My concern with cycle tracks: I don't understand why most cyclists besides myself think that any cycle track is good because it makes a statement about cycling, and don't see these serious flaws.

Even if you think that that’s enough to make it show that bikes are a vast minority, it’s still enough people per hour to justify protection.

Has taxi customer service gotten worse due to dropoff in business from Uber/Lyft competition?

I have noticed that most cab companies went out of business and almost all cars are owned individually, which means there's no way to call a cab. You can only find them at taxi stands in the squares, or maybe get lucky and hail one driving by on Mass Ave.

Are there any callable companies left?

> It’s simply true that at rush hours in peak season, bikes make up half of the traffic on the road.

No that's not necessarily true. If you read my comments, above (edited to include data). Looks like they used peak hour bike usage from September and compared to to average usage from February for cars, and full year averages for transportation. So you have month of year bias, and peak versus average bias.

Which isn't very surprising if you spend a significant amount of time on Hampshire street.

Is it biased though? It’s simply true that at rush hours in peak season, bikes make up half of the traffic on the road. Also, it’s far beyond any reasonable threshold for getting protected bike lanes. Even if the bike numbers went to zero in the winter (which they don’t), it would warrant protection here.

The city's planning a renewal/redesign in their chunk of the path. It'll be interesting to see how they balance this being a park with it also being a commuting path.

It also sounds like the path hasn't been repaved since it was built 35 years ago. If that's true, that really speaks to the efficiency of spending on bike and pedestrian infrastructure

Yah, but maybe official project plans shouldn't overstate their case with biased data? Decisions should be made with the best possible info, not trumped up stats. It's called science. Otherwise you end up making bad decisions.

None of the articles that quote that number provide a source, but if you need some support, here's what I found with 10mins of googling, TL;DR: the data they used is biased towards pro bike usage because they used a peak bike usage month (September). It also looks like they compared rush hour cycling usage to average car usage (although you can't tell that for certain from the source).

I think this is the source (page 2) of the numbers in the article, and guess what? The numbers cited in the article are perhaps unsurprisingly pro-cycling biased from the get go, note the qualification about the different time periods from when the data was collected "Bike counts taken on a weekday evening in mid-September 2019. Car counts from February 2018. Transit data from 2018 " Further, it looks like they compared rush hour cycling usage to average car usage (although you can't tell that for certain from the source) : https://www.cambridgema.gov/-/media/Files/Traffic/2023/hampshirest/hampshirestreetprojectbrochureonline.pdf

Proof of bias because of seasonal effects: p. 3 (showing January counts falling to less than a third of peak trips in September) . Note this data isn't specific to Hampshire St., but the seasonal trends are clear enough Jhttps://www.cambridgema.gov/-/media/Files/CDD/Transportation/Bike/EcoCounter_Trends.pdf

Don't forget to downvote for increased visibility! I know facts are scary to the mob.

In Arlington it looks like they did a bunch of work this summer. Any idea if it will help??

I have mixed feelings.... Would love to know if this is due to the "bathroom thing" "violence" (I want to see a link) or just corporate over-expansion/profit.

My guess is the last one but if you've got some proof otherwise, please post it.

Either way, it shows that it’s an extremely popular bike route that needs protection

They asked and it looked reasonable. And they’re from the community. As long as too many surveys don’t come in too often, it’s fine. If that changes, we will stop approving them

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I was told by city staff. I wish I had a link to share.

Wait fr? Source?

last year

That new bike lane is a mess. If you are biking in bound you now have to contend with all the cars turning off of Mason Street. It's like they wanted the bike lane but wanted it to be more dangerous. Here is a picture.

The blue way was the previous method. the bike lane in green basically drives you into the red car zone of death if you want to get to Harvard square.

https://preview.redd.it/bcfypsmcsyz91.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&v=enabled&s=27b832025917d0cb55076e2cdaec5fd2664fee3b

Present your data if you're so sure.

I’d move in May/June. I’ve been here for decades and seen people move and stay and move and leave.

Many who move in the winter stay until their classes finish and move. September is when most leases are up (like 90%), but you can get summer deals and have a great summer near the ocean. They even block off a major road along the river on weekends and as a good side effect of the last few years, we have more outdoor food options. There are great bike paths and it is a fairly safe city. There was a TikTok is saw recently of a women commenting on seeing women out at night walking alone. It surprised me that walking around at 8pm in many cities alone isn’t safe.

Jesus, when was that?

Thank you!!!

May 1st

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I get cold easily and wear a fleece jacket year round in my office but I adapt to being outside as long as I’m properly outfitted- down jacket, buff/neck warmer/hat or hood. Plus shoes or boots that are warm are key. Really winter isn’t that bad with the right gear.

I’m sure it matters what part of the year you are looking at. No way it’s that high in January, like not even close. But in the fall when schools in session I can believe it.

Edit (copying the my response to someone below who wanted data):

None of the articles that quote that number provide a source, but if you need some support, here's what I found with 10mins of googling, TL;DR: the data they used is clearly biased towards pro bike usage because they used a peak bike usage month (September). It also looks like they compared rush hour cycling usage to average car usage (although you can't tell that for certain from the source). I think this is the source of the numbers in the article, and guess what? The numbers cited in the article are perhaps unsurprisingly pro-cycling biased from the get go, note the qualification about the different time periods from when the data was collected "Bike counts taken on a weekday evening in mid-September 2019. Car counts from February 2018. Transit data from 2018 " :

https://www.cambridgema.gov/-/media/Files/Traffic/2023/hampshirest/hampshirestreetprojectbrochureonline.pdf Proof of bias because of seasonal effects: p. 3 (showing January counts falling to less than a third of peak trips in September) . Note this data isn't specific to Hampshire St., but the seasonal trends are clear enough https://www.cambridgema.gov/-/media/Files/CDD/Transportation/Bike/EcoCounter_Trends.pdf