Wu recently visited the Italian city of Sulmona, “a town with strong ties through immigration to Boston’s North End.” Restaurateurs were quick to make another comparison: outdoor dining is prevalent there.
I work in the film industry. I literally wouldn’t be able to get to work with a bike. And that’s not even to mention the fact that Boston is icy and frozen at least 6 months of each year which means that those bike lanes are only really effective for half of the year. Bikes are an absurdly foolish form of transportation in the context of constant blizzards.
Working a job where you have to go to different locations and carry equipment there is definitely a legitimate reason to have a car, and would be impossible to do on a bike or public transportation. There are many people who work jobs in predictable places that need public transportation, though. Ideally both would be served.
I don’t know the specifics of your situation. I am sure that it is frustrating. However, public transportation serves numerous people more efficiently (when running correctly, lets not get sidetracked) and discouraging single occupancy vehicles is a positive in many people’s minds. Increasing single occupancy vehicle throughput by maintaining multiple lanes of traffic has been shown to hurt cities in many ways. I have a friend who is an electrician and he simply cannot use public transportation because he needs a van to take equipment to numerous locations, but he also supports road diets and bike lanes and that really makes me respect him.
Wu sucks. The standstill traffic caused by her empty bus lanes is neolib paternalism. What’s next? Arrests for people drinking soda in city limits?
So in lots of places like in Cambridge the lanes have been shown to alleviate traffic.
There are so many reasons to complain about traffic, so many REAL reasons like arteries around downtown or alewife…
So why use the term “paternalism”? Wu’s not even your father…
Buy a bike. The future is now, and definitely doesn’t include you.
I work in the film industry. I literally wouldn’t be able to get to work with a bike. And that’s not even to mention the fact that Boston is icy and frozen at least 6 months of each year which means that those bike lanes are only really effective for half of the year. Bikes are an absurdly foolish form of transportation in the context of constant blizzards.
Really? I don’t really recall getting too much snow recently in the city
Working a job where you have to go to different locations and carry equipment there is definitely a legitimate reason to have a car, and would be impossible to do on a bike or public transportation. There are many people who work jobs in predictable places that need public transportation, though. Ideally both would be served.
Cities much further north and with much worse winters than Boston have no issues with winter biking. It’s just a matter of infrastructure.
https://youtu.be/Uhx-26GfCBU?si=STNXYqKqy2qRnzmX
Sucks to be you.
All urban studies show that bus and bike lanes do not result in lower speed of travel or increase in traffic.
Bullshit.
Come sit in the standstill traffic that I sit in every single day where I used to cruise through before bus only lanes.
I live in Boston. Traffic is absolutely no worse than it was 15 years ago.
Get on the bus, dumbass, that’s the point.
Fuuuuuck that.
Oh I am sorry, your anecdotal evidence is clearly more reliable than research.
I don’t know the specifics of your situation. I am sure that it is frustrating. However, public transportation serves numerous people more efficiently (when running correctly, lets not get sidetracked) and discouraging single occupancy vehicles is a positive in many people’s minds. Increasing single occupancy vehicle throughput by maintaining multiple lanes of traffic has been shown to hurt cities in many ways. I have a friend who is an electrician and he simply cannot use public transportation because he needs a van to take equipment to numerous locations, but he also supports road diets and bike lanes and that really makes me respect him.