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Discrimination against East Boston bike riders

In a city that now officially encourages people to ride bikes to work, there's an entire neighborhood that can't. East Boston residents who work downtown can't use the Tobin or the harbor tunnels and, as Kate Hutchinson discovered, T inspectors are now enforcing a pre-10 a.m. ban on taking bikes on the T:

... I left my house a little later that I usually do, because I know that the trains running to Bowdoin have fewer passengers after 8:30 am, and there would be more room for my bike (which is not that large to begin with). I paid my fare and went through the gates at Maverick, and was stopped by a T inspector, who informed me that I can't bring a bike on to the T until 10 am. I understand that he was enforcing policy, but I have never before had a restriction on my taking a bike on the T during peak hours. To his credit, the Inspector didn't let me get on, but I snuck on while he was distracted, in the last car of a six-car 8:50 train. There was penty of room on it for me and my bicycle. (In fact, there was plenty of room on the four trains that went by prior, while the Inspector was holding me on the platform.) ...

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Comments

It is unfortunate but in this litigious world that we live in we need this type of rule. It is good to see that the Inspector was doing his job though (that is, until you were able to get by).

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"Sorry, that's been the rule???" LOL, I guess that makes it all A-OK then? : )

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Even if the Blue Line is somewhat different in that there are no ride arounds to get into central boston (welcome to boston, again), this is T policy and has been T policy for as long as I can remember.

Too bad there isn't a ferry boat with bike accomodations - oh, wait, the T doesn't do actual bike accomodation unless it is a tourist thing.

Older and older and slower and smaller onward ho!

To the poster above me? List the number of accidents that have occured on the T and other systems involving a passenger bike? Then note how many of these occured because the T doesn't install clip mechanisms to properly secure bikes in an upright and locked position on transit so they are out of the way and moored to the wall?

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You can do all that research if you want. I have things to do. I was just saying that "it is what it is." None of that stuff you mention matters. Without this rule, if someone gets hurt on the T by someone with a bike, they sue and the T gives them $$$ (they probably settle out of court). Lawsuits happen. The T knows this and this type of rule is something that they need to have so that the money doesn't keep leaking out to these sorts of things. I'm actually surprised that they even allow them on during off-peak hours.

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More people bring shopping bags on board than they do bikes. So if someone is injured by a shopping bag, should these be banned too?

People do bring bikes aboard transit with the bike inside a carrybag. Why should they be denied boarding just because it's a bike in their bag rather than a bunch of heavy books, groceries, etc?

Recently, transit authorities considering this topic in New Orleans determined that if bags are allowed on board, it would be discriminatory not to allow bags containing compact folding bikes. As a result, compact folding bikes in carry bags are now allowed on New Orleans buses and electric streetcars.

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This falls under the "you should have known that when you moved in," rule. Yes, it's unfortunate, but on the other hand, somebody in Eastie has some pretty good options for biking to the beach and North Shore. I can't do that so easily from the main part of the city. Just how it is. Next we'll get a complaint from somebody who lives on an island that there's no bridge for the 42 inhabitants. Oh wait....

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There are certainly more than 42 people in Eastie, and it is isolated from the rest of Boston, of which it is a part.

It isn't something a folding bike can't solve, though. That's why we have two of them in the family. I take mine on the purple and red lines all the time.

It would be much easier and safer to have bikes on the train, and take up much less room if the T did what Portland's MAX system does:
IMAGE(http://trimet.org/images/howtoride/bikemax4.jpg)IMAGE(http://trimet.org/images/howtoride/wesbikerack.jpg)
These things are much safer, pack in more bikes, and quick to use than the current commuter rail and light rail nonsystems/situation. The main reason the T doesn't want them is that they think of bikes as toys for play, not tools for transport. Can has wayforward machine plz?

Meanwhile, other cities manage to place bike lanes on interstate freeway bridges and bridges that are sole major arterials from one area to another.

