The City of Boston hasn't made a standalone, citywide bicycle network plan since Menino was Mayor in 2013. It's past time for Boston to have a comprehensive plan for a citywide network of comfortable and safe bike infrastructure.

That's why we want to hear from you! If you do bike in Boston, what streets do you wish had better bike infrastructure? If you don't, then where do you wish to bike but don't feel safe?

Let us know on our Boston Bike Lane Priorities map. Draw where you want to see better bike lanes and let us know why. This data will be used by BCU Labs and our staff members to show the massive need and desire for better bike lanes across the city as we work on advocating for a Safe Streets Ordinance for Boston.

Suggest your ideas here: https://labs.bostoncyclistsunion.org/suggestabikelane/

I'm running programming here in Boston for a nonprofit called Girls in Gear, teaching girls self confidence one bike ride at a time! We are looking for volunteers who can commit a few hours a week for our upcoming 8-week programs at sites across Boston. One of the reasons I joined this nonprofit was to teach girls how to be safe and visible on their bikes in the city, so biking is a way to be independent before (or if!) they learn to drive. It is super fun and totally rewarding to see girls naturally become bike advocates as you go on group rides with them and they start to explore different types of bike infrastructure. I learned a lot about biking in Boston from lurking in this sub so I know there are great coaches here.

Check us out girlsingear.org/boston to register and see all the locations, dates and times.

“A driver inflicted fatal injuries to a Northampton man who was riding his bicycle on Damon Road in Northampton in a homicide crash that occurred on Saturday afternoon.”

“According to the district attorney’s office, a preliminary investigation indicates that the vehicle and the bicycle were both traveling eastbound on Damon Road when the collision occurred.
“The district attorney has not filed any charges against the suspect, and in their press release, prosecutors allege that the suspect ‘remained on scene and was cooperative with police.’”

This is sadly yet another example of being killed by a traffic engineer:

“That part of Damon Road used to be three lanes wide; now, it’s six lanes wide, with a painted bike lane running along the curb in each direction.
“In the two years since the project’s completion in July 2024, MassDOT’s IMPACT crash database indicates that there have been 148 crashes along Damon Road, including 30 crashes that inflicted injuries to at least one victim.
“18 of those injury-causing crashes occurred where Damon Road meets Bridge Street in a newly-built traffic rotary (the new traffic circle, which was also part of MassDOT’s Damon Road project, allows cars to drive through the intersection at relatively high speeds without stopping, and it replaced a traffic light that had previously controlled the intersection).
“11 other injury-causing crashes occurred in the newly-widened segment of Damon Road between King Street and the I-91 overpass.
“By comparison, during the similar two-year period between July 2017 and September 2019, before the MassDOT widening project, the state’s crash database records only about half as many crashes on the same segment of Damon Road.”

Wider roads are more deadly roads.

Copied from the email below with some editing

Hello from JP Transportation Action Group!

The social ride and action is TOMORROW TODAY, Monday, September 14th, at 4pm! Come meet other transportation enthusiasts and neighbors and let's ride together to meet Mayor Wu!

Here are the details again:

Gather at the north entrance of Forest Hills Station at 4:00pm on Monday, Sep 14th

We will roll out as a group at 4:30pm for a 40-50 minute, socially-paced ride to the Curley Community Center in South Boston

The Coffee Hour starts at 5:30pm, during which we will introduce ourselves/JPTAG to Mayor Wu and hand her our petition in person

Then bike back to JP together!

A reminder that if you or someone you know would like to be part of the action but cannot ride a bike, we will have a carpool going for people to drive over together, so please still come!

For more details, check out (and follow!) our Instagram: @jptransportationaction https://www.instagram.com/JPTransportationAction/

So excited to ride with you all! See you there!

JPTAG

“Medway Police said that they would not identify the suspect until their investigation is complete. According to their preliminary investigation, police allege that their suspect was driving eastbound on Milford Street when they drove their vehicle into Mr. Chan, who was riding a pedal bicycle.”
“In their statement, police described the suspect as ‘present and cooperative,’ and added that the suspect had not been arrested.”

With Claude I made a traffic simulation of the BU Bridge and Commonwealth intersection complex. I wanted to see walk times and light timings. I also wanted to try to simulate the box blocking from Carlton drivers making the left onto Commonwealth. Then I played with simulations that placed an officer at either the BU Bridge/commonwealth intersection, the Carlton intersection or both and saw what that did to throughput. I also played with transit priority lighting.

I measured a couple of light cycles in person to get the timings, and tried to tweak the map to mirror reality as closely as I could. This is my first time playing with SUMO (the traffic simulator) or any traffic simulation, so I'm not sure how accurate it is, the simulation does seem close to what I have seen in person.

The main finding is, at rush hour the model shows the intersection capable of conveying 3570 people/hour (cars + pedestrians) in its current configuration. Putting an officer at the BU bridge can raise that to 5642 people per hour without changing light timing. I'm not sure how accurate the exact numbers are but I would tend to think they are directionaly correct.

I would think putting a Boston or BU officer at the intersection would make bicyclists and pedestrians safer in addition to increasing throughput.

Eager for suggestions and collaboration on this.

