Cambridge Bike Infrastructure

Cambridge Bicycle Infrastructure Overview (As of May 2024)

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Cambridge demographic and geographic characteristics

• Population: 118,000

• Land area: 7.1 square miles

• Average income: Approximately $93,000

• Average single-family home value: Around $1,200,000

• Ethnic mix: Diverse, with a significant mix of White, African American, Asian, and Hispanic populations

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Cambridge Government: Who has power over bike infrastructure 

• Mayor: Sumbul Siddiqui

• City Council Members: Nine councillors elected citywide. 

  • Burhan Azeem

  • Marc C. McGovern (Vice-Mayor)

  • Patricia M. Nolan

  • Joan Pickett

  • Sumbul Siddiqui (Mayor)

  • E. Denise Simmons

  • Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler

  • Paul F. Toner

  • Ayesha M. Wilson

• The City council is elected at-large. The members elect a mayor and a vice-mayor. 

• City Manager: Yi-An Huang (hired 2022)

  • Mr. Huang was the Executive Director of Boston Medical Center (BMC) Hospital Clinical Operations since 2021. Between 2018 and 2021 he served as Chief Transformation Officer and Senior Director - Population Health Analytics for the BMC Health Plan. From 2013 to 2018 he served as Senior Director of Clinical Operation, Director of Strategy and Senior Project Manager for the BMC Hospital. Mr. Huang has a Master’s in Business Administration from Harvard University.

• Government offices related to bikingCambridge Bicycle Committee (https://www.cambridgema.gov/cdd/transportation/forthepublic/bicyclecomm)

  • 19 members, meets on 2nd Wednesday of the month. 

• ​Transportation Program Manager: Cara Seiderman (retiring 2024)

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Current Cambridge Bike infrastructure

• As of January 2022:​

  • Bike Path/Multi-use Path: 36.49 miles

  • Striped Bike Lane: 34.18 miles

  • Separated Bike Lane: 7.54 miles

  • Grade-separated Bike Lane: 4.86 miles

  • Two-way Separated Bike Lane: 1.86 miles

  • Buffered Bike Lane: 1.93 miles

  • Contraflow Bike Lane: 0.50 miles

  • Bus/Bike Lane: 0.66 miles

  • Shared Lane Markings: 13.26 miles

  • Shared Street: 0.41 miles

  • Total: 101.70 miles

 

Cambridge Bicycle Infrastructure Plans

• Cycling Safety Ordinance, approved 2019, requires installation of separated bike lanes on certain high priority streets when they undergo reconstruction according to the citiy’s street maintenance plan.  

  • Streets identified as priority streets for separated bike lanes (including those added in 2020). 

    • Mass Ave

    • Concord Ave

    • Hampshire street and Beacon street (they are continuous)

    • Cambridge Street 

    • Broadway

    • Main St

    • Vassar St

    • Western Ave

    • River St. 

    • Brookline St. 

    • Pearl St. 

  • Cambridge Bicycle Plan 2020 

    • The  Cambridge Bicycle Plan 2020 was an update to the 2019 Cycling Safety Ordinance that included specific deadlines to increase the rate that protected bike lanes are created. 

    • Mandates 22.6 miles of protected bike lanes completed by 2026. As of April 2024, 13 miles have been completed.

      • The following streets were identified as highest priority for protected bike lanes:

        • Broadway from Quincy St to Hampshire St

        • Cambridge St from Oak St to Second St

        • Hampshire St from Amory St to Broadway

        • Garden St from Huron Ave to Berkeley St eastbound, and from Mason St to Huron St westbound. Also, the connection from the intersection of Garden St and Concord Ave to the segment of Concord Ave contiguous to Follen Street will be required to be improved so that it’s a safe route for all ages and abilities.

    • Identifies three over arching goals: 

      • Biking should be available to everyone

      • All destinations can be reached by bike

      • Streets are designed to accommodate biking for people of all ages, abilities, and identities. 

    • Identifies three main elements of a supportive bicycling environment

      • Off-street paths

      • Separated bike paths

      • Bicycle priority streets

    • Creates a Bicycle Network Vision Map (link: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.cambridgema.gov/-/media/Files/CDD/Transportation/Bike/bikeplan/2020/finalchaptersjune2021/appendixf_networkvisionmap_20210618.pdf)

    • Links to Cambridge Bicycle Plan

      • Link to pdf: chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.cambridgema.gov/-/media/Files/CDD/Transportation/Bike/bikeplan/2020/finalchaptersjune2021/cambridgebikeplan2020allchaptersandappendicesreduced.pdf

      • Link to higher resolution web version: https://www.cambridgema.gov/Departments/communitydevelopment/2020bikeplanupdate

  • Other Cambridge programs related to bike infrastructure:

    • Complete Streets

    • Vision Zero

    • Safe routes to School Program

Biking Advocacy Groups

• Cambridge Bicycle Safety (https://www.cambridgebikesafety.org/)

  • Chris Cassa​

 

Cambridge Biking Statistics

• Percentage of residents biking to work: About 9 percent.

• Crash rate (number of crashes per bicycle miles) has decreased by 50 % since 2012.

• Growth in biking population: There are four times as many people biking in Cambridge in 2019 than in 2002. 

 

Historical Timeline:

• 1980: Cambridge adopts its first Bicycle Plan

• 1980s and 1990s: Cambridge implements its Bicycle Plan and builds over 100 miles of bike lanes and paths

• 2004: Initial adoption of the Cambridge Bicycle Plan. Cambridge becomes one of the first cities in the United States to install a grade-separated bike lane.

• 2009: Bluebikes bike share system launches in Cambridge

• 2015: Major update to the Bicycle Plan, focusing on expanding the network of protected bike lanes. 

• 2019: Cycling Safety Ordinance (CSO)

• 2020: Cambridge Bicycle Plan 2020

• Summer 2023: Brattle street protected bike lane installation (1.5 miles) 

• March 2024: Boston Cyclists Union study showed that on the Garden Street bike lane, bike volumes increased by 500% after protected bikelanes were installed. (https://bostoncyclistsunion.org/if-you-build-it-they-will-bike#:~:text=In%20November%202022%2C%20Cambridge%20made,be%20one%2Dway%20for%20cars.)

• 4/29/24: Cambridge City council voted 5-4 to delay the 2026 deadline for building 22.6 miles of bike lanes to 2027.