Boston’s First Bike Lanes a Hit With Drivers

Last month, Boston moved toward shedding its rep as one of the country's least cycling-friendly cities by installing its first-ever bike lanes on city-controlled streets. According to the Boston Globe, the lanes -- on Commonwealth Avenue and American Legion Highway -- will be accompanied by some 250 bike racks around the city, and represent the first phase of what Mayor Thomas M. Menino sees as an eventual citywide bike network (though specifics remain unclear).

If these photos, sent to us by Boston University grad student Aaron Manders, are an indication, traffic enforcement and driver education are lagging behind the new physical infrastructure. Writes Manders:

The Globe reports that Boston bike coordinator Nicole Freedman says the city is also looking into the possibility of a bike-sharing program, with a potential launch date of 2010. Here's hoping that by then Boston will have figured out how to coordinate the missions of its transportation and police departments. Who knows, maybe it can even pass that know-how to its southern neighbor.