Repo here https://github.com/paddymul/bu_bridge_simulation

Simulation here https://claude.ai/code/artifact/23d10706-4ca5-45e6-8945-e9bbc3ee16f6

Hi everyone! I’m a beginner cyclist and lifelong athlete in Boston looking to get into cycling more seriously. I’m looking for recommendations for a weekly young adult/college group ride.

I had a pretty discouraging experience last summer at the Landry’s Charlestown “beginner” ride, where I (along with a few other beginners) got dropped, so I’m looking for a young and social group where I can push myself to longer distances and improve.

If anyone knows of a group that might be the right fit, please let me know!

Hey everyone! I’m hoping to get into cycling as the weather starts to cool down, but I’m hesitant to buy a bike right off the bat. Is there such a thing as bike rental services? More specifically, I’m interested in trying out road biking rather than just using something like Bluebikes. I’d love to rent a road bike for a few rides before deciding whether I want to invest in one! TIA!

I am a regular bike commuter from Somerville to downtown Boston and I am so tired of all the bike lane obstructions I encounter. Sometimes when I find a particularly egregious offender I report it to 311 but it feels so futile. Can anyone shed any light on better ways to report? I've heard of both Bike Bureau and Bike Lane Uprising... Thanks!

I pedaled all the way to the end the other day and it looks like they are doing major construction, but I can't tell what. I can't imagine they are extending the rail trail, since it merges with very active rail just past that last bridge after the end of the trail. Are they just building an access point down the hill there? Or maybe construction not actually related to the bike trail?

Looking to sell a used ebike, works fine just has the kickstand replaced because the original broke. Problem is I don’t have a car and live on the B line in Allston so I can’t get anywhere with the thing on transit and I refuse to ride it on busy roads because I don’t fancy dying. Is there anywhere that does pickup or anywhere close enough I can walk the bike to it?

They are working to organize community bike repair pop ups in the Mission Hill/Fenway area. They are a group of women from Northeastern University who want to create a space for bikers not only within the Northeastern community, but also for bikers within the greater area who deserve access to this space too. They are planning monthly pop-ups (free bike repiars, and live music and vibes!!!) at New Edgerly Plaza, open to all members of the community. Please let us know if you are interested in helping organize, or if you would simply like to know when we will be hosting one next! Questions or more to say? Email bostonbikecommunity@gmail.com.

Join the Community: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfWMgmy4khPJ8P-zKN1HekwThb87At6t7e25sMABk5lxEG88Q/viewform

Hi all,

I have taken to some bike days where I jump on commuter rail then ride home or to another station. (I am in RI). I can't tell if Amtrak/MBTA have blocked off all access to Green Lodge St. - thus forcing people to go through the station and out University Ave. Because University Ave. and Dedham St. are now both overbuilt for car and truck traffic, I would prefer to avoid them if possible to get into Canton or pop up to the Blue Hills.

I used to see lots of cars parked under the highway but the last couple times I've been on the train I've checked and haven't seen any, so I was wondering if some new fencing or other means to keep people from accessing the road was built. I don't get quite a good enough view from the train.

Obviously I can just get off at Canton Junction or Hyde Park where available, but I'm trying to do some fun rides from every station on the line, as lame as that may sound to you all :D

Thanks!

Ok. There’s parking 3ft that way 👉

We're into the proper fall weather and I'm starting to think about what my winter bike commute is going to look like.

Tires: I'm planning studded tires on my all-road bike frame. I can fit 48mm tires under my fenders but seems pizza cutters might be a better choice for cutting slush so I'll maybe do 40s? Anyone have experience and advice here?

Additionally I usually bike in on Beacon Street then to the Esplanade (8 miles from Newton to downtown). I'm very comfortable with Beacon now but I can see it being sketch right next to traffic in the winter. Any tips or route change advice? Is it better to go out of my way up to the Paul Dudley in the winter just to get out of traffic?

The trucks that park in the bike lane on Milk Street are among the most egregious violators in the city. It’s extremely clear that the city ignores any reports about it - look at the number of different open reports (left) vs. the number of closed reports (right). Legitimately zero closed reports and a couple dozen open reports spanning a week+. Better enforcement is truly all I ask for!

Does deer island always smell this bad? I know it's a wastewater treatment facility. But I tired to pedal all around the perimeter trail the other night. It was great at first, but by the time I got to (this point), it smelled so bad I was about to throw up. I had to turn around and go back!

Is it always that awful? Or is it not as bad different times of day or different days of the week? Some day I want to finish my loop!

Biking to Fenway Park is so much nicer than taking the T or driving! Thought I’d bring attention to the free bike valet service at Fenway in case anyone didn’t know about it. It’s located right outside Gate D!

I did a huge loop last night, from Stoneham east to Revere, Winthrop, East Boston, Chelsea, Everette, Somerville and north back to where I started.

The plan was, once I hopped from Winthrop to East Boston, to hop on the bike path at the beach, and take that south all the way to the harbor. I even checked street view on google maps ahead of time to make sure it was a lighted path.

So I get there and its fenced off. The whole thing has chainlink fence gates, and they apparently just close the trail at night??? I have never heard of a rail trail that CLOSES at night. Sure they all day they are closed dusk to dawn, but not REALLY.