all you need to do is submit a request for a bike rack here: http://www.cityofboston.gov/contact/?id=179
then then wait and watch the city make up reasons as to why they can't install one where you ask for it ('road construction,' 'nearby building construction,' 'uncooperative landlord' (untrue), etc.) for three consecutive years, and then eventually tell you that they're going to put some in (edited, they're putting 4 in, not just one) 'at some point, we don't know when, but it's on a list to be installed at some point' - actual quote) and then celebrate their massive success for only taking three years to do so. and this is only the theater district / tufts medical / chinatown area. nobody rides bikes here at all.
at least, that's been my experience with requesting a bike rack.
South End bike parking is impossible! Where do visitors lock their bikes? I've biked over for lunch a few times in the past weeks and it's a challenge to find a spot to lock the bike that isn't on someone's private property. Street signs are posted on the big lamp posts instead of the usual spindly metal posts so that option is gone. No bike racks anywhere.
Hubway is a great idea but if a bike owner with a lock can't park for lunch what is someone using a Hubway supposed to do ?
If hubway is a good business dedicated to serving the bicycle community, they'd install bike racks ONTO their big dispenser units for those of us who own bikes.
Not only that, but ADULTS DO NOT LEGALLY NEED HELMETS.
I wear one - even on a Hubway - but it isn't legally required.
The existing data on Hubway and accidents shows that head injuries are simply not a problem.
A lot more motorists die without using seatbelts. A whole lot more. That public safety campaign would be a far more effective use of public safety resources and your breath. Although I suspect your intent is more to harass and inconvenience cyclists than actually save lives and injuries.
When you sign up for hubway, you agree to wear a helmet. It is a contract. I don't know how enforcable it is, but it is fairly common that if you put something in a contract you expect that when people agree to it - the terms of the contract are legally binding.
Hubway has lawyers, too, and they likely wanted that in there to protect Hubway from being sued should somebody crack their skull on the pavement.
Problem is, it might not hold up in court if it isn't a legal requirement.
The reality is that it hasn't been an issue, because the only recorded concussion in over a million rides was suffered as the result of a driver of a shuttle bus running a red light.
We have many bicyclists in our family and we want them and others to be safe and obey traffic rules.
We hope you want the same for your family.
The IIHS is consistently the best source of bicycle fatality statistics on the Web. Their picture of a "typical" bicyclist killed on our roads would be a sober male over 16 not wearing a helmet riding on a major road between intersections in an urban area on a summer evening when hit by a car.
Statistics relating to bicycle safety help riders understand the importance of wearing a helmet. Whether riding on the sidewalk, street or while mountain biking, bicycle helmets protect your head and reduce the incidence of traumatic brain injury and death. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that less than half of all Americans who ride bicycles wear helmets.
Bicycles in large urban areas are a regular part of the traffic flow and have the same rights and responsibilities as other vehicles on the road. In cities such as New York, 92 percent of all bicycle deaths occur as a result of crashes with motor vehicles. According to a report from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Parks and Recreation, Transportation and the New York City Police Department, 74 percent of fatal bicycle accidents between 1996 and 2005 involved a head injury, and 97 percent of those killed were not wearing a helmet.
Cabs, Cars, Bicycles need to do more to be safe on the road All should follow traffic rules.
All could be safer by using seat-belts or helmets. There is lots of distracted driving out there ranging from
texting to not following traffic rules. Everyone can do more to be safe.
Comments
Cool!
I was one of those rides too!
I'm so glad that Hubway has taken off without all the problems that people predicted. It's a great way to get around town.
A Perfect Day for it, too
Lets hope that as the summer goes on and as more Hubway bikes are installed that there are new records set every week or two!!!
How about some bike racks...
