Dotriderblog posted the comment, “I put some air in my tires and I have a whole new attitude” as his facebook status the other day and someone asked me if it was meant to be a metaphor. Good question. My answer is definitely! My new approach on any issue will be to see how we can get some air in the tires of the project at hand. Despite my post a while back suggesting it isn’t easy to be a crank, it really is. Hindsight is easy as is being critical. So….
Instead of pointing out the mundane things that have been done that shouldn’t have and bemoan what isn’t getting done, we’ll try to figure what needs to be done and who might be able to provide the air in the tires to get the job done! After all the evidence is pretty clear that investing in improving the infrastructure for bicycles is good for automobiles. Every biking denizen is someone who’s NOT in a car. They’re not cutting you off, running the light or taking your parking spot with their car. The more people who are on bikes means less people in cars. Less cars jamming and wearing out the roads.
We’ve all heard the lip service from state and city transportation officials that clearly show they understand expanding our transportation options is a good investment. Despite that there is an institutional prevailing wisdom that cow tows to the forces advocating for more automobile access. By getting more air in the tires of those open to promoting bicycles and bike culture, perhaps the incremental changes that we see might begin to move a little faster.
So it is obvious that the Mayor’s Bike Program could use some air in their tires through the addition of more staff and resources to promote safe bicycle use around the entire city. The Roll it Forward program needs to expand the educational element as part of its distribution efforts. Hubway could use some more air too in order to expand its service area to all Boston’s neighborhoods as well as across the river to Cambridge and Somerville.
Since I’ve adopted my new attitude we attended DCR’s presentation of their new proposal for a Bike Path along the Neponset River from Lower Mills to Mattapan Square. I liked it! I came prepared to be po’d at the Milton Fear and Loathing Crowd and instead I came out feeling sorry for them since they’re going to miss this awesome new resource. The folks in Mattapan will get most of the pay off! Great! Plus it was an ingeneous and wonderfully esthetically pleasing plan that will give riders awesome views of the Neponset River. Kudos to the planners at DCR for that one!
Then on August 31, as I was zipping down Talbot Ave to a meeting in Dorchester (my usual 10 minutes late) I couldn’t help but notice the Bike Lane Chevron Guy had been installed in front of the Harambee Play Ground heading east and the Sharrow Arrow in front of the Lee School heading west had been installed! HOORAY!!!!!!!!!! It must be my new attitude!
