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Boston Bike Data

@BostonBikeData.better.boston.ap.brid.gy

56 followers 4 following 66 posts

Exploring biking in Boston through data. searchable with tootfinder [bridged from better.boston/@BostonBikeData on the fediverse by fed.brid.gy ]

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Reposted by Boston Bike Data

Scott Kilcoyne @scooooooott.urbanists.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/07/2026

I mentioned above that I met her a few times recently. I was working on BCU Lab's Bike Parking Map (labs.bostoncyclistsunion.org/bikepa…) and as Louisa was the bike parking manager for BTD, she was excited by this advocacy effort and was very helpful giving me insight for this […]

urbanists.social

Original post on urbanists.social

Reposted by Boston Bike Data

Scott Kilcoyne @scooooooott.urbanists.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/07/2026

I am heartbroken and devastated and unbelievably angry over this loss mass.streetsblog.org/2026/07/09/dri… #BikeBoston #Boston #BostonVehicularViolence

We are devastated by the loss of Boston resident and transportation planner, Louisa Gag. On Thursday morning, a driver struck and killed Louisa on her bicycle commute to city hall along Tremont Street near Roxbury Crossing. Louisa Gag is not just a number on a spreadsheet; she was a champion for safer streets, a vibrant part of the planning and advocacy community, and a person dedicated to fixing the very system that failed her.
MASSACHUSETTS VISION
ZERO COALITION

Prior to joining the city of Boston’s Transportation Department,
Louisa graduated with a masters from the Tufts Urban and
Environmental Planning and Policy program and worked at Livable
Streets Alliance. Our hearts are with Louisa, her family, and all her
colleagues and friends at BTD, UEP, and in the advocacy community.
Fatalities are a heartbreaking reminder of the safety gaps in our
infrastructure. Inaction and needless delays have consequences.
Changes must be made to dangerous streets before we lose a
community member, not after.
We need safer streets now.

MASSACHUSETTS VISION

ZERO COALITION

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 26/06/2026

@usa.streetsblog.org I wish that is what we could learn from the ratings, but the scheme is just horribly broken for small (and even mid-sized) cities better.boston/@BostonBikeData/11679…

Boston Bike Data (@BostonBikeData@better.boston)

#People4Bikes just released their 2026 city rankings https://www.peopleforbikes.org/news/2026s-best-places-to-bike This is a really cool project that tries to estimate the biking stress level of every street in a city, and calculate how likely you can get to where you want to go on low stress streets. However, taking a look at how #CambridgeMA and #SomervilleMA are rated, I have some questions and thoughts. Let's dive in! 🧵 #BikeTooter #BikeBoston

Reposted by Boston Bike Data

Christopher Schmidt @crschmidt.net · 24/06/2026

Overall, my impression is that the current methodology means the results are not very informative for comparison for geographically small, amenity-dense areas, because tiny low-stress route gaps are magnified by the connectivity requirements.

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 23/06/2026

@bikepedantic.bsky.social I have some thoughts on the changes to the system better.boston/@BostonBikeData/11679…

Boston Bike Data (@BostonBikeData@better.boston)

#People4Bikes just released their 2026 city rankings https://www.peopleforbikes.org/news/2026s-best-places-to-bike This is a really cool project that tries to estimate the biking stress level of every street in a city, and calculate how likely you can get to where you want to go on low stress streets. However, taking a look at how #CambridgeMA and #SomervilleMA are rated, I have some questions and thoughts. Let's dive in! 🧵 #BikeTooter #BikeBoston

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

To recap: -P4B has a cool and challenging project to rate biking in cities across the US -Doing this well is HARD -They made changes this year that don't track with what gets people biking -Bike networks extend beyond city borders, and cities have influence outside their borders -Useful […]

Original post on better.boston

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

Related to P4B simplifying, they chose to compress Level of Traffic Stress from 4 levels to 2 levels. This is a pretty reasonable choice, especially for how they perform their analysis (all high-stress is the same). But, even if they don't show it, calculating the 4 levels and using that to […]

