I live in Cambridge; the bike lanes don’t work
I am a Cambridge, Massachusetts, resident who would like to problematize the word “work” in your March 12 editorial headline “Bike lanes work in Cambridge, why not Baltimore?”
First, Cambridge’s bike infrastructure is not complete; it is a multi-year process that has faced many problems, cost overruns and a large number of opponents. Thus far it has been poorly implemented. There has been inadequate advance planning, neighborhoods and small businesses were not consulted, hundreds of parking spots have been removed, and a very high number of small businesses in those areas have closed.
Here are a few problems I see with your editorial and with the project we are experiencing in Cambridge:
The 26-page report you cite is a public relations piece issued by the builders of the bike lanes and based on anecdotal evidence; they are stylized facts at best. There are no accurate statistics on ridership in Cambridge. However, whatever increase there may be it is far from 500%, as has been claimed. The city has only one digital Eco-Totem that reports ridership for only one small section of the city. On its website their first bit of advice is for people to ride that stretch so they can get counted — does that sound a bit contrived? We need at least a half dozen such digital counters to provide real cycling data. Other city-organized counts have been held with advance notice to bikers to ensure a good turnout; there have been no independent surveys of ridership to my knowledge.
Bike Lanes / Turn-Abouts / Scooters by DEMOCRATS are waisting YOUR $$$$$$$$ !!!!!!
Bike lanes do not work because the entitled bicyclists demand motorists to observe and respect them yet they do not follow the same rules. While drivers are stopped at a red light waiting those on bikes think they can ride through if traffic is clear, ride the wrong way on one-way bike laned venues and even just ride on pedestrian sidewalks and are the first to cry fowl when they have an unpleasant encounter on streets that are designed by origin for CARS.
As The shores rt 13 highway of death continue to increase because of the traffic bottle necks caused the ” Jake day school of city planning”. This is what we get bike lanes instead of an interstate, scooters, instead of sensible timed traffic system that helps traffic flow NOT INCREASE congestion..princess Anne is the perfect example of city planners who have the jake day rectal inversion problem.
The shore needs a new interstate connection from Chesapeake Bay Bridge to US 1.
WHY the hell are my Tax dollars going to something 99.9 % of this town will NEVER USE!
Democrats sure know how to waste money.
bike lanes are racist & so are turnabouts !!!!!