Massachusetts
Bicycle
Advisory
Board
Report

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Bicycling has also diversified over the past few years. Traditional road racing and adult recreational riding have grown steadily, but the all-terrain or mountain bike has opened up new horizons along with new problems on trails formerly used only by hikers and horseback riders. Bicycle commuting has expanded four times in the past fifteen years; today, over two million Americans commute to work by bicycle, accounting for a significant reduction in air pollution, dependence on foreign fuel sources, and traffic congestion. Accounting for bicycles in the design of transportation projects can encourage this desirable trend.

Children's bicycling has diversified too, with the popularity of BMX and freestyle bicycles, designed for rugged on-and off-road use.

A comprehensive program to take advantage of the potential of bicycling includes the four E's: Engineering, Education, Enforcement and Encouragement. The Bicycle Advisory Board's report touches on all of these areas.

One major concern of the report is to prevent accidents and injuries. More than 1000 people die each year from bicycle-related injuries--75 percent as a result of head injury. Nearly half of these deaths occur among children. The most common cause of sports or recreational injury in the United States is bicycling.

In Massachusetts, there were twenty-seven bicycle-related deaths over a two-year period (1987-1988); fifteen occurred to children between the ages of five and fourteen. It is estimated that an additional 14,118 children will require hospital treatment this year as the result of a bicycle injury.

With these statistics in mind, the Massachusetts Bicycle Advisory Board is committed to getting the message out that "bicycle helmets save lives". As outlined in this report, the Board is preparing educational materials, sponsoring helmet campaigns statewide, and researching many other bicycle-issues in an effort to curtail injuries and deaths and improve the climate for bicycling in Massachusetts. This report begins to address these issues and makes certain recommendations related to administrative policy and future legislation.

Massachusetts Bicycle Advisory Board

The Massachusetts Bicycle Advisory Board is comprised of five individuals appointed by the Governor with a demonstrated active interest or expertise in the various aspects of bicycling, including the industry, and eight representatives of state agencies whose activities directly or indirectly affect the bicycling environment or the interests of bicyclists. These agencies include the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, the Department of Environmental Management, the Department of Public Works, the Metropolitan District Commission, the Department of Public Safety, the Registry of Motor Vehicles, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, the Department of Public Health and the Central Transportation Planning Staff.

Legislation's Charge To The Board

In Chapter 707 of the Acts of 1987, the Board was directed to:

• advise departments on matters relative to bicycle transportation.
• make recommendations relative to the use of tax incentives for bicycle parking equipment.
• consider the use of zoning to promote bicycle transportation.
• advise the MDPW on matters relative to Chapter 90E, Bikeways Program including education and safety measures.
• file an initial report with the General Court together with drafts of legislation necessary to carry its recommendations into effect.

The Board's Approach

The Massachusetts Bicycle Advisory Board has examined a broad range of bicycling issues, activities and problems and has recommended in this report a number of measures which could be affected through government action and private cooperation.

At monthly meetings since September of 1987 we have discussed the various aspects of bicycling in Massachusetts and we have tried to determine the problems which confront bicyclists and bicycling, as well as the various potential remedies which would lead to the solution of those problems and encourage bicycling.

The Board drew on the expertise of its members to identify conditions which adversely affect bicycling and people's attitudes towards bicycling. This included discussion of topics such as planning to facilitate the use of bicycles for transportation in the construction and reconstruction of roadways in Massachusetts; bicycle safety, bicycle helmet use, education and enforcement; bicycle facilities; liability issues; and a host of other bicycle matters. Although many disciplines are represented, there is a common goal to make bicycling safe and enjoyable for all in Massachusetts.

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