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I don't know which lines you ride on, but none of the trains I take have that kind of space during rush hour. A full sized bike would be a definite hazard. As for folding bikes, nice idea, but they are too expensive for most folks. Bikes and transit do not mix well. The best option for people in Eastie is a bike rack at Maverick or Orient Heights.

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As for folding bikes, nice idea, but they are too expensive for most folks.

I guess that you haven't done an Amazon search on "folding bike" lately, or haven't heard of Downtube or even Schwinn

I paid $129 on supersale at Target for my son's current full-size bike, and only because some amazing person assembled it. I don't know what planet you are on where $120 bike is more expensive than a full size bike.

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You linked to a $130 bike plus $51 for shipping on Amazon; and a $180 Schwinn. $180 is not cheap. That's great that you can afford an expensive bike for a child, but not everyone is as well off. No need to be snarky about it.

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$130 for a new adult bike is cheap. Repeat: $130 for a brand new adult bike is cheap, even if it is for "just a child" (um, teen, actually, not that safety and ability to keep up on 20 mile rides matters to vinegar drinkers like you ...). It was meant to last a while, as his brother is growing into it as he's growing out of it (and it fits me, too).

It is very hard to find a serviceable bike to ride daily for less than $200 these days - not if you want it to last more than a month. Believe me, I get dragged on lots of "I want to buy a bike and you are going to help me" expeditions! You might do better used at Bikes not Bombs or on Craigslist, maybe. Big big maybe. And buying used from an individual is good only if you know what you are looking at - I firmly suspect that you do not. Once you figure in tune-up cost or parts cost on a used bike, any savings is reduced.

My son's previous bike was a Gary Fisher, which I traded an old bike of mine for. I also netted an American Eagle 5 speed in the same trade for younger brother. The two of them wore out the 5 speed, and I got the venerable Gary Fisher tuned up for $35. When he outgrew it three years later, we sold it for $50 and I got the cheap Schwinn Ranger.

Of course it is far easier to afford "expensive bikes" when it means having fewer cars than many people do. We have one car for four people ... we can buy an awful lot of bike with the money that we don't spend on a second car. One or two months of ownership costs for a second car in our area will buy a really nice bike. Do the math.

As for the faux outrage over my purported wealth, let's just say this much: unless you ever had to shoot or fish for dinner, or pick berries or rake filberts to help your parents make rent, or return bottles to buy groceries for dinner, or stuff newspaper in a wall to stay warm I don't want to hear about it, okay? Because I had to do all of that (and build my own bikes from salvage and a few new parts) and I'm totally not ashamed to provide my children a better standard of living than the trailer poverty I once knew.

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I don't own a car, and I don't own a bike. I walk, yet I don't feel like I'm saving the world because of it.

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You really did lose this point. 180 bucks for a bike is cheap. You want any cheaper than that and you will have to buy a used bike. Heck, the last used bike I bought was a good deal at 250.

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Okay, let's try again. I don't want to ride a folding Schwinn as my main bike, and owning two bikes is expensive. Got it? Just accept the fact that a folding bike is not a solution for everybody. You are very good at pushing your particular life situation on others when it comes to what we should do, and then following up by pushing your original circumstances at us to gain some sort of moral authority. That's nice. But the fact remains that not everybody can afford two bikes.

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In Tampa the Bus system allows for exterior storage of bikes. This keeps space free for riders. The rack could be mounted on the rear car. The newly expanded platforms could accomodate the extra length. If Floridians can figure it out so can we.

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Overcoming Bike Commuting Excuses
[...]
9. The roads aren't safe
You are at no greater risk than driving a car. Obey traffic signs, ride on the right, signal turns, stop at lights, wear bright clothing, and wear a helmet every time you ride.

I assumed that biking in town is more dangerous than driving.

Anyone know?

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You could live on the Green Line, where the T inspectors immitate the Soup Nazi..."No non-folding bike for you! at any time! ever!"

as for the cross harbor thing, while I acknowledge the difficulty, i come down on the "should-have-considered-that" side of the ledger. reliance on tunnels was one of the reasons why I didn't consider moving to East Boston even though I work there.

