Tag Archives: safety

Fixie or track bicycle?

From Bicycling Magazine, June 2014, page 28: “A fixie (or fixed gear) is a singlespeed without brakes and without the mechanism that allows the bike to coast when you’re not pedaling.” That is a description of a track racing bicycle, … Continue reading

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Is the NACTO Guide a Design Manual?

In cities around the USA, politicians, under pressure from populist bicycling advocates, have pointed to the NACTO (National Association of City Transportation Officials) Urban Street Design Guide and directed their engineering staff to install treatments which it describes. I’ll say … Continue reading

Posted in Bicycle facilities, Bicycling, Bike box | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Bike Box at Charlesgate East

This post is about the intersection of Commonwealth Avenue eastbound and Charlesgate East in Boston, Massachusetts, an intersection with a “bike box” — a waiting area for bicyclists downstream of where motorists stop for traffic signals. More generally, this post … Continue reading

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Safe bicycle routes: engineering versus epidemiology

Note as of November 17, 2013: I have reviewed this post to correct typos, improve wording, and add headings. I have highlighted substantial changes and additions. Note as of May 23, 2014: I have added links to reviews of the … Continue reading

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Truck side skirts: reliable way to prevent cyclist fatalities?

No, not reliable, though some are better than others. Some are also supposed to confer an aerodynamic advantage. Some have a smooth surface which can deflect a cyclist. That is still no guarantee that the cyclist will escape serious injury … Continue reading

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Cycle track mania on the slippery slope in Somerville, Massachusetts

My attention recently was drawn to a proposed project for Beacon Street in Somerville Massachusetts, a couple of towns away from where I live.. A presentation from a public meeting is online here: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1Y_jIpLYtpycEZNOUVTNUYxQVU/edit (I was unfortunately not able to … Continue reading

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Danish story, video and comments on the Albertslund-Copenhagen “bicycle superhighway”

A reader pointed me to a news story on the politiken.dk blog about the Copenhagen/Albertslund “bicycle superhighway” which is getting attention and publicity. The reader’s comments on my previous post read: Yeah, its kind of joke, but to be fair … Continue reading

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Fatality on Montreal cycle track

As reported in a Montreal Gazette article, a Montreal cyclist was killed on July 24, 2012 when traveling in a two-way cycle track at the location shown in the Google Street View image below. The cyclist entered the intersection from … Continue reading

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A ride on Comm Ave., Boston, Massachusetts, USA

 Comm Ave. Boston: Kenmore Square, Mass Ave. underpass from John Allen on Vimeo. This is a 4-minute continuous video of a bicycle ride in Boston, eastbound on Commonwealth Avenue through Kenmore Square, to and through the underpass at Massachusetts … Continue reading

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“Shared space” — longer video and discussion

This post is a companion to my earlier one titled “No Rules.” The video here shows my entire ride on Commercial Street in Provincetown, Massachusetts, with a forward and rearward view, while the one in “No Rules” shows only highlights … Continue reading

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