We Are Traffic from Bank Tangjaitrong on Vimeo.

People have strong opinions about critical mass. Hate it or love it I thought this video was interesting. My personal point of view is that the more bike friendly a place is the smaller the critical mass is. Critical mass’ seem to be an outpouring of solidarity based on mutual repression. The nicer a place is to cyclists the less they feel the need to engage in these large protest/fun/whatever rides to raise their status. Basically in places where bikes are seen as just another way to get around there is a critical mass every day.

What do you think?

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hi, I am a longtime area resident but new to biking.

I ride in from the south with MIT as my destination. This morning I came in on the Washington St. bike lane to the Pierre Lallement trail and then to Columbus Street. I turned left on Mass Ave and crossed the bridge. All was wonderful except for Mass Ave, which was somewhat terrifying for a first-timer like me.

On the way home I instead crossed the Longfellow Park bridge, and then took Charles St. to Dartmouth and then back to the Columbus Street bike lane. Neither Charles nor Dartmouth was as scary as Mass Ave but still not great.

I’m wondering, are there other/better ways to get from Columbus to the bridges? Alternatively, I could come up the Jamaicaway bike path and try to get to the B.U. bridge (once it reopens) though I don’t know the best connection to do that.

Thanks for any advice!
Matt

Leave your tips in the comments.

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Free Winter Bike Riding Seminar at Broadway Bicycle School. How to best prepare yourself and your bicycle for riding this winter. Wednesday December 16th from 6:30 – 7:30. Call 617-868-3392 to sign up!

Email from them below

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Mechanic info:

We are looking for an experienced bicycle mechanic who is eager to help develop our shop. In addition to working on customer bikes, responsibilities will include maintaining our fleet of rental bikes, building bikes, managing shop inventory, assisting with ordering, and selling bike parts and accessories. This is an opportunity for a
motivated and knowledgeable individual to join a great green business with plans for growth. Ideal candidates will be detail-oriented, friendly with customers, and prepared to take on responsibilities beyond just wrenching.

Intern info:

We are seeking an organized, ambitious, entrepreneurial student to be a Marketing Intern. Responsibilities will include representing and promoting Urban AdvenTours on social networking sites, promoting UA on our blog and other blogs, organizing contact lists and other marketing materials, helping us identify and contact potential customers and partners, and assisting with office and administrative tasks. Candidates should be organized and competent with computer applications including web browsers and Microsoft Office. Those with web/graphic design experience are also encouraged to apply.

Email jobs[at]urbanadventours[dot]com with a resume and brief letter explaining your interest.

The Impossible Journey from John Bonner on Vimeo.

This amazing journey was completed by one brave soul John Bonner, with tongue firmly in cheek he takes us on this epic quest to bicycle into Boston from the north. I have often been amazed at how fun some of the places north and east of Boston can be to ride around in, and horrified at how hard it is to get there by bike. Lets hope that the new bike friendly city includes ways to get into and out of it. You can find a lot more info about this fantastic voyage here.

View Larger Map

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(This job listing is also online at http://www.bikesnotbombs.org/node/627)

Bikes Not Bombs (BNB) seeks to hire a Bookkeeper/Human Resources Coordinator on a part-time, contract basis. BNB is a 25-year-old community organization that takes in more than 6,000 donated bikes each year and re-uses them in innovative youth programs, international development projects, and its vocational training/retail shop. More than 2,000 young people have participated in BNB’s youth leadership and cycling programs, all of which teach mechanics, safe urban riding, and environmental and social justice. Through its international program, BNB has sent more than 38,000 bikes to countries in Latin America, the Caribbean, and Africa to establish micro-enterprises in bicycle sales and appropriate technology. Finally, Bikes Not Bombs operates a full-service bike shop. This position has the potential, dependent on funding and demonstrated capacities/interest of the individual, to expand over the next two to three years with increased responsibility.

Pay Rate and Hours:
This is a part-time contract position requiring an estimated 16-24 hours/week. Compensation is $20 per hour.

Responsibilities:
* Process weekly Accounts Payable
* Act as main point of contact for vendors, BNB staff, and volunteers regarding invoices
* Prepare and enter bank deposits
* Calculate and pay monthly sales tax for the BNB Bike Shop
* Process and submit biweekly payroll through ADP
* Conduct monthly reconciliation of bank accounts
* Prepare and enter month’s end closing journal entries
* Provide regular financial reports for Executive Director, program staff, and board
* Assist Executive Director with preparation of annual budget and monthly budget reports
* Coordinate audit preparation
* Ensure that previous postings in QuickBooks were applied properly, make adjustments where necessary
* Serve as liaison with health insurance provider and other insurance brokers
* Provide administrative support as needed

Qualifications:
* Commitment to the mission of Bikes Not Bombs
* Strong QuickBooks and Excel skills required
* Experience with ADP or other payroll system preferred
* Excellent organizational skills and attention to detail
* Knowledge of budgeting and experience working with grassroots nonprofit organizations and with entrepreneurial businesses preferred
* Ability to prioritize and manage multiple tasks
* Interest in and ability to improve systems; commitment to excellence a must

Please send cover letter and resume to hiring@bikesnotbombs.org. For questions, please contact Samantha Wechsler at this email address or by phone at (617) 522-0222, x105.

Bikes Not Bombs encourages applicants of diverse age, ethnicity, gender, nationality, physical ability, religion, and sexual orientation.

–
Jasmine Laietmark
Director of Grassroots Fundraising and Events

www.bikesnotbombs.org
617-522-0222 x106

Cambridge-to-Boston traffic will be detoured to the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge

WHAT: Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) crews will be installing barriers in preparation for the first phase of construction on the BU Bridge, which carries traffic over the Charles River between Cambridge and Boston. During the work, all Cambridge-to-Boston lanes will be closed and traffic will be detoured to the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge. Only buses and emergency vehicles will be allowed in the Cambridge-to-Boston direction. One lane of Boston-to-Cambridge traffic will remain open.

