Just this morning on the 6-7 AM segment of the Jeff Kuhner talk show on WRKO, he discussed proposals by mayor Marty Walsh to decrease the speed limit in Boston to 20 mph,
and increase the number of bus and bike lanes. He was vehemently against it, as were many of the callers, with snide comments about cyclists.
I called in as
Jim from Boston “speaking for "Boston’s cycling community” and introduced myself as his Number One Fan among Boston cyclists.
I made two points: bicycles are entitled to be on the road, and the more cyclists, the fewer other cars, and the more parking spaces available..
Jeff was pretty gracious, but I (accidentally) got cut off. Afterwards, he made some reasonable remarks about my call, but took me to task to speak for Boston’s cycling community, as “another protected class.” (Another WRKO talk show host, Howie Carr, once referred to us as
Spandex-Americans.
)
I sent a rebuttal text to the station, FWIW:
Originally Posted by Jim from Boston
Hi Jeff,
I called in this morning to “speak for the bicycling community” insofar as I was certain to be the only bicycle commuter to call in. I was speaking for myself, but I am an active participant on an Internet Bike Forum, with much discussion about cycle commuting. I’ve been cycle commuting in Boston for decades so I do claim expertise.
Before I got cut off I was going to make my third point that cyclists are ultimately responsible for their own safety, and I agree with your subsequent comments about cycle-auto collisions.
In the “cycling community” there are two schools of thought about riding in traffic: As Far Right as Possible: close to the curb; or Take the Lane to be out there and visible to cars. Bike lanes encourage the former behavior, likely more tolerated by motorists.
Bike lanes are not that wide, but then cyclist is in the “door zone” in danger of opening doors from parked cars.