By Clarence Eckerson Jr., posted on Streetfilms
The Boston metro area has always had plenty of cyclists. But other than some fantastic greenways like the Minuteman Trail, riding along the Charles, and some ahead-of-its-time traffic calming & bike lanes in Cambridge, cyclists have had very little to crow about. In fact, it wasn’t uncommon to hear murmurs that Boston was the worst cycling city in the U.S.
But that’s all slowly changing. Boston’s Mayor Thomas Menino hired Nicole Freedman – a former U.S. National Champion and 2000 Olympian – as his “bike czar” to head up Boston Bikes in late 2007. Though there is still quite a ways to go, Boston is rising from decades of bike rust and planning to make its city more bike-friendly. Recently, the Mayor told a gathering of cyclists at Boston’s first “Bicycling Safety Summit” in April, “The car is no longer king in Boston.”
While Streetfilms was in town with NACTO (National Association of City Transportation Officials) we got to spend a few minutes with Nicole in between her busy schedule to file this report.
Tags: Bicycling Safety Summit, Boston, Boston Bikes, Clarence Eckerson, MA, Massachusetts, NACTO, National Assocation of City Transportation Officials, Nicole Freedman, Streefilms, Thomas Menino
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