@dschwarz I think green paint in Cambridge is generally limited to areas with conflicts with vehicular traffic. (I think that @sofio has thoughts on NYC's overuse of green paint compared to Cambridge.)
@scott This week work on making separated bike lanes on Hampshire from Inman to Tech Square/Kendall is starting too! Especially important as the city's counts during rush hour show twice as many bikes as cars, even with only door-zone lanes
@scott The Cycling Safety Ordinance has been key. It's a law with requirements for miles of protected bike lanes, calling out most major specific streets by name, with a timeline for completion.
Obviously there was a ton of work to pass it (and amend it), which started with working the elections (I wasn't involved w/advocacy yet, so others like @itamarst might fill in more here).
Then having to constantly defend attempts to slow/stop/revert the CSO.
@scott Opponents have pulled out all the stops. From amendments, to calling for more process, and even lawsuits calling on the city to remove ALL bike lanes.
The bike advocacy group Cambridge Bike Safety has been extremely active mobilizing voters and riders to show up to council and project meetings to counter the loud NIMBY voices.
This coming election (yay off-year elections!) two of the primary opponents are running for council. So we are still fighting hard on this.
@scott Of note, Cambridge does have some pretty unique aspects in its favor. Very urban city without true stroads, and an already high bike-share, and the inner Boston-core is generally well connected for bikes too.
But functionally, we are an independent boro of Boston. With that, we have a weak mayor/city-manager system and the 9 seat council is entirely at-large. So we don't have the same territorial problems most cities have. And all are up for a contested election every 2 years
@DemonHusky @scott @itamarst We (NYC) also have a law with requirements for miles of PBLs, but we lack strong support from electeds. Notably, our (literal) cop mayor sucks shit, and our city council is ineffective and has a terrible transportation committee. 🤷
This has resulted in the Mayor not following the law, DOT building shitty "protected" bike lanes that aren't really protected, and of course the Mayor walking back safety projects.
@DemonHusky @scott @itamarst Seems like you need All Of The Above: strong leadership, competent DOT, an actual law requiring PBLs, and strong advocacy/grassroots support.
@scott @itamarst Yes, our organization has gotten most of the council in past cycles to sign a pledge to defend the CSO, then every challenge (so many challenges) gets people to show up in support of it.
I believe that most urban cities probably have a significant portion of the staff that want to make good projects and just need leadership to support and empower them and the projects.
Politics being politics, that means the advocates need to pressure and support the electeds
@DemonHusky @scott @itamarst I watched Seattle's DOT shed a bunch of really competent and passionate (bike/ped/safety) planners after the Mayor at the time killed/delayed projects. The quality of DOT staff is definitely better in urban places, but with some bad leadership it can hollow out pretty quickly. :(
The upper ranks of the city Department of Transportation have been depleted by an exodus of high-skilled employees this year, reflecting mounting frustration among some staff members and making it harder for the agency to fulfill its mission.
Yeah, in Boston, Wu is actually supporting and passionate about improving the streets and hired a great Chief of Streets @jfh , but it does feel like they are dealing with having to get the whole organization moving again after languishing under Marty. But there are still some great and passionate people there that are excited to actually be working on projects, so we are starting to see designs come out for upgrades. They need to build some momentum, but they are coming back
@scott @itamarst Yea, the law is used as cover to keep projects on track, but it is being executed because we have 6.5/9 votes in favor of it (though 3 of those votes are stepping away this year, so this election cycle will be Something)
Daniel Schwarz :toad:
in reply to Andres "🧠🐛✊" Salomon • • •Christopher Schmidt
in reply to Daniel Schwarz :toad: • • •Andres "🧠🐛✊" Salomon
in reply to Christopher Schmidt • • •@crschmidt @dschwarz @sofio I'm also not a huge fan of green paint, as it can often be more slick in the rain unless it's done just right.
That said, slick green paint on actually protected bike lanes is far far better than door zone bike lanes or flex post bike lanes!
Petru Sofio
in reply to Andres "🧠🐛✊" Salomon • • •Andres "🧠🐛✊" Salomon
in reply to Andres "🧠🐛✊" Salomon • • •scott f
in reply to Andres "🧠🐛✊" Salomon • • •DemonHusky
in reply to scott f • • •scott f
in reply to DemonHusky • • •DemonHusky
in reply to scott f • • •@scott The Cycling Safety Ordinance has been key. It's a law with requirements for miles of protected bike lanes, calling out most major specific streets by name, with a timeline for completion.
Obviously there was a ton of work to pass it (and amend it), which started with working the elections (I wasn't involved w/advocacy yet, so others like @itamarst might fill in more here).
Then having to constantly defend attempts to slow/stop/revert the CSO.
DemonHusky
in reply to DemonHusky • • •@scott Opponents have pulled out all the stops. From amendments, to calling for more process, and even lawsuits calling on the city to remove ALL bike lanes.
The bike advocacy group Cambridge Bike Safety has been extremely active mobilizing voters and riders to show up to council and project meetings to counter the loud NIMBY voices.
This coming election (yay off-year elections!) two of the primary opponents are running for council. So we are still fighting hard on this.
DemonHusky
in reply to DemonHusky • • •@scott Of note, Cambridge does have some pretty unique aspects in its favor. Very urban city without true stroads, and an already high bike-share, and the inner Boston-core is generally well connected for bikes too.
But functionally, we are an independent boro of Boston. With that, we have a weak mayor/city-manager system and the 9 seat council is entirely at-large. So we don't have the same territorial problems most cities have. And all are up for a contested election every 2 years
Andres "🧠🐛✊" Salomon
in reply to DemonHusky • • •@DemonHusky @scott @itamarst We (NYC) also have a law with requirements for miles of PBLs, but we lack strong support from electeds. Notably, our (literal) cop mayor sucks shit, and our city council is ineffective and has a terrible transportation committee. 🤷
This has resulted in the Mayor not following the law, DOT building shitty "protected" bike lanes that aren't really protected, and of course the Mayor walking back safety projects.
Andres "🧠🐛✊" Salomon
in reply to Andres "🧠🐛✊" Salomon • • •DemonHusky
in reply to Andres "🧠🐛✊" Salomon • • •@scott @itamarst Yes, our organization has gotten most of the council in past cycles to sign a pledge to defend the CSO, then every challenge (so many challenges) gets people to show up in support of it.
I believe that most urban cities probably have a significant portion of the staff that want to make good projects and just need leadership to support and empower them and the projects.
Politics being politics, that means the advocates need to pressure and support the electeds
Andres "🧠🐛✊" Salomon
in reply to DemonHusky • • •@DemonHusky @scott @itamarst I watched Seattle's DOT shed a bunch of really competent and passionate (bike/ped/safety) planners after the Mayor at the time killed/delayed projects. The quality of DOT staff is definitely better in urban places, but with some bad leadership it can hollow out pretty quickly. :(
And then there's NYC DOT's attrition rate... https://nyc.streetsblog.org/2022/09/22/just-keeping-the-lights-on-low-morale-high-staff-vacancy-rate-hobble-department-of-transportation
'Just Keeping the Lights On': Low Morale, High Staff Vacancy Rate Hobble Department of Transportation - Streetsblog New York City
nyc.streetsblog.orgDemonHusky
in reply to Andres "🧠🐛✊" Salomon • • •DemonHusky
in reply to Andres "🧠🐛✊" Salomon • • •Andres "🧠🐛✊" Salomon
Unknown parent • • •Petru Sofio
in reply to Andres "🧠🐛✊" Salomon • • •