When the Boston University Cycling Team goes to practice, president Kyle Bruley makes sure to tell his teammates to get out of town.
“We try to get out of the city as quick as possible,” he said. “The roads in Boston are packed with cars, they’re narrow and they have the typical Massachusetts drivers on them.”
Bruley, a College of Arts and Sciences junior, said his friends have broken bones, scratched themselves and damaged their bikes because of the hazardous conditions. One time, Bruley was “doored,” meaning an inattentive driver opened his car door just as Bruley was riding by.
“It’s bad enough for pedestrians,” he said. “It’s even worse for bikers.”
Boston may be dangerous for cyclists, but the city now offers several perks to improve the situation, bringing a mixed bag to cyclists on campus.
Mayor Thomas Menino has been taking initiatives recently to improve the cycling situation in Boston. After designating bike lanes on Commonwealth Avenue and American Legion Highway in Roslindale, the city named former Olympian Nicole Freedman Boston’s “bike coordinator,” according to a January city press release.
The city is planning to put 250 bike racks around Boston, Menino’s spokesman Nick Martin said, and 60 of them have already been put in place.
“It’s an ongoing process, based on resident recommendations,” Martin said. “There’s no formal timeline yet.”
In conjunction with the Commonwealth Avenue Improvement Project, brand new bike lanes were officially added to the BU strip on Aug. 5.
“The bike lanes were added to the project after the outside curbing and sidewalks had been constructed,” Executive Office of Transportation spokesman Adam Hurtubise said in an email. “The bike lanes extend throughout the project from Kenmore Square to the area near Amory Street just west of the BU Bridge.”
Despite the city’s new bike-friendly additions, BU has a policy prohibiting cyclists from chaining their bikes to anything other than a bike rack. Any bicycle found illegally chained will be removed by the Boston Transportation Department, BU Police Department Sergeant Jack St. Hilaire said.
Though bike thefts have decreased over the last few years, 60 percent of bike thefts occurred when bikes were on racks, St. Hilaire said.
“It’s because people are using weak locks; it’s just so easy,” he said. “Lock it with a secure lock.”
BUPD itself uses eight officers on regular bike patrols, according to its website. The bike units can get around better than patrol cars and catch criminals faster than officers on foot patrol, St. Hilaire said.
“They’re extremely effective at night in the high crime areas where there are a lot of narcotic activities,” St. Hilaire said. “[Criminals] just don’t see them coming up.”