Original post on better.boston

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

Cambridge has been systematically improving its bike network over the past decade, and has seen steady increase in bike usage. But you don't really see that in the ratings. Small high-stress segments isolate in these ratings more than they do in real life. P4B should learn from this and allow […]

Original post on better.boston

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

Problem #2: This is actually a harder decision, but P4B is rigid that if there is any high-stress, then it is inaccessible. But this decision is massively over-simplifying how people choose to bike. If there is a mostly low-stress route but a block of high-stress, many people will accept that […]

Original post on better.boston

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

Problem #1: If we draw in the lines for those stations, you notice that most of them are on the same line. If you can bike to any Red Line station, you can get to them all low-stress, but Cambridge is losing points here. (This is ignoring that there are […] [Original post on better.boston]

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

But there are 2 major things that are negatively affecting the scores, but first let's explain the scoring system: You get 60 points for being able to get to 1 station, and the other 40 points are the % of other stations within 1.7mi are completely low-stress to get to. #People4Bikes

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

Cambridge is rated pretty poorly on transit (35/100), which is interesting because it has some of the best transit service in the US Looking at the transit coverage view of the map, you can see that Transit=T stops (plus if you zoom into Lechmere the Charles […] [Original post on better.boston]

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

Back to diving in deep on the methodology, using Cambridge as an example (follow along here bna.peopleforbikes.org/cities/Unite…) #People4Bikes

bna.peopleforbikes.org

PeopleForBikes Bicycle Network Analysis (BNA) - PeopleForBikes Bicycle Network Analysis (BNA)

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

Small cities are where this rating system really breaks down. There is basically no relationship between the rating and the biking rate. P4B shouldn't exclude most of the categories that are excluded in small towns in the current system. I suspect that those […] [Original post on better.boston]

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

Rochester Hills, MI and Anchorage, AK are the next highest rated medium cities. Rochester Hills is a Detroit suburb that definitely has some regional effects (look up its boundary enclosing Rochester), but otherwise I don't know much about it to talk about learnings from its score. Anchorage […]

Original post on better.boston

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

Hoboken, NJ is the highest rated Mid-Sized city but <5% bike share. If this was an outlier, that'd be reasonable. Over 2x people commute by transit over car, so there is a good argument that transit use is eating into bike share. And back to regional effects, a significant % of commuters are […]

Original post on better.boston

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

Medium cities are interesting! Cambridge, Brookline, and Somerville all are outliers surrounding Boston! Validating the above complaints about the regional nature of Boston It's interesting that basically all of the outliers are college towns of some sort […] [Original post on better.boston]

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

Large cities the system seems to actually work pretty reasonably for. A pretty reasonable r^2 of 0.28 (by far the highest) and only 2 outliers. Good bet that most big cities don't have any excluded categories (and are well mapped in OSM). Just sticking with […] [Original post on better.boston]

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

If we want to make a national rating system that can help cities improve biking and get more people on bikes, then we should start by looking at who is actually achieving that goal. Let's start by looking at how well P4B ratings line up with bike mode share […] [Original post on better.boston]

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

P4B are claiming that these ratings are valuable for city planners, so let's talk about what actually gets people on bikes! "This program helps cities identify gaps in their bike networks, highlights opportunities to improve, and benchmarks progress over time." #People4Bikes

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

This is a major flaw in P4B analysis! They likely are trying to focus on bike lanes, but that is just an aspect of land use that affects bike-ability and biking rates. But if they don't want to wade into land use discussions, then they shouldn't include destinations. However, towns very much […]

Original post on better.boston

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

The tricky decision they have to make is what to do when a town doesn't have any of a given category. For all cases, they chose to exclude the subcategory if it doesn't exist in a town. BUT!!! for some things, if you can't bike to it because it's out of town, then the bike network isn't […]

Original post on better.boston

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

P4B basically tries to see what each census block can reach within 1.67 miles, with categories for People, Jobs/Education, Core Services (Medical/Dental, Supermarkets, Social Services), Recreation, Retail, Transit. cityratings.peopleforbikes.org/abou… #BikeTooter […]

