Biking is big as gas prices soar

Hub residents forgo the pump for their pedals

BOSTON. Drivers clear a lane, bicyclists are taking to the road in record numbers in Massachusetts.

In Cambridge, ridership has soared 70 percent in five years, the MBTA is launching a “Bike Coach” to let riders bring their bicycles to beaches this summer and across the state bicycle shops are struggling to keep up with demand.
With gas prices hovering near $4 a gallon, the surge shows no signs of slowing.

During a recent bike-to-work week, activists hoped to get Massachusetts riders to pledge 50,000 commuter biking miles. Instead they got 125,000 pledged miles — more than half the distance to the moon.

For bicycling enthusiasts — once a subculture of bike messengers, car haters, cash-poor students and eco-activists — it’s beginning to feel like a tipping point.

Boston is planning to install hundreds of new bicycles racks and create a new “bike map” of the city while one of Massachusetts’ largest planning groups has launched a statewide inventory of ridership on bicycle trails.

Riders are also flocking to sign up for safety and training courses, according to Shane Jordan of the nonprofit Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition.

The MBTA will open its first “bike cage” at the Red Line’s Alewife station this summer — a secure lock-up facility with video surveillance and spaces for up to 50 bikes.

Bike parking at MBTA stations has grown by 64 percent since 2004.