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Free burritos for bicyclists on City Hall Plaza tomorrow

Also, a "major" bicycling-related announcement (long awaited bike-sharing plans?). Boston Biker reports the burrito giveaway/mystery announcement starts at 1:30 p.m; features Mayor Menino.

UPDATE: The Globe reports the mayor will announce a bike-sharing program, to be called Hubway, that could start this summer.

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Comments

Nothing like inviting people who own bicycles to come to an event where you are giving them the middle finger.

Giving out free food and not telling anyone what the announcement is going to be about is a ploy to trick people into coming.

It's frustrating to the existing cyclists that the city has made only trivial efforts to accommodate us, and now they're going to dedicate space and effort to a commercial enterprise. And now our landlords and employers are going to say "why should I give you room to store your bike? Just use the bike share." Well excuse me for not wanting to use a bike that won't fit me (even after I adjust it EVERY TIME), and is heavy and slow. And not guaranteed to be where I need it. AND a long walk away - a five minute walk to fetch a bike is stupid when that adds on a significant amount of time to the trip.

Mark my words: all around the city, this is going to impact bike infrastructure rollouts like lockups, and even existing infrastructure are going to get replaced by bike-share systems. The city's efforts to install bike racks and lockups have slowed to a crawl already, and in places like JP in the evenings, it's difficult to find a place to safely lock up because the city threw up a couple of lockups a few years ago, and then called it a day.

Even worse, the city hasn't really done anything effective with cyclist safety; slapping helmets on heads doesn't keep people from getting hit by cars, and bike lanes are worthless if they're too small, too close to cars, not street-swept, and used by delivery trucks, pizza guys, and the rest of the planet as double-parking.

Now the city wants to put thousands of complete novices on the roads? Yeah. That's going to end well.

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Care to reveal your real name anon, so I know who to send the crow to?

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I thought it was going to be burritos?

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They're about to reveal the plan to add bike lanes on Mass Ave from the Charles to Symphony in both directions, eliminating 71 street parking spaces northbound, to happen as early as this summer.

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/back_bay/2011/...

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This is definitely a win for people who walk Mass. Ave. -- nice to see no cars on at least one side of the street.

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I don't like walking on streets with a lot of traffic right next to the curb. A row of parked cars is a nice buffer for the sidewalk.

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I see your point. However, since I still see cyclists avoid the Comm. Ave. bike lanes in favor of the Comm. Ave. Mall and the sidewalks, I suspect that the runners will gladly take over the bike lanes as the impact of paved road is easier on the body than sidewalks. So there will sort of be a buffer I suppose. There are certainly more runners out there than cyclists.

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A two-foot bike lane with the occasional jogger is not a buffer from the annoyances and dangers of fast-moving traffic.

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They'll be a minimum of five feet wide when next to parking. Four feet minimum when next to curbs. See the draft Boston Complete Streets Guidelines.

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You might actually have to stay on the curb while waiting your turn to cross.

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I'm not talking about crossing the street. I'm talking about walking along the sidewalk.

I never stand in the street while waiting to cross. I just said I don't like being near traffic, and like to have a buffer. Why would I want to be closer to fast-moving traffic, increasing the likelihood of getting hit if one of the cars drifts out of its lane?

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The Globe has the details.

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"Nothing like inviting people who own bicycles to come to an event where you are giving them the middle finger.

Giving out free food and not telling anyone what the announcement is going to be about is a ploy to trick people into coming."

Perhaps there trying to draw cyclist who need to eat?

"It's frustrating to the existing cyclists that the city has made only trivial efforts to accommodate us, and now they're going to dedicate space and effort to a commercial enterprise."

Trivial efforts? As an earlier generation bicycle commuter, I disagree.

"And now our landlords and employers are going to say "why should I give you room to store your bike?"

Real Estate, and space is expensive in the City of Boston. Parking for cars is not provided, office space is expensive. Do you have any idea of the per square foot cost of your employer's office space?

"The city's efforts to install bike racks and lockups have slowed to a crawl already, and in places like JP in the evenings, it's difficult to find a place to safely lock up because the city threw up a couple of lockups a few years ago, and then called it a day."