If I were you, however, I would take this opportunity to make the argument for Eastie to be added as a port-of-call on one of the inner harbor ferries. There is no reason why South Boston should have a dock and East Boston should not (the airport dock doesn't count, and it doesn't have inner harbor ferry service anyway - only to downtown and the south shore).

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The idea of having an inner harbor ferry stop in East Boston is a great one. I have heard rumors that there were water taxis at one point that would pick people up at the Liberty Plaza, that would be really convenient.

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7:35am commuter boat, $4 a head, plenty of room for bikes, takes 7 minutes across the harbor to State St. Departs from the fuel dock just to the right when you pass harbor security at the end of marginal st.

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the world doesn't owe you're bike a free ride.
bikers are notoriously careless about following rules, be they rules of the road, or rules of the T.
the T makes rules for a reason. obviously some careless bike-person
injured another passenger on the T, so they made the rule.
buy a T-pass or buy a car, and get over yourself, girlie.

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the T makes rules for a reason. obviously some careless bike-person
injured another passenger on the T, so they made the rule.

Really? Do you have some evidence, or do you just "know" these things?

From what I've seen through massbike work, the T at least used to pull most of such "rules" out of it's southernmost tunnel for no other reason than NO YOU CAN'T ANYTHING and ESCAPE IS FUTILE and WE ARE IN CHARGE - not to mention "it's 1956 where we are and nobody should be allowed to do any of this dangerously radical stuff". Then they hang dearly to their "rules" despite the years of experience of more thoughtful policies in other cities where none of their negative fantasies have come true. It is difficult to explain to them why they should try some "new and suspect idea" that is already ten or fifteen years old.

Then again, the idea that somebody using a wheelchair might want to go somewhere and do something like work for a living without anybody's permission is still a new one on them.

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Evidence every day, girlie. I see bikers ride thru red lights, stop signs, etc. They want to follow only the rules of the road, etc which are convenient for them. The other rules they think they can ignore due to some self-proclaimed self-anointed entitlement because they are doing the whole world a favor by riding a bike. The biker who wrote the T letter admitted that she snuck by the T guy who was just doing his job. If you don't like the rules then then change them. You don't have the right to follow only the rules you agree with, and break the rest. That's not the way our society works, darling.

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Evidence every day, girlie. I see drivers ride thru red lights, stop signs, etc. They want to follow only the rules of the road, etc which are convenient for them. The other rules they think they can ignore due to some self-proclaimed self-anointed entitlement because they are doing the whole world a favor by driving a car.

Sit at an intersection in Cambridge on Mass Ave and count the number of cars that run lights, don't stop for pedestrians, turn on red when they shouldn't, pass on the right, and speed. Have a friend count the number cars that pass through the intersection.

Have a friend standing next to you who counts the number of traffic violations by bicyclists, and the number of bicyclists total.

I can virtually guarantee you that bicyclists have better road manners per capita, in part because when you're a bicyclist and you ignore the rules, you can die.

PS:Regardless of your personal opinion on how bicyclists operate, that is no excuse for you to do illegal shit and be an asshat yourself.

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The world doesn't owe drivers an available parking space, or a faster pass through the tolls, or, in fact, ANYTHING. But for some reason being inside a big metal box creates a bolstered sense of entitlement, and an inflated sense of importance. When it comes to the welfare of the population, the economy, and the planet, why YES, the world DOES owe bikers a free ride, because bikers are doing the socially, economically and environmentally responsible thing. It's people like you, twentyfortyseven, who hold us back when it comes to responsible community planning, resource conservation and change of outlook. You personally are an enemy of the change we need in order to become a better functioning city.

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Why didn't you print her whole letter wherein she likens her being allowed space for her bike to someone being allowed space for a wheelchair?

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I noticed you stopped the letter before the part where she likens her being allowed space for a bike to someone being allowed space for a wheelchair:

My bike takes up roughly the same space as a motorized wheelchair. If I were on one of those, you couldn't deny me access to the T, even though I would be taking up a lot of space. I take up less space than two-child baby strollers, which are also allowed on the T during peak hours.

