05/01/2017
Copley Square - Dartmouth St at Boylston St (7:33 pm)
Tremont St at West St (7:43 pm)
Despite my failure with the East Boston bike, my plan to ride all the unicorns is well underway. I spot the Greenovate unicorn, a bike symbolically launched to bring awareness to the local community about the city's climate action plan. This plan, if I understand it correctly, aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25% by 2020 and 100% by 2050.
One hundred percent? That seems ridiculous - I suppose farting while riding a Hubway will become a fine-worthy offense in that dystopia. Maybe that's when I'll move to the suburbs.
Just for the record, I like the spirit of the plan. I just think maybe a lower number, like 99%, could be a better target, and more realistic.
05/03/2017
Cambridge Main Library at Broadway / Trowbridge St (3:36 pm)
Danehy Park (3:55 pm)
Mass Ave between Harvard and Porter Squares was the first time I noticed a real change in the quality of the on-street biking experience. The exact moment was sometime in the fall of 2015 - after doing a little repaving work, the city drew bike lanes to help keep drivers from drifting far-right on the long journey towards a Tavern In The Square or Charlie's Kitchen.
Cambridge did not stop there, though. In one small section of the road, the bike lane has been expanded and pushed closer to the sidewalk. To accommodate the wider space, the city removed the on-street parking spaces.
As I breeze down the luxurious lane, it occurs to me that the increased safety is not a result of the wider lane or the better separation from the automobile traffic - it is just the removal of the on-street parking. Getting rid of on-street parking would probably make every street 90% safer for all cyclists.
I wonder if cities frame the trade-offs in that way - do we wish to give residents and tourists a place to park for FREE (or almost free) or shall we try and minimize the inevitable fatalities that result when bikes must navigate among moving and parked cars? I am starting to wish that cities who are simply choosing to prefer one group of its denizens over another just state such decisions outright (we prefer car drivers over cyclists because they buy more stuff, contribute more tax revenue, and so on).
It would certainly be a major improvement on the current method of layering policy moves in double-and-triple speak about how they wish to make the roads safer while preserving parking options, they want to improve the city experience for everyone, and blah blah blah...
05/10/2017
Charles Circle - Charles St at Cambridge St (1:30 pm)
Cambridge Main Library at Broadway / Trowbridge St (1:53 pm)
I get the Fenway Park unicorn, the third of eight in the system. According to the Hubway website, the Red Sox are long-time Hubway supporters who 'encourage ticket holders to use Hubway to get to the game'. Huh? There are, like, eighty spaces for bikes near the stadium that seats (and stands) nearly 38,000.
Maybe they just want everyone to rack up overuse fines while circling the stadium looking for an empty rack.
05/13/2017
Washington Square at Washington St. / Beacon St. (11:08 pm)
Kenmore Square (11:23 pm)
It has been a sloppy start to the spring for me. On this trip, I find myself coming home from Brookline in a light rain. Things are OK for the first three or four seconds. Then, I start down a small hill and, as I approach the intersection, pull gently on the brakes. And again...
Nothing!
I've never had shot brakes before and I'm not sure what to do. I opt for the logical thing - I just zip down as fast as ever, trying to beat the light. I do, easily, but in hindsight I think perhaps I should have a backup plan ready next time.
The next morning, I log onto the computer ready to send a ranting and raving note to Hubway about their death traps. I log onto their 'report a repair' page. There are many options - one says 'bad brakes' and, for some reason, I settle for clicking that. I never do put my rant together.
I wonder if there is a lesson for customer service in here somewhere. Maybe putting in easy to choose options can defuse a situation?
05/17/2017
Cambridge Main Library at Broadway / Trowbridge St (8:58 pm)
Central Square at Mass Ave / Essex St (9:06 pm)
Central Square at Mass Ave / Essex St (9:16 pm)
Charles Circle - Charles St at Cambridge St (9:29 pm)
The traffic pattern in Central Square has gone through a recent change. Instead of allowing left-turns from Mass Ave before straight-ahead traffic, the left-turns now come second. This means more waiting than in the past but gives pedestrians assuming the right to cross some extra time to make their trip safely before left-turning cars and bikes zip through the crosswalk.
05/27/2017
Charles Circle - Charles St at Cambridge St (11:40 am)
Cambridge Main Library at Broadway / Trowbridge St (12:04 pm)
As I cross the Longfellow Bridge into Cambridge, a woman points at the bike and says 'Das Hubway'. Sounds pretty good, I think, right before my thoughts are interrupted by a bug splattering into my forehead.
It must make for a gruesome sight. As I wipe the muck away, I wonder if helmets come with windshields. All the rain of the recent weeks is going to make it a greener summer than usual.