...for people who ride their own bikes?
hey now, getting a bike rack installed is easy.
all you need to do is submit a request for a bike rack here: http://www.cityofboston.gov/contact/?id=179
then then wait and watch the city make up reasons as to why they can't install one where you ask for it ('road construction,' 'nearby building construction,' 'uncooperative landlord' (untrue), etc.) for three consecutive years, and then eventually tell you that they're going to put some in (edited, they're putting 4 in, not just one) 'at some point, we don't know when, but it's on a list to be installed at some point' - actual quote) and then celebrate their massive success for only taking three years to do so. and this is only the theater district / tufts medical / chinatown area. nobody rides bikes here at all.
at least, that's been my experience with requesting a bike rack.
South End must hate bikes
South End bike parking is impossible! Where do visitors lock their bikes? I've biked over for lunch a few times in the past weeks and it's a challenge to find a spot to lock the bike that isn't on someone's private property. Street signs are posted on the big lamp posts instead of the usual spindly metal posts so that option is gone. No bike racks anywhere.
Hubway is a great idea but if a bike owner with a lock can't park for lunch what is someone using a Hubway supposed to do ?
We need more bike racks...
...not more Hubways.
Both!
Are they somehow mutually exclusive? Why can't we have more of both.
If hubway is a good business
If hubway is a good business dedicated to serving the bicycle community, they'd install bike racks ONTO their big dispenser units for those of us who own bikes.
Hubway needs to set safety example
6000 riders each day without helmets
Wrong
I see hubway riders with helmets all the time.
Not only that, but ADULTS DO NOT LEGALLY NEED HELMETS.
I wear one - even on a Hubway - but it isn't legally required.
The existing data on Hubway and accidents shows that head injuries are simply not a problem.
A lot more motorists die without using seatbelts. A whole lot more. That public safety campaign would be a far more effective use of public safety resources and your breath. Although I suspect your intent is more to harass and inconvenience cyclists than actually save lives and injuries.
I think you are legally required to wear a helmet
When you sign up for hubway, you agree to wear a helmet. It is a contract. I don't know how enforcable it is, but it is fairly common that if you put something in a contract you expect that when people agree to it - the terms of the contract are legally binding.
https://www.thehubway.com/user-agreement#section_fifteen
A contract is not law.
It has to conform with existing law and clauses that aren't applicable to local statutes have reduced validity.
I could have a contract requiring someone to smash car windshields or something but it would be an invalid item.
The parent of Hubway operates in many cities and may have a boiler plate contract to fit all sizes.
And then there is enforcement in the land of exceptions where everyone has some grand reason for why they get a special consideration.
How would we get through our days without that need to be special?
More to the point
Hubway has lawyers, too, and they likely wanted that in there to protect Hubway from being sued should somebody crack their skull on the pavement.
Problem is, it might not hold up in court if it isn't a legal requirement.
The reality is that it hasn't been an issue, because the only recorded concussion in over a million rides was suffered as the result of a driver of a shuttle bus running a red light.
safety for everyone
We have many bicyclists in our family and we want them and others to be safe and obey traffic rules.
We hope you want the same for your family.
The IIHS is consistently the best source of bicycle fatality statistics on the Web. Their picture of a "typical" bicyclist killed on our roads would be a sober male over 16 not wearing a helmet riding on a major road between intersections in an urban area on a summer evening when hit by a car.
Statistics relating to bicycle safety help riders understand the importance of wearing a helmet. Whether riding on the sidewalk, street or while mountain biking, bicycle helmets protect your head and reduce the incidence of traumatic brain injury and death. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that less than half of all Americans who ride bicycles wear helmets.
Bicycles in large urban areas are a regular part of the traffic flow and have the same rights and responsibilities as other vehicles on the road. In cities such as New York, 92 percent of all bicycle deaths occur as a result of crashes with motor vehicles. According to a report from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Parks and Recreation, Transportation and the New York City Police Department, 74 percent of fatal bicycle accidents between 1996 and 2005 involved a head injury, and 97 percent of those killed were not wearing a helmet.
Cabs need to set a safety example
How many people rode in a cab/uber today and didn't wear a seatbelt?
Agree
Cabs, Cars, Bicycles need to do more to be safe on the road All should follow traffic rules.
All could be safer by using seat-belts or helmets. There is lots of distracted driving out there ranging from
texting to not following traffic rules. Everyone can do more to be safe.