across the city.
There is insufficient enforcement of traffic safety laws, like prohibiting people using their phones while driving.
It would be great if more people used apps like Bike Lane Uprising that crowdsource common locations of bike lane obstructions.
Delivery drivers are extremely common double-parkers. We need to consider whether street parking space near parking lots and garages can be designated as loading zones so deliveries can be made without double-parking.
The answer isn't to stop; it is to move forward while constantly improving, as Boston has for centuries.
The answer isn't to stop; it is to move forward while constantly improving, as Boston has for centuries.
Who are the real ones?
Who are the real ones?
If you want to support better transit and micromobility infrastructure in Boston, first off, thank you!! I know a lot of folks found out about Pedal Safe Boston because you really care about keeping people safe, and I hope you will take that energy to groups genuinely trying to improve things. Here are some organizations full of people who really use this infrastructure:
Working with other users of Brookline streets to promote bicycling as an affordable, fun, friendly, and safe form of transportation.
An annual massive all-ages, slow-paced group bike ride—around 1,000 riders—all around Boston. A great way to learn your way around the city by bike! They also do an annual Halloween ride. (If you saw a bunch of people of all ages in costumes riding from JP and Brookline up to downtown and into Cambridge on Halloween, that was probably them!)
Organizes to transform greater Boston with a connected network of people-first streets.
Just across the river, they promote safety for cyclists of all ages and abilities in Cambridge with education, giving away safety gear, and advocating for safe street redesigns. (If you have seen folks giving away bike lights and reflective strips in Cambridge, that might have been them!)
A monthly all-ages group ride starting from the central (Copley Square) Boston Public Library the last Friday of every month. The route changes each time, but often highlights new bike infrastructure, notable streets that need improvements, or just great bike routes you might not know about. (If you saw a large group ride making its way around Boston at the end of the month, that might have been them, and you are welcome to hop on a Bluebike and join!)
Promotes better bicycling throughout Massachusetts with education, access to resources and safety gear, and advocating for bikeable infrastructure.
Improving bicycling in and around the neighborhood of South Boston.
A non-profit that analyzes data to identify and advocate for transit improvements in greater Boston and across Massachusetts. (If you remember the original T slow zone tracker, that was them!)
MassBike maintains a list of advocacy groups across Massachusetts that share our common goals.
Let the City know!
Let the City know!
Boston Cyclists Union launched a campaign to say “Thank you!” to Mayor Wu and her streets team. You can sign on to let them know how you have enjoyed the Better Bike Lanes on Berkeley, Boylston, and beyond, and to keep making our streets safer!
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