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From here on out I will refer to bikes as "in-line wheelchairs".

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One reason I bring my bike on the T is that I would have to walk four miles a day or do a whole lot of stairs getting in and out of the T if I didn't. My orthopedist has explicitly told me not to walk those kinds of distances or climb all those flights of stairs due to my arthritic knees - far better for me to pedal the distance on each end.

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If anyone lives in East Boston and would like to make it more bike friendly by working on issues like this, please visit this page.

http://eastiebike.bostonbiker.org/

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If you are interested in making east boston more bike friendly Please visit this site

http://eastiebike.bostonbiker.org/

Thanks

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I am sure a bike can somehow be considered a hazard while on a train, specifically a crowded train. However I would say, as a daily T-rider myself, that countless passengers bring onto the trains various items that I feel are potential hazards, too, and we all deal with them--because using the T is how we get around town. So, for myself, I'm not outraged when someone has a bike (folded or not) on the train, and I'm not outraged when some breeder decides they have to push their SUV-size baby carriage onto the train, or a tourist has packed ALL of their clothes into 5 different rolling suitcases, or when someone has obviously purchased a month's worth of groceries and random cans and items are shuffling around the train car. I get it, I live in a city, we're all in this together, and if the MBTA wanted to allow bikes, they could, somehow, and we could all get over it.

Oh, and I'm not a bike ride, I don't own a bike, but I should.

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I have to assume this is non-outrage of the faux variety, as that schtick is old at this point.

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you could get more living space for your dollar than you could somewhere else. That's fine, but if not getting to put your bike on the T was a deal-breaker, then HenryAlan is right-- you should have figured that out before you rented or bought wherever you live... and to that I'd add that your whining about it now is embarrassing. You strike me as the kind of person who rents a place in the North End but bitches about the parking, or moves into (insert crime-ridden 'hood here) and complains about the thugs.

And just as an FYI to those who think I'm being anti-bike: I've lived in the city for over 20 years and have biked to school, work, nightlife, etc., throughout that time. My current bike commute, through some good areas and a whole lot of bad, is probably longer and scarier than yours. I support cycling, and to a degree I support having bikes on the T, but the bottom line is that, at rush hour, it's neither practical nor fair on many lines. Should the T do a better job? Of course. Should it do so at the expense of people who are already getting screwed over? I don't think they should, no. There are a lot of people who don't have the option to ride (for health or other reasons), aren't healthy enough to do so, or simply make the very rational decision that biking in the city is insane. Should these people be forced to pay for the extra space that this special snowflake needs to put their bike?

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Original poster made a very valid comment, that I as a non-biking East Boston resident support. Eastie is a nice place to live, although isolated. Thanks to everyone who pointed out our freedom of choice, those are very helpful comments.

Unless you take the T or drive to Boston, there is no other alternative to get to Boston (biking through Chelsea, Everett, Somerville is an "option" if you're willing to sacrifice a few tire tubes and risk your life on the way). There is no bus service through the tunnels (unless the T breaks down and the MBTA slowly mobilizes to get shuttle service to Government Center, at which point I've already spent the $25 to go 1.5 miles to downtown). The only other "option" is the ferry at the Hyatt/Airport, but I'd like to know why I have to pay $6 to take the Ferry from Hyatt Harborside to Long Wharf when Charlestown residents have the $1.70 commuter fare. (I've written several unanwered letters and emails to the MBTA about this.)

OP is making a suggestion that accommodations be made to residents with limited access to Boston. Why are bikes so dangerous, when strollers, shopping carts and massive suitcases consistently block the doorways and aisles? I think the T would be well-suited to have a Blue Line car dedicated to massive carry-ons (strollers, luggage and bikes). I'm surprised (shocked, really) that OP got on an 8:50 train without problems, but the policy of no bikes before 10 makes it impossible to commute with a bike. I'd like to see them move that timeframe to before 8 a.m. - I know that the trains are empty then, and if there's a dedicated car to unweildy objects, all the better for everyone.

