Like many BU students, I depend on the green line to get me to class from my apartment
in Allston, which can easily take up to 40 minutes, whereas a lot of my friends just
ride their bikes to class. How long does it take you to get to campus on a bike? I think
it takes me about 10 minutes. It takes you ten minutes? I'm pretty positive. So when I'm
standing there, waiting in the hot sun, just sweating with my backpack. I'm laughing at
you. You're laughing at me. Why don't you start biking? Up to this point, my position
on biking has been one of healthy skepticism. Biking absolutely terrifies me. You're going
on a road with these big vehicles covered in metal, and you're there with three toothpicks
attached to two wheels. And it's not just me. Concerns about safety keep a lot of BU students
from biking on Comm Ave. Biking on Commonwealth Avenue is scary. There are so many cars, and
people are trying to cross. No one's paying attention ever. Cars don't really consider
bikers really. Bikes kind of just fly under the radar, and they're just as dangerous.
And then you have to look for the T both ways. I just can't imagine actually biking in it.
It is a problem that needs to be fixed. Boston is increasingly becoming a biking city, with
commuters cycling up 82% between 2008 and 2011. But for those of us commuting on Comm.
Ave. every day, is cycling really safe? To answer that question I started here, at the
BU sustainability fair, where I found Galen Mook, a BU alumn and currently the communications
director of Landry's Bicycles. I cornered him while he tried to repair someone's bike
and laid out my concerns. There's a T and there's cars and other riders and there's
buses, so do you feel like Comm. Ave. is a safe spot for a new rider at all? Well, totally,
I mean something as complex and as convoluted and crowded as Comm Ave, you have to put your
faith in everybody else who's there. That's terrifying. So--it is terrifying! But, you
know, people don't go down every day, and there's thousands upon thousands of bikers
who do it. So there's no guarantee that I will go down if I get out there. No. Ugh,
Galen, you're so convincing, but you know what's even more convincing? Statistics. That's
Professor Suchi Gopal. Using data provided by the BUPD, her statistical mapping class
did a project looking at the breakdown of cycling accidents on Comm Ave. From the point
of view of the biker, it's pretty dangerous because there's a lot happening at BU. This
is the busiest section of the entire city of Boston. So it's like a perfect storm of
trains and cars and walking and running. So it's a perfect area. It's a hotspot for bike
accidents. I knew it! I knew it was dangerous. Just look at the stats. Between 2010 and 2015,
Comm. Ave. has seen over 120 bike accidents, with the vast majority happening at the St.
Paul, Buick St intersection and on the Comm. Ave. side of the BU Bridge. There's also a
time of the year when more accidents happen. This is the month, September, when new students
move in. Okay, so like this is prime time for accidents, and also people who are new
on bikes get into accidents more often. And I'm about to get on a bike and ride out there.
All the best. This is the BU Bridge at rush hour. Miranda Kubasti is a member of BU Bikes,
the student cycling club. This is just utter lawlessness. This is just people doing whatever
they want. Yeah, especially I think the worst part is that the cars, so many cars have to
cross across the bike lane to get onto the BU bridge, so if you're a cyclist you have
to navigate all of these cars that are coming across the bike lane, and at some instances
at a complete stop in the bike lane. On Commonwealth Avenue, accidents are happening even if you're
in the bike lane. Statistical findings that we do not expect are the accidents happening
as the biker is thinking that he is safe when riding in the bike lane. Professor Gopal's
class found that about 85% of bike accidents occur in close proximity to the bike lane.
This seems like a problem. the bike lane isn't supposed to be a targets for taking down cyclist.
Up at St. Paul St., I ask Miranda what kind of accidents are most common on Comm. Ave.
