Boston by bicycle

AS A RECREATIONAL cyclist and bike commuter, I wish I was alarmed by David McCaffrey's comments (``Bicyclists: scourge of the roads," letter, Aug. 26), but unfortunately I'm not. Despite being a law-abiding and car-courteous cyclist, I have had profanities, water bottles, cups of coffee, and other assorted objects and threats hurled at me while I legally ride my bike on the Massachusetts roadways.

Although I recognize that the actions of a few law-breaking and out-of-control cyclists are damaging the reputation of us all, I feel that the level of hostility that cyclists have to endure from our car-driving neighbors is completely unwarranted. It seems as if the latte-sipping, multi-tasking, over-stressed drivers are upset that we cyclists are doing something good for the earth, our bodies, and our wallets, but then I realize that the primary source of their anger is the five seconds that they lose going around us. It's a pity that the world has come to this.

As for McCaffrey's argument that cyclists don't deserve the road due to the actions of a few outlaws, the same general argument could be made for all of the horrible drivers I see every day.

JASON M. CLEVENGER
Newton

I'VE WALKED, bicycled, and driven a car near Boston for decades. It's taken me that long to even begin to put myself in the pedestrian's shoes when I'm behind the wheel .

Drivers, bikers, and pedestrians are all capable of stupid, rude, and seemingly suicidal behavior, and we all get to marvel at it every day. To quote Dave Barry, ``In Boston, the drivers refuse to obey even the laws of physics."

Have you ever seen someone do something really dumb in traffic, then recognized the driver and become more sympathetic toward their muddle-headedness? (I have.) Have you ever entered a one-way street the wrong way by mistake? (Yeah.) The signs aren't always helpful, and sometimes we just make mistakes.

Let's double-check the laws we're citing, breathe deeply, and try to drive, bicycle, and walk as though someone's life might depend on it.

I'm as capable of road rage as the next person -- more so, according to my children -- but try letting some people in front of you and see if at least some of them don't reward you with a smile that makes the commute a little less awful.

KATHLEEN MOORE
Somerville

MARIKA PLATER (``Bicyclists belong on the roads, too," letter, Aug. 17) and David McCaffrey (``Bicyclists: scourge of the roads," letter, Aug. 26) both miss an important point on bicycling in the Boston area. Bicyclists should not be sharing the roads or the sidewalks. Cars are dangerous to bicyclists on the roads and bicyclists are dangerous to pedestrians on the sidewalks. Until American cities and towns decide to invest in bicycle infrastructure to form a safe system of bike paths and lanes, bicycling will continue to be a fringe method of transportion . Many European countries have invested in bicycle infrastructure that gives bicyclists their own system of lanes and separate rights-of-way. For now, it seems the United States prefers that Americans stick to their cars and feet.

PAUL CHRISTNER
Boston

REGARDING ``BOSTON should pump up its bike paths" (op-ed, Aug 29) by Stephen Madden, editor of Bicycling Magazine: Boston is near the bottom of the magazine's list because the criteria are based in part on the miles of bike lanes a city has. Given Boston's architecture of narrow streets, designated bike lanes are the last thing cyclists need, as the lanes would be placed in the dangerous ``door zone." There is no evidence that bike lanes make the streets safer for cyclists, which is why Mr. Madden states that the lanes ``offer cyclists a place to ride where they can feel safe from traffic."

Greater Boston is already a good place to bike with a very active community, the most used bike path in the country (the Minuteman Bikeway), and increased development of other bike paths. There are other ways to encourage biking in the city, such as education, advocacy, and improved roadways. .

JASON CLUGGISH
Medford

STEPHEN MADDEN is right in noting that Boston has an active cycling community as well as some of the country's most scenic and useful bike paths.

However, he veers off course when he suggests that the city is not doing enough to promote on-road bicycle lanes. We wish that he had called us before writing his article so that he could have learned that the city is, in fact, accommodating bicycles with every street reconstruction project that we undertake.

For example, bicycle lanes will be built on Commonwealth Avenue, between Kenmore Square and the BU Bridge, and on Summer Street in the Fort Point District. In projects where the street widths are constrained, the right-hand lane will be wider than normal to allow for a ``shared lane." In addition, we are in final design for the South Bay Harbor Trail that will provide bicycle access between Ruggles MBTA Station and South Boston. We invite Bicycling Magazine to join the residents, businesses, and pedestrian and bicycle advocates who are already working with us, project by project, to make Boston a better city for bicycling.

THOMAS J. TINLIN
Acting commissioner
Boston Transportation Department