You might not be aware of this, but there has been a pretty severe recession going on which has dramatically affected city and state finances. City and state employees and services have all taken dramatic cuts and some folks have lost there jobs. Some other citizens may think that there are more important things than adding bicycle infrastructure.

"Even worse, the city hasn't really done anything effective with cyclist safety; slapping helmets on heads doesn't keep people from getting hit by cars, and bike lanes are worthless if they're too small, too close to cars, not street-swept, and used by delivery trucks, pizza guys, and the rest of the planet as double-parking."

I'm not sure where you grew up or if you ever delivered pizzas, serviced copier machines, but cities are big places with lots of people. This leads to dense traffic. I haven't ridden regularly in many years, but I think the bike lanes are a good idea in that they serve as a reminder to car drivers that bicyclist are there. However, they are provide little more protection than that reminder.

Like in my day it's up to the cyclist to realize that they are bicycling in dangerous environment and need to operate in a predictable fashion which IMHO means following general traffic laws.

"Now the city wants to put thousands of complete novices on the roads? Yeah. That's going to end well."

Part of being a citizen is realizing that other folks have different ideas, needs and wants than you. If you really believe in something, it's up to you to try to advocate/persuade. Stomping your foot and demanding that everyone stop what they are doing probably isn't going to do a good job persuading anyone - just a suggestion. See you at Whole Foods.

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Like many dedicated cyclists, I don't expect to use the bike share much myself, I already HAVE a bike.
I think that the effects on cyclist culture in other cities with bike share have been encouraging though. Lots of people who aren't willing to bike in from the burbs, see the advantages of being able to bike from North station to work, or to downtown crossing to shop at lunch. Having more bikes on the road also raises consciousness and cars are more likely to "see" the bikes they see. The more bikes on the streets, and the more drivers with the experience of biking themselves, the safer we "regular" riders will be.

That said, it's a busy urban environment. Everyone needs to be careful and treat others on the road with respect and patience, and we can all get where we're going safely.

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Like many dedicated cyclists, I don't expect to use the bike share much myself, I already HAVE a bike.

And where do you plan on locking up that bike when you travel somewhere, given that the city is going to install these stupid share systems anywhere there's space? And probably pull out existing racks and lockups to do so?

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That the city is going to take out existing bike parking. The share bikes I've seen actually don't come with a lock- the idea is to dock them near your destination instead of locking them, just like you wouldn't drive a zipcar to the commuter rail and park it for 8 hours while you went into work.

I'm MUCH more worried about the shift to smart parking eliminating meters that we can park to than I am about competing for bike parking with share bikes.

And not to be smug, but I am one of the rare people who has indoor bike parking in my office- there's probably a good reason that 3 of 9 employees bike to work here.

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"And probably pull out existing racks and lockups to do so?"

Troll.

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I was going to chime in but you have said it all! Cripes, what a miserable "anon"! We have a Mayor who is pro bike, nice bike lanes with more coming, a hopeful bike sharing program, nice bike paths to ride along a lovely river, never mind the paths along the Emerald Necklace...sigh.

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Are Vespas and scooters legally allowed to use bike lanes?

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If the scooter is smaller than a 50cc engine (most of the ones you'll see are) and has a top speed of under 30 mph, then yes, it's allowed in the bike lanes as a "motorized bicycle" under MA RMV rules.

If it has a top speed above 30 (but below 40), then it's considered a "Limited Use Vehicle" and isn't allowed in the bike lane.

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He's going to announce the construction of the multimillion dollar Menino Commuter Veledrome!

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No, he's going to announce a new green initiative to have all the lights in Gubmint Centah run on stationary bicycles pedaled by political appointees.

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What you did there, I see it.

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http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/art...

The Globe knows things all of a sudden!

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Michael Ratty snapped a photo.

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That's after they emailed everyone on the Hub On Wheels mailing list offering free food, and multiple area blogs covered it.

Yawn.

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Sorry, had to get that out of my system.

More details from the city.

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So that's what all the hubub is about.

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