Bike haters organize in Cambridge

Of a dying urban paradigm.

Are they going to demand that freeway get put through, too?

Cars are old tech. Cars are not modern. Cars are dysfunctional transport. Car culture cannot die soon enough, even when yelling "I'm not dead yet!"

said bicyclists were “exploiting these deaths to advance their own agenda.” The line drew applause.

that sure is something.

at worst, bike lanes have a neutral impact on business, and many times improve it.

https://www.citylab.com/solutions/2015/03/the-complete-business-case-for...

Skenderian began the meeting by saying he didn’t want the meeting to get into “data and statistics,”

Yes, we'd hate for actual facts to get in the way of our vendetta.

These people are unreal. They're creating some kind of extra-governmental entity to complain about bike lanes? When you read the article, it's pretty clear there has been ample planning and public discourse but these business owners and residents apparently didn't choose to partake. And the name of their group here is basically an "All Lives Matter" move. Good grief.

Several people also complained about the speed with which the Cambridge Street bike lane had been installed, seemingly unaware its planning included a stakeholders group that met three times over several months, as well as two public meetings; others were confused to hear that the lane installation had been voted in by the public during the Participatory Budgeting process, which they hadn’t heard of despite four years of attempts by the city to publicize it.

The guy from the Pharmacy is delusional. Why is he not interested in facts? The city included him in the development process, bent over backwards to meet his demands, and added more metered parking when he wouldn't stop complaining. He also owns a parking lot that he could let customers use, but he reserves it for employees.

The Harvard Sq Business association is crazy. They preferred a street that had no business being two lanes, with cyclists riding against traffic and on sidewalks all day long. The current arrangement is so so much safer for all users of the road. I say this as someone who's on it everyday. The unspoken thing about all these business "complaints" about the 2 way lane on Brattle is that they are mostly based on the fact that it's harder to double park. Double parking is dangerous, illegal, and causes major traffic problems.

Also, cyclists are "taking advantage" of deaths. People are dead bro, what is wrong with you??

In the recent City Council election the city as a whole overwhelmingly voted for candidates that support cycling. 30 people yelling at each other in a church on the other side of town isn't helping anyone and isn't going to change anything. Cyclists are here to stay, and protected bike lanes are the safest thing for them and for driver and pedestrians

I was a bike courier in Manhattan for 2 years. I spend a lot of time in Cambridge, and my experiences as a pedestrian and sometime car driver is there are a large number of smug, arrogant bike riders, not to mention people in general. It wasn't always like this, but is today.

Despite the headline, this is not about bike haters. The Brattle Street reconfiguration was done with zero input from residents and businesses. The reconfiguration makes Brattle St more dangerous for pedestrians, bicyclists, and cars. If you really care about the issue, check out the facts and even visit the site. The current situation is not sustainable. It was done wrong and needs to be corrected

Well... not surprised here. Many of the bike lanes in Boston were not fully vetted with residents or business that were impacted. That said, many bike lanes are outside of the parking lanes on most streets. This is a prime example of city hall caving in to a small vocal lobby under the guise of safety. To-MAY-to... To-MAH-to.

Now, bike lanes are a great idea and may work on SOME streets, but not all.

And let's face some serious reality here... it's the bad bicyclists that people remember, and not the ones who are conscientious. Same is true of bad auto drivers. Those are held up as the example of all rather than the select few. I see cyclists DAILY that zip along, weave through traffic, and fail ... miserably fail... at following some simple rules of the road like giving hand signals (not that 1-second wave that no one understands), or actually stopping for a red light in traffic rather than just blowing through it causing side street entering traffic to jam on their brakes. This quasi-state that exists somewhere between auto rules and pedestrian rules is not acceptable, and those that take up making excuses for bad cycling side with walkers or autos depending on who you are talking to. No one seems to have it right. Consistency matters so that EVERYONE can co-exist.

Where is the education on safe and proper biking, and where is the genre's self-policing to correct their own?

My take... if you want to ride in traffic with autos, you need to have a Cyclists "Blue Book" that explains the rules and expectations. Sit a test like an auto driver must and get a certificate, and maybe even a sticker or license plate for your bike. Skip the RMV. Do it at the local police station. Token fee of $5. Create an inspection: Tires properly inflated, reflectors, lights, hand signals, helmet, etc. Rental bikes? Make them comply with safety expectations as well.

