The first work day of the New Year and it’s a fine day for riding to work. We didn’t see our usual compliment of riders but we were early. The dog walkers were out in the park and they all had leashes on their dogs! Great start to a New Year.
Just a quick comment here about dogs. Toni Pollack the Commissioner of Parks said at a recent meeting that dogs are the number one source of complaints and the biggest source of strife for her and her staff. Hey dog owners, did you hear that???? You as a group are hated and despised by Parks because you’re a pain when you let your dog run without a leash or you don’t pick up after your dog. It sounds like how bike riders are perceived by many automobile drivers… I’m sure most dog owners aren’t like that right? đ
So we see the State of the City’s Bike Program has been set for early February. We’ll have to work on our tongue bighting as the city has made a lot of progress in the past year. Ideal no, but progress non-the-less. The most exciting was the fact there has been a consulting group hired and the process of drafting a bike plan for the entire city has begun. Three years late, but it has begun. That will help advocates as well as city and state planners going forward to insure a complete streets approach is taken when doing road work in Boston.
We’re hoping the City steps up it’s public relations to support bicycling and to begin educating ALL of the public of the benefits of bicycling to those who do and those who don’t ride. The health benefits of course for riders as well as the savings, financial and environmentally no matter how incremental all count. Educating automobile drivers is paramount right now for sure to help increase safety and to diffuse the growing animosity between riders and drivers.
We’re also hopeful that Hubway would expand to more Boston neighborhoods. If a neighborhood is urban enough for ZipCar what’s up with no Hubway?
‘I bike to work!’ is feeling a bit bored looking at the bike scene and we’re hopeful those working full time advocating for complete streets and better biking will continue their fine work while remembering the working folks of Dorchester, Mattapan and Roxbury as well as anywhere around town really who don’t have the time or inclination to speak up. Folks who ride not out of choice, but because it is all they can afford. Making them feel better about riding as well as helping them to ride safe and as they should instead of sidewalking or riding into traffic like we see daily in Dorchester. That would help all riders and it might make these riders life time riders instead of folks likely to opt out and use a car the second they think they can afford one.
Going forward, idling and Franklin Park are two issues where more time and energy may be going during 2012.
Idlers are of a similar ilk to drivers who yell at bikes to get off the road, clueless. How to get through to these folks is a big question. Anyone have any ideas? Maggie doesn’t think me yelling at them or leaving single brochures on their doors is effective. But that’s all I have right now. So far the Globe hasn’t run any letters commenting on the potential upsdie of educating all of us on the obvious waste of money and harm to the environment idling is in our economy. We’ll keep trying though.
Meanwhile, Franklin Park is 25% of the City of Boston’s parkland and it is generally used as a storage yard and dumping ground for the other 75%. When locals ask for more services they get lip service from Parks saying their budget is strained. Meanwhile anyone with two eyes can see the budget may be strained but it is obvious Franklin Park isn’t getting its share of the budget outside of the golf course which takes in a few bucks for the City. Does this sound like a familiar story? Yup! Of course we’d love to slip a disc golf course in there as well, so we’ll see how it goes.
Meanwhile Peddle on!
