The Belmont Citizen-Herald reports on Senator Brownsberger’s efforts to pass bike safety legislation. “I have been working on this issue as long as I have been in the Legislature,” said State Sen. Will Brownsberger, D-Belmont, who is sponsoring four of the key bills. “Several currently pending bills have been filed in the past couple of years, but we have reached the point where the issue has the necessary visibility.”
Transportation
accessibility, bike paths, masspike, mbta, ride sharing, rmv, roads and traffic, rules of the road, statewide transportation funding
Side guards and the trucking industry
To learn more about the complexities of the highly regulated trucking industry and how bill S1810 would impact tanker truck drivers, Senator Brownsberger did a site visit to Houghton Chemical in Allston on January 14. He met with owner Bruce Houghton to discuss the engineering and safety obstacles to adaptation of side guards to the tanker trucks operated by Houghton.
Temporary Closure of the Paul Dudley White Bike Path in Boston
Please see the following construction notice for the Paul Dudley White Bike Path in Boston, between the Boston University Bridge and the River Street Bridge, beginning on Wednesday, January 20, 2016 and continuing to Saturday, February 20, 2016.
Draft Commuter Rail Schedules and Opportunities for Public Input
The MBTA has rolled out a public engagement process to solicit feedback on proposed changes to the commuter rail schedules. The public comment period will run from January 7th through February 12th. This post contains links to proposed changes to the Fitchburg line and to other lines. The finalized schedules will be announced in April and will go into effect on Monday, May 23rd.
Mass. lawmakers hear testimony on bike safety proposals
The Boston Globe? reported on the January 6th Transportation Committee hearing at which Senator Brownsberger testified with Representative Hunt about bike safety legislation.
State Transportation Committee Considering Bike Safety Bills
WBZRadio 1030? reported on Senator Brownsberger’s efforts to pass bike safety legislation and highlighted his bill S1810? An Act to protect vulnerable road users by requiring certain vehicles to be equipped with side under-ride guards and blind spot mirrors. “If you ride along on your bicycle on the road, you’ll see some trucks where you could just about ride underneath those trucks,” said Brownsberger. “This [bill] would require those kinds of trucks to have a side guard so that if a cyclist did broadside the truck, they would be deflected instead of ending up getting run over by the wheels.”