Two of the most dangerous things that can happen in an intersection like this are the
right hook and dooring. So, a right hook is when you're coming down the bike lane right
here, and a car is coming up next to you, and they want to make a right turn, and they
sort of cut across the bike lane. That can be really scary. The other really scary thing
is what we called getting doored, which is where someone has just come and they've parked
on your right next to the bike lane, and they don't check for cyclists, and they just open
their driver's side door right into the bike lane. That's horrifying. How would you navigate
something like this on a bike? I think the two most important things are being visible
and being predictable. Bikes should be following all of the traffic laws. What a minute, bikes
have to follow the traffic laws? Has anyone told them that? Once you jump on a bike, it's
not a free-for-all. There are rules that you have to follow and there are laws that you
have to pay attention to. That's officer Michael Vanaria, of the BUPD. We expect a bicycle
to stop at a red light. If you run a red light, you can get a ticket. You're not allowed to
wear two ear buds while you're reading your bike. A lot of people don't know they did
something wrong. If we can get through to them and let them know you need to be aware
of this and that, stop at the lights, pay attention to traffic laws, the accidents will
start to go down. In a 2013 cyclicst safety report by the city of Boston, cyclist behavior
was cited as responsible for over 50% of reported accidents. But what if obeying the traffic
laws isn't the easiest way to prevent an accident? I talked to Professor Nathan Phillips, who's
been commuting to BU on his bike for the past 12 years. Has there ever been an instance,
where I guess the safer thing to do is not the legal thing to do? Yes. For example, at
a stoplight with cyclists on a shoulder or in a bike lane, I think it's safer sometime
for the cyclists to cautiously proceed ahead of the motor vehicles, getting out there ahead
of that right hook. So what appears to be reckless behavior is often very smart behavior
and crafty behavior because the infrastructure that we have for biking is not where it needs
to be. But apparently, that's all about to change. BU and the city of Boston are collaborating
on a plan that will completely reimagine the way cyclists use Comm Ave. I talked to Michelle
Consalvo of Boston University Government Affairs. The redesign of Comm Ave. has been in progress
and in process for a number of years, and it's coming to actual fruition. You're going
to see real changes along Commonwealth Ave. in the next few years. How did we get to this
point where we recognized that, okay, it's not safe out there for cyclists, we need to
do something? Cycling has taken off and so many more people are seeing value in just
the sustainable mode of transportation. So we listened closely to the cycling community,
listening to everyone's concerns. People in the community said, "Hey, if it's getting
reconstructed, this is a huge opportunity to say "what could it look like?" That's Jackie
Douglas, director of the Livable Streets Alliance, a nonprofit group that has been an outspoken
advocate for changes to Boston cycling infrastructure. So what's really exciting is the whole stretch
from the BU Bridge out west to Packards Corner and out to Allston is all getting redesigned
right now. We have great plans in place, and we're going to be one of first stretches in
the city of Boston to have this type of complete streets design. There's going to be separated
bike lanes, there's going to be protected intersections, there's going to be raised
cross walks. You'll also see bike boxes at intersections lights, so that lets the cyclists
get ahead of traffic. So you have BU now as this really interesting place where you had
the first bike lane the first kind of notion of a complete street back in 2007. Now, in 2017,
you're going to see this complete redesign that the mayor has deemed a new model street
for the city. So there actually is a plan to help make Comm. Ave. better for cyclists.
Separated bike lanes to keep me from getting doored, protected intersections to help me
avoid the right hook Professor Phillips won't have to run red lights anymore. It all sounds
pretty great. But will this redesign fix everything? Nothing can fix everything. You have to remember
every September we get a whole new crop of students that come from all different parts
of the country, all different parts of the world, they all want to buy a bike and they
all want to get to class right away, as soon as they can. I was one of those new students
where I hadn't been on a bike in years. You still have to realize that you're in the middle
of the city, you're on one of the busiest streets in Boston, it's a major thoroughfare
and you have to be very aware. There's always a sense of caution and a little bit of healthy
fear when I ride. So there is hope for Comm. ave. on the horizon. But is it safe? No, it's
not safe. Comm. Ave. is not and will never be a suburban side street. But, it's not so
dangerous that you shouldn't get on a bike and try it yourself. Just be cautious, be
confident, and like actually wear a helmet.