Not a fan of this at all.
I hated bikers when I was a pedestrian first and driver second. (Bikers never yield at crosswalks) Now that I drive to work every day, I really despise them. Boston roads are in terrible shape. Many are barely wide enough for two cars to travel down them on two way streets, especially with the road side parking. Add in potholes that can take off car tires there is just not enough flat surface to go around.
Bikers love to go down the wrong way on a one-way street, weave through bumper to bumper. If you are a biker you do not get to cut to the front of the line at the intersection and then cross when the light is still red by weaving through traffic that has a green light. I could rant for so many more inches, but I won't. All I will say is if you are a Bostonian and are thinking of taking up biking now, please consider the fact that this area is just not bike friendly and just stick to whatever mode of transportation you are currently depending on.
Thanks.
Nothing like a biker holding up traffic because he just can't pedal fast enough...
I think Google had a brilliant idea! Not all bikers are suicidal maniacs, and I'm quite a fan of being green & biking (and scooting!) (and cutting to the front of the line - hey I'm only human! I definitely don't go through red lights though - that's whack!). However, I do think that 60-75% of Boston bikers should have both legs broken so that they cannot bike anymore. I personally rarely bike in Boston because I am not a suicidal maniac and I'd prefer not to get killed by an angry driver. Instead of bitching about the bikers, people should yell at the cops and have them start ticketing that 60-75% of the jerk bicyclists! Just not the scooter people, okay!? Oh - and BTW - Boston is one of the top bike friendly cities in the US! They have one of the highest mileage of bicycle lanes in the country - maybe not in Cambridge though...
ReplyDeleteI am not saying the concept is bad. What I am saying is that Boston hasn't done enough to make the streets safe for bicyclists and motorists to travel safely.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure where these bike lanes are, as I close to seven miles to work all while driving on main roads, and I checked, there was .3 miles of bike lane. One stretch was .2 and other .1 miles long and they only showed up when the road became slightly wider. And I drive through at least four different cities/towns.
I just wish bikers also believed that they needed to follow the rules of the road.
Won't Google bike maps help bikers not be in the path of your car? I think they're helpful and promoting better ways to get to work. You should be thrilled about this.
ReplyDeleteI should have originally reported that I did test the program out and was given terrible results/routes. In general, the first, would be more direct and sent the biker on the same busy streets narrow streets that I am familar with and hate. The second, caused the biker to stay on the back roads, but turn about every other block. Not only was that route much longer in distance, but no one could remember it and bicyclists don't have an option to have the person in shotgun tell them to turn every 500 feet.
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