Original post on better.boston

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

OK, so P4B should find a compromise solution from all streets within 2 miles of their borders and only looking at what's within a city's borders. But that isn't the only problem that leads to small towns getting outsized ratings, while the cities in the country with the most people biking are […]

Original post on better.boston

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

Again, this isn't an idle complaint about looking at networks in isolation by municipal border. The experience of Boston is that it is reasonable to go in a straight line on a commute and experience 5 jurisdictions in 5 miles, including exiting and re-entering the same city (I've personally had […]

Original post on better.boston

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

In cities like Cambridge and Boston, paying attention to streets just outside respective borders is critical to understand the bike network! The Beacon/Hampshire route is one of the most important routes for both cities, but P4B analysis changes actually […] [Original post on better.boston]

City of Boston map showing neighborhoods

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

Neighboring cities also work closely together on projects. Beacon going into Inman had a ton of collaboration. Somerville building better bike lanes on Washington St is pushing Cambridge to make Kirkland better. Huron bike lanes are being extended to Belmont's Grove St as coinciding with their […]

Original post on better.boston

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

The Community Path is part of 2 major trails (MCRT, Minuteman) that go through Cambridge, and Cambridge has co-signed letters to the state/feds about completing the CPX and MCRT. They have direct influence here! #BikeTooter #BikeBoston #People4Bikes

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

I am pretty sure the exclusion of routes outside the city lines is the primary culprit for both Somerville and Cambridge ratings tanking. However, the statement that cities have no control outside their borders isn't fully accurate. Just taking a look at […] [Original post on better.boston]

Cambridge 2020 Bike Plan with Somerville segments circled

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

From their description of the methodology updates: "These updates have steadily improved the accuracy with which City Ratings reflect real-world bike networks." "In previous versions of City Ratings, the Bicycle Network Analysis included some roads and destinations just beyond city limits — […]

Original post on better.boston

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

I alluded to it before, but P4B did make a major change to their methodology this year. You can read about the changes and rationale here: www.peopleforbikes.org/news/2026-ci…. #BikeTooter #BikeBoston #People4Bikes

peopleforbikes.org

2026 City Ratings Methodology Updates: What Is Changing and Why It Matters | PeopleForBikes

Every year, PeopleForBikes uses the Bicycle Network Analysis (BNA) to produce our annual City Ratings, a data-driven measure of how well a city’s bike network connects people to the places they want to go. This program helps cities identify gaps in their bike networks, highlights opportunities to improve, and benchmarks progress over time.

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

To be clear, I actually have a pretty good understanding of how hard a problem P4B are trying to solve. Using #OSM data to estimate biking stress is exactly how our @bikeboston.bsky.social Stress Map (labs.bostoncyclistsunion.org/stress…) is created. I know more than most the […]

Original post on better.boston

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

Somerville is down at #32, below such biking havens as Bedford, Hopkinton, Lynnfield, and Acton #Massachusetts #BikeTooter #BikeBoston #People4Bikes

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

Let's take a look at the #Massachusetts top 10 👀 #1: P-Town - sure, small town that you could bike everywhere in town easily enough #2: Groton - ??? Take a look at that map and tell me you can reasonably travel throughout town on low-stress streets #5 […] [Original post on better.boston]

City | Population | Score | Rank (Country)

Provincetown 3318 75 54

Groton 1353 58 218

Mattapoisett Center 3190 55 284

Orleans 1767 51 368

Sturbridge 2385 50 401

Cambridge 18,403 50 410

Middleton 9779 49 463

Townsend 1213 48 492

Wareham 2972 48 495

Wareham Center 2972 48 495

Groton stress map, almost all is High Stress

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

FWIW, #Boston, #BrooklineMA, #ArlingtonMA, #MedfordMA, #WalthamMA, #NewtonMA are all basically level #BikeTooter #BikeBoston #People4Bikes

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

To start with, let's take a look at how #CambridgeMA and #Somerville scores have changed (graph from cityratings.peopleforbikes.org/citi…) 👀 Somehow when P4B updated their methodology this year, Cambridge and Somerville specifically were […] [Original post on better.boston]

Line chart showing the bike score ratings of Cambridge, Somerville, Fayetteville AR, and Portland ME since 2020.

