[BCM] MassBike Victory: MBTA Buses to Get Bike Racks

Mon Sep 26 12:46:01 EDT 2005

There are a bunch of reasons this is a good thing, in my opinion:

 * It demonstrates a commitment to cyclists in that it's money going
   towards making the city more bike-friendly. While it may not be 
   what we would like to see most, it's something, and I think it's 
   a good thing.

 * It's great for casual cyclists who may be trying to choose between
   driving somewhere and not doing so --- say you're trying to go from
   Somerville to Waltham. You might say "I don't really want to walk
   15 minutes to the T, ride the T for 15 minutes, walk to a bus stop,
   wait for the bus, ride the bus for a half hour, and then walk to
   my destination.  I will drive." (This is even almost reasonable.)
   However, "I can bike to the bus stop, and then bike the bus route
   until it catches up with me, and then hop on" is much more 
   appealing, and also encourages people to use mass transit.

 * It's useful for people like me (and, presumably, many on this list)
   who would be happy to just bike to Waltham as well. If you start
   feeling ill, get tired, find that the weather is more than you
   bargained for, pop a flat and don't have your tools or, God forbid,
   get in an accident, you probably want to get to either your destination,
   a bike shop, or home, and trying to do that with a non-functioning
   bike or rider is very difficult. Being able to bring your bike with
   you on public transit it always a good thing --- even if you only use
   it once a year, if every cyclist in the city uses it once per year,
   that adds up. 

   (I got hit by a bus in Harvard Square a couple of months ago, and
   was fine but my bike wasn't ridable; I was very happy I could hop
   it on the T rather than just leave it locked up in a high-traffic
   area. Had I not been fifty feet from a Red Line stop, I would have
   been in a lot more trouble.)

 * It makes bikes more visible to drivers and people who use mass transit.

So, while I might like to see more money going into enforcing "No parking 
in bike lane" or something like that, I think this is valuable.

But it's possible you were just trolling. :)

-r.

On Mon, Sep 26, 2005 at 11:39:30AM -0400, Marq Maru wrote:
> That's great, i guess.  Why not just ride the bike?
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Lisa Williams" <lisa at cadence90.com>
> To: "Boston Critical Mass" <list at bostoncriticalmass.org>
> Cc: <bikexec at massbike.org>
> Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2005 4:45 PM
> Subject: Re: [*BCM*] MassBike Victory: MBTA Buses to Get Bike Racks
> 
> 
> >Oh. My. Gawd!
> >
> >Dorie Clark wrote:
> >
> >>
> >>  Boston, MA: The Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition (MassBike), the
> >>  statewide advocacy group dedicated to making Massachusetts a better
> >>  and safer place to bicycle, today lauded the MBTA and its new
> >>  General Manager, Daniel Grabauskas, for its plan to put more than
> >>  250 new bike racks on buses.
> >>
> >>?We are extremely pleased that General Manager Grabauskas and the MBTA
> >>have taken this important step toward making transit accessible for
> >>all users,? said MassBike Executive Director Dorie Clark. ?Bicycle
> >>access on buses has long been a priority for MassBike and the tens of
> >>thousands of bicyclists in Greater Boston, and we look forward to
> >>working with the T to build on this success.?
> >>
> >>The rack-equipped buses, housed out of the MBTA?s Charlestown garage,
> >>will be serving dozens of routes in Cambridge, Somerville, Chelsea,
> >>Everett, Medford, Malden, Revere, Charlestown, Burlington, Lexington,
> >>Bedford, Belmont, Arlington, Waltham, Watertown, Allston, Brighton,
> >>Woburn, and Winchester.
> >>
> >>?Welcome, bike owners, to the MBTA,? said Grabauskas. ?By giving
> >>people yet another reason to choose public transportation, we continue
> >>our efforts to attract more customers by making the system easier to
> >>use and a lot more convenient. This is what quality customer service
> >>is all about.?
> >>
> >>In all, the MBTA plans to purchase close to 300 bike racks (some will
> >>be kept as spares) at an estimated cost of $255,000. Federal grant
> >>monies distributed by the Boston MPO are funding the program.
> >>Installation is scheduled to begin in the spring of next year. MBTA
> >>Bus Operations staff will closely monitor the bike rack program, and
> >>then make recommendations on whether to expand the program to other
> >>bus garages and routes.
> >>
> >>MassBike has a history of working with the MBTA to improve conditions
> >>for bicyclists. In 1985, MassBike won the right for cyclists to bring
> >>their bikes on the T at certain times. In 2000, MassBike successfully
> >>encouraged the T to eliminate the ?special pass? requirement in order
> >>to carry one?s bike on the subway, and in 2004, the MBTA worked with
> >>MassBike to dramatically expand cyclists? hours of access on the
> >>subway. MassBike has more than 1600 dues-paying members across the
> >>Commonwealth, and represents the 750,000 Bay State residents who
> >>bicycle regularly.
> >>
> >>####
> >>
> >>Dorie Clark
> >>Executive Director
> >>MassBike
> >>617-542-2453
> >>bikexec at massbike.org
> >>
> >>------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>
> >>_______________________________________________
> >>Boston Critical Mass mailing list
> >>list at bostoncriticalmass.org
> >>http://bostoncriticalmass.org/list
> >>
> >
> >-- 
> >Lisa Williams
> >lisa at cadence90.com
> >Lisa's weblog: http://www.cadence90.com/wp/
> >
> >_______________________________________________
> >Boston Critical Mass mailing list
> >list at bostoncriticalmass.org
> >http://bostoncriticalmass.org/list
> >
> _______________________________________________
> Boston Critical Mass mailing list
> list at bostoncriticalmass.org
> http://bostoncriticalmass.org/list
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