WHEN: Wednesday night, Thursday night, Friday night October 28, 29, 30 7 p.m. – 5 a.m. each night

WHERE: BU Bridge Between Cambridge and Boston

The idea of public trust has been stewing in my brain for the last couple of days, something just struck me as wrong about my friends statement. On the way into work a couple of days ago it struck me what I didn’t like about that statement. You can in fact trust people these days! In fact we put more trust in total strangers these days than ever before. If anything our lives are so wrapped up in trusting strangers that I started to get nervous with just how much trust I was putting in complete strangers. First I thought about money (how we just trust that people will take it and that it is worth something). Then I thought about food (how many people touch it before it gets to me and what they could do to it). Finally I started to think about biking, that’s when I really started to freak out.

A few examples:

White paint on the ground
There is a little strip of white paint down the center of the road, on each side cars race by at 50 mph. That little white stripe is about 1 millimeter high, and most likely worn lower by time and tires…it is not going to stop anything bigger than a dust mite. The only thing keeping that massive truck bearing down on you from smashing into you, killing you and everyone in the car, is trust. You trust the driver of that truck not to cross that tiny little white line. Everyone else puts the same trust in you. The little white line doesn’t protect you, it is a symbol of the trust that does.

Light bulbs on wires
There are sets of light bulbs, one red, one yellow, and one green hung off wires at intersections. The light from these bulbs is visible for several hundred feet, but the force of the protons emitting from the bulbs themselves will do little more than tussle up some air atoms. They certainly wont stop the cars traveling in opposite directions about to smash into each other at the intersection. The only thing that keeps the drivers from smashing into each other is the trust that one will stop when they see the red, and one will go when they see the green. Every time you go through a green light you are trusting every other human driver at that intersection to stop for you. The same way they trust you not to run them down when they have the green. The light is only a symbol of that trust, not the actual thing that keeps you safe.

If you think about it almost all of our traffic control systems are either lights, or paint, or other similar “symbolic” control devices. You trust others and they trust you. On an average trip you are placing your very life in the hands of hundreds if not thousands of total strangers. Think about that for a second…I know I was a bit shaken by this revelation (especially considering how stupid people can be sometimes). The reason why you are alive to read this is because no one has crossed the center line, or run a red light, or any of the many other things they could have done easily and killed you.

The story of the boy who cried wolf is a good example. The little boy kept doing things that eroded the shared trust of the village (screaming that there was a wolf when there was none) and when he really needed help (a wolf did show up) no one trusted him and he was eaten. Breaking that shared trust doesn’t just get you eaten by wolves, it ruins the whole system. Imagine if a whole bunch of little boys were crying wolf. How could the village stay safe if they were always getting false reports of danger? The story is a perfect illustration of how shared trust effects a whole community and an individual member of that community. As grizzly as it sounds the community was actually safer after the boy had been eaten…because now they were not getting false reports, or to put it another way the public trust was no longer being eroded.

This is why I think people who drive cars get so upset when cyclists run red lights. It is not because cyclists are breaking the rules (everyone does that, and often), it is because they are breaking the shared trust. It is offensive to the group because that trust is what keeps them alive. If you are a cyclist and you run red lights this is not something you should brush off lightly. People react very badly to this sort of thing.

At the very least you can expect them to be upset with you, in extreme cases some very unhinged people might even try to hurt you for doing it. I think people that threaten violence against cyclists are crazy, but I can understand why they would get upset at you (even if you think you are not putting anyone in danger other than yourself). You are breaking the rules that keep them alive. It is a danger to the village, you are ruining the wolf detection system, you are mucking up the whole system. How can they go through green lights with confidence if they think someone might be running them? The reason they are upset is because you are making the entire system worse for everyone by breaking the shared trust.

This idea works for just about any person driving/riding any kind of transportation. Car drivers run red lights also, they also make turns with no signals on, bikers go the wrong way down streets, pedestrians walk out against the signals…etc…etc. The point is each and every time anyone does this, not only are they breaking the rules, they are breaking down the shared trust. I would say that one of the biggest problems that Boston has transportation wise is that over the years that trust has been severally eroded. Driving or cycling or walking in this town can be stressful because you always have to be on the lookout for trust breakers. Constant vigilance is very stressful. It is like everyone in Boston has been crying wolf for years. Will that car turn with no signal? Is that pedestrian going to go against the red? Is that biker going run that red? Wolf, Wolf, WOLF!!

So how do we rebuild this trust? The same way you build any other kind of trust. Slowly, and deliberately. Stop at that red light, walk with the signal, use your turn signals. It is going to take time, and it is going to happen slowly, and you will not be able to get anyone else to do it with you. You have to set that example. Every time you stop at a red light and you make it clear you are going to follow the rules, the person in a car next to you can see that at least some bikers don’t run reds. Every time you yield to a cyclist when you are making a left hand turn in your car the cyclist gets just a little grain of trust back in drivers. Every time you wait till the walk guy comes on to cross the street you show other walkers how it is done. It is the only way I can think of to make any real kind of steps towards rebuilding the shared trust in Boston. The nice thing about this system is that it is free, and the more you do it the better things get. There are other ways (better infrastructure, better enforcement) but they all cost a lot of money, and can not be implemented tonight on your ride home.

So the next time someone tells you “you can’t trust anyone these days” look them right in the eye and say “I trust you, and thousands of other strangers every day with my life” then smile at them.

I heard there was prizes for best costume…just saying. (more info here)

A Reason to Bike from Brighter Planet on Vimeo.

Thought provoking, the real reason that gets me every time is that it is just so damn fun!