The MA cities show a major drop from last year, while the other cities are steady. Previous years are noted to be from a different methodology.

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 22/06/2026

#People4Bikes just released their 2026 city rankings www.peopleforbikes.org/news/2026s-b… This is a really cool project that tries to estimate the biking stress level of every street in a city, and calculate how likely you can get to where you want to go on low stress […]

Original post on better.boston

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 05/06/2026

@crystalvisits Nice! Which datasets did you use?

Reposted by Boston Bike Data

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 01/06/2026

BCU Labs just released our Crash Map! Read about why this is so critical here: bostoncyclistsunion.org/bcu-labs-ne… And explore the map here: labs.bostoncyclistsunion.org/crashes @universalhub @mass […]

Original post on better.boston

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 01/06/2026

BCU Labs just released our Crash Map! Read about why this is so critical here: bostoncyclistsunion.org/bcu-labs-ne… And explore the map here: labs.bostoncyclistsunion.org/crashes @universalhub @mass […]

Original post on better.boston

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 01/06/2026

This was a project that was helped by a team of students at BU as part of their BU Spark! program and led by @jacksonjmoon BCU Labs is happy to work with other student team programs, just reach out. We have a ton of project ideas we are eager for help on. #BikeBoston #BikeTooter

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 01/06/2026

We are primarily using the state database of police reports, so you can actually explore all of #Massachusetts #MA We are working to get other data sources (EMS responses from Boston, etc.) included because police reports miss a shockingly high number of crashes #BikeBoston #BostonPoli #BikeTooter

Reposted by Boston Bike Data

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 19/05/2026

Ever want to know if there is bike parking where you are going? @bikeboston.bsky.social BCU Labs is trying to make that easier! Check out our map labs.bostoncyclistsunion.org/bikepa… And our announcement that highlights the disparities of the different cities' efforts to install […]

Original post on better.boston

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 19/05/2026

Ever want to know if there is bike parking where you are going? @bikeboston.bsky.social BCU Labs is trying to make that easier! Check out our map labs.bostoncyclistsunion.org/bikepa… And our announcement that highlights the disparities of the different cities' efforts to install […]

Original post on better.boston

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 19/05/2026

@bikeboston.bsky.social While you are here, you should also check out our recently released Project Tracker! better.boston/@BostonBikeData/11656…

Boston Bike Data (@BostonBikeData@better.boston)

@bikeboston.bsky.social@bsky.brid.gy BCU Labs just released our Project Tracker! Check it out here: https://labs.bostoncyclistsunion.org/projecttracker/ Our announcement: https://bostoncyclistsunion.org/project-tracker A huge thanks to @ZMYaro@mastodon.social for making this happen @mass.streetsblog.org@bsky.brid.gy @universalhub@mastodon.online #BikeBoston #BikeTooter

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 19/05/2026

@bikeboston.bsky.social BCU Labs has been working hard to make more tools, and many of them are map based. You can now go to labs.bostoncyclistsunion.org/map and view our Bike Parking map over our Stress Map. We want to keep building these tools and you can help us out by joining us! […]

Original post on better.boston

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 19/05/2026

@bikeboston.bsky.social But this map is also incomplete :( We are using #OSM as our data source, and things only get reliably mapped by people that are using those features. This means you can improve this map by following these instructions (it's super easy, I promise!) Our map updates our OSM […]

Original post on better.boston

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 19/05/2026

@bikeboston.bsky.social This map is meant to encourage better access to bike parking by highlighting where it is missing. We have tried to compile how to request bike parking from the respective municipality. Please request parking where you could use it! It's on of the best ways to tell people […]

Original post on better.boston

Boston Bike Data @bostonbikedata.better.boston.ap.brid.gy · 19/05/2026

@bikeboston.bsky.social You can clearly see that #CambMA and #SomervilleMA have put more effort into installing bike parking than #Boston. Boston is especially bad as you leave downtown!

Map of Greater Boston showing locations of bike parking