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January 27, 2009

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: LivableStreets To Host First Annual "Boston Bikes Update Report"
On Thursday, January 29th, LivableStreets Alliance will host the first "Boston Bikes Update Report" by the city's Director of Bicycle Programs, Nicole Freedman.  The public meeting will be held starting at 7 PM in the mezzanine conference room of the main branch of the Boston Public Library.  The focus will be on future steps needed to create the "world class bicycling city" that Mayor Menino has promised.  There will be additional discussion about what could be done to significantly expand the cycling population -- and its political influence -- by attracting "traffic intolerant" bicyclists, by installing low-cost bike-friendly infrastructure in all parts of the city, and by setting up programs to assure that low-income and non-white communities feel included, among other strategies.
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: LivableStreets To Host First Annual "Boston Bikes Update Report"
On Thursday, January 29th, LivableStreets Alliance will host the first "Boston Bikes Update Report" by the city's Director of Bicycle Programs, Nicole Freedman.  The public meeting will be held starting at 7 PM in the mezzanine conference room of the main branch of the Boston Public Library.  The focus will be on future steps needed to create the "world class bicycling city" that Mayor Menino has promised.  There will be additional discussion about what could be done to significantly expand the cycling population -- and its political influence -- by attracting "traffic intolerant" bicyclists, by installing low-cost bike-friendly infrastructure in all parts of the city, and by setting up programs to assure that low-income and non-white communities feel included, among other strategies.

 

Catenary-free streetcar
Bombardier's new catenary-free streetcar
(Photo courtesy The Transport Politic)
 

Highlights

  • Snow plows are too slow to clear streets (Boston Globe)
    By Christina Pazzanese -- It's only January, but for some, the tolerance for lingering snow may already have been tapped out. With a string of snowstorms on the books, tipsters have recently written to GlobeWatch to ask why sidewalks on several overpasses that cross the Mass. Pike weren't cleared in a timely fashion, or sometimes, at all.

     

  • City Releases Annual Bike Report (Boston Biker)
    Mayor Menino kicked off Boston Bikes a year ago with a strong commitment to transform bicycling in Boston. Since then, Boston Bikes has installed 250 racks, added several miles of bike lanes, started a bicyclist advisory board, worked with nearly 500 youth, and engaged over 7,000 cyclists in a variety of programs, both old and new. Hub On Wheels, Bike Friday, Bay State Bike Week, and Rock Roll & Ride were just some of the fantastic cycling events enjoyed by the Boston cycling public this year.

     

  • Stimulus plan may be last, best hope for footbridge (Boston Globe)
    By Peter DeMarco -- Where the Big Dig failed to deliver on new Charles River parks, might President Barack Obama come to the rescue? River advocates and watchdogs are hoping the president's federal stimulus package could provide the funding to finish millions of dollars' worth of promised parklands, bike paths, and pedestrian footbridges between the Museum of Science and the Charles River locks.

     

  • Bombardier Presents New Catenary-Free Streetcar (The Transport Politic)
    MSNBC reported today that Bombardier had introduced its newest technological feat: a catenary-free, contact-less tram. The system provides a clue for the next generation of rail vehicles, and suggests a future in which trams operating in city streets all over the world will no longer have to rely on overhead catenary wires and the poles that hold them up, which can be a blot on a city’s landscape.

     

  • Missing the Train on the Recovery Package (Huffington Post)
    By Paul Loeb and Deron Lovaas -- Our new President and Vice President rode the rails to D.C., echoes of history in the air. Obama's deliberate choice of a train for his inaugural journey and Biden's famed love for Amtrak raise hopes that the new Administration will make public transportation a priority. Unfortunately, the current recovery bill heads directly down the opposite track.

     

  • Oberstar at the pinnacle putting his imprint on the recovery (MinnPost)
    Minnesota congressman expects to put his imprint on the recovery — and on America's livability
    By Steve Berg -- In his more than four decades on Capitol Hill, no one has accused Jim Oberstar of cutting a dashing figure on the Washington stage. At 74, he still carries the rugged look and gait of his Iron Range boyhood. Only when he begins to speak in melodic tones — his storehouse of knowledge spilling out in encyclopedic detail, his command of numbers assuming a cadence almost of poetry — do you get the sense that here is an influential man.

"Streets"

Walking

  • Walz continues to work on Green Ticketing legislation (Back Bay Sun)
  • 'Curious' Why So Many Sidewalks Aren't Shoveled (WBZ)
  • Uncleared sidewalks imperil pedestrians (Boston Globe)
  • Snow plows are too slow to clear streets (Boston Globe)
  • A talk with Renia Ehrenfeucht: The higher meaning of the humble sidewalk (Boston Globe)

Bicycling

Transit

Cars/Parking

Transportation financing/Government

Parks

  • Stimulus plan may be last, best hope for footbridge (Boston Globe)

Development projects

Land Use/Zoning

  • City's urban design director receives American Institute of Architects awards (Cambridge Chronicle)

Out-of-state

National trends

International news

  • 5 Examples of Better Bike Infrastructure (TreeHugger)
  • Tel Aviv Cafes Offer Great Cappucinos and Free Bike Rentals (Green Prophet)