And... maybe that fee for a test can go to offset the cost of paint and labor to create and maintain these bike lanes? It's an added cost not already factored in most -- if any -- cities. I challenge anyone to find it as a line item in any city or town budget.

There are compromises to be made, but right now both side of this equation are just saying "ME ME ME" rather than sitting down and coming up with a workable solution.

This whole bike vs. auto thing in Cambridge and certainly Boston is a microcosm of what the nation has become. We need only look at Washington DC for the broader picture of what is happening.

And just to add a little jet fuel to this rant, BOTH SIDES have their "Trumpies" in this dialogue; (... I'm right, It's THEIR fault, Media fake news, etc... ). The responses will clearly demonstrate that. LOL!

This is an interesting part of the article:

Fully separated lanes would be hard to achieve without costing parking on many of Cambridge’s narrow roads, though, and the idea of keeping bicyclists off streets where there are businesses was presented as another virtue of Montreal’s approach, but also might be beyond local reach.

So you have a bunch of local business "leaders" who wants to keep a population who are more likely to live closer to their business (cyclists) away in favor of a population in cars who may live further away and have other shopping choices.

Harvard Square parking sucked before the bike lanes. I never considered shopping there when I had to drive and there's not enough parking they can put in to change that. They'd be far better off attracting more local business.

This is a pound-foolish approach but it may hasten the demise of these businesses in favor of national chains that won't participate in future such nonsense.

Bike lanes are important and they also present the problem that motorists see them and think that cyclists are not allowed turn left, changes lanes, or even be allowed on the streets at all.

You can do away with bike lanes, I say, but you must develop a new driving test and require all motorists to take it in order to keep their license. Develop the test on the habits of daily cycle commuters and see how much the motorists know about roads and how to keep them safe.

With privilege comes responsibility.

When I lived in Cambridge, I had some dude on a bicycle fly off the BU Bridge, bat out of hell style, and smash right into me as I walked in a crosswalk at a red light with cars stopped at the red light, you know ,like you are suppose to. How he did not knock down- he hit me hard enough to knock the 500$ glasses off my face ( I caught them mid air). Gutless puke scrambled out of there even though I said nothing to him ( would have been totally justified in telling him off.) People in the stopped cars at least checked if I was ok. Hell of a bruise on my arm from that. Entitled aholes are entitled aholes. Also had a bicyclist clip me again in the crosswalk in Central square walking on a walk light. I hissed real loud and he road his bike up on the side walk and proceeded to follow and scream at me. Because I dared question his right to run anyone he'd like to down. So, yeah, there are long standing problems in the People's Republic with jerks on bikes... They're so special.

Does anybody know the name of the apothecary that Mr. Skendarian owns ? I wouldn't want to offend him by making the mistake of taking my business there and arriving there by bicycle. Or, you know, at all.

I want to comment on the Cambridge St lane changes. Bona fides: I live in N. Cambridge, and bike most everywhere, including to work (at offices on Cambridge St, HSq, and Davis Sq). I often ride with kids on board, and have become more of a rule stickler in middle age -- I stop at red lights (although will jump the green sometimes when there's clearly no cross traffic or pedestrian in sight), I signal turns, I wear reflectors and bright lights, I give way to motorized traffic whenever possible. I hate cyclists who roll through lights and weave through pedestrians, or wobble along with their phones in one hand, or wear all black at night. I hate idiot motorists too, naturally - they can kill you without even noticing. (The only civilized way to travel is to walk, or take the T, when it works.)

Anyway. I'm ambivalent about the Brattle St changes, but I really dislike the new Cambridge St lanelayout. On my bike, I feel less visible at intersections because of parked cars to my left (often towering utes), and when I took the car down there recently for a meeting at CRLS, the narrow, serpentine driving lane made road features AND merging cyclists more difficult to pick out. It's a more crowded visual field on both modes of transportation. I support the idea of separated cycle tracks in general, but don't think the implementation works well on that particular road.

Bike lanes should be abolished to give more room to buses and delivery trucks.