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As someone who moved to Boston from Minneapolis I must say that Boston is hopelessly antiquated when it comes to biking. They are living 20 years in the past. Granted, Boston has always been a city that clings to the past, but for a supposedly liberal and progressive town, bike friendly it ain't. There should be some basic bike holder devices on all commuter and transit rails. It takes up very little space. Bike lanes are also sorely lacking. Some major roads have them and around some of the colleges we see more of a presence, but sheesh. Boston can do better. The fact that Boston limits their hours for biking is rediculous. Tax money would be minimal in fixing some of these problems. And to the idiots who say "well you should have thought of that before moving here" or "what about lawsuits on the T", grow the fuck up and realize that biking is the future whether you like it or not. So get a bike and start biking tubby.

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and is building new bike lanes all the time, the latest in Rozzie. We're not laid out like other cities as a grid but we're moving forward in leaps and bounds

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... and many dollars short. Not having a grid system is all the more reason to have bike lanes.

And please don't give me the tired "Boston is an old city" nonsense - so is Utrecht, so is Rotterdam, etc. and they all have even worse "cow path" layouts than Boston.

I'll buy "leaps and bounds" when I see a bike lanes on Cambridge street connecting to lanes on the Longfellow and taking bikes into the central city, and lanes or paths on the greenway. Both roadways were rebuilt recently, and both would have had lanes if the designers payed ANY attention AT ALL to international standards of roadway designs for cities. When I see lights timed to cause semi-trailers block crosswalks for thousands of people trying to get from South Station into the Financial District on a 20 second per cycle light, I don't have much hope for competence.

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As someone who moved to Boston from Minneapolis I must say....grow the fuck up and realize that biking is the future whether you like it or not. So get a bike and start biking tubby.

Welcome to Boston - you're a great addition. In fact, I don't know what we ever did without you. Please share more of your wisdom with us - we really want to be more like Minneapolis.

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he does have some good points. Boston and Massachusetts in general lack some pretty basic grasp of standards for roadway design because hacks and not professionals are in charge and there is no coordination between overlapping agencies. Add in a fundamental disregard for best practices, and we get the messes that we have.

Then again, how's that new bridge in Minneapolis doing? I hear they saved a lot on demolition costs, although a few people did die when it collapsed.

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Hello Kate, I just read your blog and then it led me to the site that had the article posted about biking in East Boston, which had a bazillion comments posted afterward, which I read... all of them.

First and foremost I want to follow up John when he said "good luck." Because that is about how much apathy there is with regard to this. As a little helpful information the person you want to contact, albeit useless, is: [email protected]. His name is Darrin McAuliffe. I contacted him previously as well as the MBTA police chief regarding the same issues.

As an ancillary point to my story, I have had two bikes stolen from the Orient Heights T stop on the blue line. About a month ago I arrived there at 4:07 PM and tried to get on the T, like yourself I was intercepted and forbidden to ride. I explained that I "had" to get to Boston ASAP and could not leave my bike there ($2,000.00) TREK. Long story short, I had to leave it, and when I returned, bike, u-lock and cable lock all - gone!

I have been in the middle of this battle for years, no way to get to Boston lest you go an hour and a half out of your way, or take the T to cross the water. Then, there is the issue that more weekends out of the year than I can count they are working on the Blue line from Maverick to Gov. center, meaning you can't get there at all.

I have wrote and called everyone but Santa Clause and it's useless, nobody cares. Their rules, combined with the lack of effort to make a pathway to downtown from the ocean side is inexcusable, especially as many point out, in a town that call's themselves "bike-friendly."

In the article : Discrimination against East Boston Bike Riders - 3/4 of the responses had to be from people whom are really bored, never ride bikes, or their parents are attorneys. I was almost laughing at some of the suggestions and comments that "you should have thought of that before you moved here" or "that's the way it's always been" or "it is what it is." These are the kinds of remarks you normally hear from someone in Middle School or a gangster.

