Due to some issues with a software update, our store won’t be working for a few days. In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to call us at (617) 542-BIKE (2453) to place orders. We certainly want to fill all your shopping needs, but we’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way for the time being. Thanks so much for your patience!
Last Fall, you helped us defeat Senate attacks on biking and walking. But now the House of Representatives is launching its own attack. Next Thursday, February 2nd, we can expect the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to vote on its version of the surface transportation bill, called “The American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act.” Alarms went off when we learned that the two primary sources of federal bike funding, Transportation Enhancements and Safe Routes to School, will be eliminated.
The legislation will be open for amendments for only a short time in the T&I Committee. If you live in Representative Michael Capuano’s district, a high-ranking member of the committee, we need your help. During Thursday’s vote, he could be the key to making sure that a pro-biking amendment passes. Will you ask him today to vote to preserve funding for biking and walking in the transportation bill?
Let him know that in his district alone:
Representative Capuano’s office phone number is (202) 225-5111, or you can email him by clicking here. Please take action today:
1. Call and/or email Representative Capuano TODAY, tell him why bicycling is important to you, and ask him to do two things:
2. Email action@massbike.org and let us know you contacted him!
If you don’t have time to call or email, then you can fill out an automated form here, though personalized messages are always preferable. Don’t know who your representative is? Find out here.
Even if you don’t live in District 8, feel free to contact your representative. While he won’t be able to act on this legislation until it hits the floor in February, it can’t hurt to let him know that biking is important to you. Thanks for your support, and for helping us work toward a better state (and country) for biking.
MassBike exists to serve the bicycling community, and that is our focus. But we also take a broad view of our transportation system and how bicycling fits into it. To advance those efforts, in 2011 MassBike joined a new coalition of transportation-related organizations, Transportation for Massachusetts (T4MA), working for an environmentally sustainable, reliable and affordable transportation system. MassBike’s participation will strengthen the coalition’s efforts around active and sustainable transportation, and the diverse viewpoints within T4MA will inform our own work for better bicycling.
The first major challenge faced by T4MA is the recently announced MBTA proposal to both increase fares and cut service. The MBTA projects that its revenues this year cannot support service at its current levels. T4MA opposes the proposal, and MassBike agrees that the MBTA’s proposal would not be good for bicyclists. In our view, the T’s proposal would significantly reduce existing opportunities for bicyclists to use bicycles in combination with public transportation, creating a barrier to biking.
You only need to look at the hundreds of bicycles parked at MBTA stations, even on frigid days like today, to see that many bicyclists are transit users and many people use bicycles to access the T. Some bicyclists, like other transit users, may simply be unable to afford a fare increase. Others will be affected if the trains, buses, or boats they rely on are eliminated. For example, we have analyzed the two bus service cut scenarios put forth by the T, the second of which would impact over 70% of bus routes that are currently equipped with bicycle racks. The MBTA has been a strong partner in improving bike access on its system, and MassBike has been working with them for many years to fully equip the bus fleet with bike racks. This project was expected to be completed this year, and the elimination of so many routes that are already accessible to bicyclists is an unacceptable leap backward.
Public meetings on the proposed fare increases and service cuts begin tonight in Newton and Worcester, tomorrow in Chelsea, and Thursday in Roxbury. More meetings continue in the following weeks all over the MBTA service region – see the calendar on our homepage for details. If you are a bicyclist whose mobility would be affected by MBTA fare increases or service cuts, please attend a public meeting or send your written comments to fareproposal@mbta.com. Make your voice heard! MassBike will continue to work with T4MA and the MBTA to find an acceptable way forward.
MassDOT is offering trainings for local officials, transportation professionals and advocates around the state on how to design for “Complete Streets.” Complete Streets is a design concept that emphasizes planning for all users of the road, including pedestrians, bicyclists, transit users, motorists, and people with disabilities. Even though this would seem to be a straightforward idea, it is a radical departure from traditional transportation planning, and critical to building a better biking environment.
The Complete Streets Workshops kicked off in Worcester on November 17th and have taken place around the state since then. Executive Director David Watson and I have attended workshops, and are happy to see a high level of local interest in this important topic.
MassDOT’s predecessor MassHighway adopted a Complete Streets-style approach to road design back in 2006 with the release of the Project Development and Design Guide. But many local officials and consultants have not changed their approach to road design in response to the new guidelines. At the urging of MassBike and other advocates, MassDOT has created this great new education program. We have been working with MassDOT to provide feedback both prior to the launch of the workshops and after the sessions we attended. We encourage anyone interested in learning more about Complete Streets and creating a more bikable, walkable, livable community to attend a free workshop.
Check here for the schedule, or just look at the calendar on our homepage. The workshops take three hours and are free and open to the public. You will get course materials to help you implement Complete Streets. Start making your community more livable by ensuring that roads work for everyone.
Have you ever noticed those intrepid bicyclists out there on the roads 365 days a year, no matter how low the temperature or how high the snow? Maybe you see them and just think they’re nuts, but many year-round bicyclists will tell you how much they love biking in the cold, citing the old truism, “There is no bad weather – just bad clothing.”
Thanks to a partnership with the City of Newton, MassBike will be holding a free workshop to explain how to keep warm, dry, and comfortable if you choose to bike on some of the more daunting days.
The details:
Where: Newton City Hall, Room 222
1000 Commonwealth Ave.
Newton, MA
When: Thursday, 1/26, 7:00 – 8:00 PM
This workshop is free and open to the public. You can find out more information by clicking here, or emailing price@massbike.org. We hope to see you there, and out on the streets with amazing bike gear!