Those belief systems, vis-a-vis the bike riding problem from East Boston to Boston are inane to say the least. Yes, it is the T's responsibility to accommodate bike riders getting from here to there, and saying you can't ride for 6 of the most important hours of the day is insidious.

More and more bike paths go up all over the city every day, but the "MBTA" the oldest subway in the country can't even think of a way to get bikes across a tiny piece of water. An alternative path would be completely fine with me if the MBTA really is this incompetent. Either way, your dealing with a city, a government, and for them to be so apathetic and/or remiss is inexplicable to me.

I would love to follow your blog and the comments of any new events on this subject, as it effects my life daily. I ride all year round, regardless of weather, but having to go 1.5 hours north, west, then south to get somewhere that would be a 10 minute "direct" ride, is the most senseless thing there is.

I've always believed that you can either lead, follow or get out of the way - if you don't you're just part of the problem, not the solution. The people that respond to these types of situations/blog posts with "it is what it is," and "you should have known...," "get a bike that folds into your wallet..." - etc., well, they're definitely part of the problem.

Good luck Kate!

Richard S.
Winthrop, MA

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As a former Cambridge Red Line rider and now I bicycle to work, I think there should be a bike path from East Boston but also I dont think the main reasoning for Bikes on the T is lawsuits either.

First, more so than lawsuits, its a space and time issue. I know this rider said the Blue Line was empty enough for a bicycle but the Red Line is packed during the morning rush hour and equally as packed on the way home. The simple fact is that a bicycle takes up a lot more space. Just like when a a wheel chair rider or baby stroller can cause a lot of re positioning,discomfort, time wasted, and people left on the platform. Obviously, as a society we all understand that, even though its physically inconvenient, we deal with it because its the right thing to do. On the other hand, if an able-bodied bicyclist is causing people to not be able to get on the T, there is an issue. Second, you also run into other problems, like some spaghetti-armed MIT chick trying to get here bike on and the door keeps closing on it and it takes another two minutes to get the train rolling while everyone is wedged in there suffocating. Also, trains do have unpredictable scheduling and delays everyday so its impossible to know exactly which rush hours are busy and which are more open. That's several hundred minutes wasted if you count every person's time on that one train as valuable. Not to mention that at every stop that bike will need to be pulled out and pushed back in to let old passengers off and new ones on.

But on to the bigger point. My girlfriend is looking at a new job in East Boston, to get from Central to East Boston is absurd on a bicycle. As a city, regardless whether they officially promote bicycling, they SHOULD have a foot/bike path to get from downtown to East Boston. It's not just this city, the whole country is realizing that a guy in a car has no more right to be there than the same guy on a bicycle. This all comes from the fact that historically, Americas love affair with the automobile meant that it was a "a given" that people would choose the convenience of a car and that bicycles were a recreational pursuit and therefore, somehow a second-class form of transportation. Obviously with increased urbanization, population, fuel challenges, and focus on healthy lifestyle MOST forward thinking U.S. cities have had a paradigm shift whereby its no longer "that's a guy in a car and that guy is bicycling around for fun" but rather "these are two commuters and regardless of their vehicle of choice, they both have an equal right to 'access' and freedom to move about regardless of whether they ride on two wheels or four". Basically, non-automobilists (bikers, walkers, skaters, boarders etc) have to deal with inherent discrimination as the system is completely set up for cars. Best, case scenario, you get a bike lane althought that's generally not the case, and bike lanes are often times over crowded or mixed with the automobile lanes.

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Sure, you must work for the MBTA.

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For what it's worth. I live in Eastie and have used this.

We ride across the McArdle bridge into Chelsea and from there to Rt. 99 and through Charlestown. Here is the route...:

http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/19904088

However, it is tremendously frustrating that I can't ride my bike to work in the South End unless I want to ride 6+ miles out of my way. It's the one thing I really dislike about living here.

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