Mission

The primary purposes of MassBike are:

• to serve and protect the interests of the bicycling public in Massachusetts,
• to promote the bicycle as a healthy, enjoyable, efficient, and environment-friendly means of transportation and recreation,
• to promote a physical geographic context and vehicular traffic environment that enhance these qualities and ensure the safety of transportation by bicycle, and
• to help more people adopt the bicycle for transportation and recreation.

The primary means by which MassBike achieves these goals are:

• advocacy on behalf of bicyclists before public bodies, including elected officials and government agencies,
• dissemination of information to the public and private industries,
• education of bicyclists and motorists concerning safe riding skills, good driving habits, and the rules of the road, and
• sponsorship of public events, both independently and in cooperation with other organizations.

Achievements

2006: Worked with MassHighway to redesign state's official roadway design manual to ensure it is more bicycle-friendly. Helped Somerville Bicycle Committee pass Somerville bike parking ordinance, requiring that new residential and business developments include bike parking. Successfully pressured MBTA to restore indoor bike parking at Back Bay T station.

2005: Convinced Massachusetts Municipal Police Training Committee to train new and veteran police officers in bicycle laws, using a curriculum developed by MassBike. Pushed Governor to form State Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee. Successfully persuaded Congressional delegation to support funding of key bike projects, including Safe Routes to School ($5 million+ over five years for Massachusetts) and critical bike path expansions. Worked with MBTA to secure 250 new bike racks on buses.

2004: Successfully lobbied the MBTA to dramatically increase hours bikes are allowed on the subway. Passed legislation requiring the RMV to update Drivers' Manual to include bike safety information. Completed national resource guide, funded by U.S. EPA, to facilitate rail-trail creation. Completed national police bike law training curriculum with federal grant from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Created 80 page guidebook on starting a local Bicycle Advisory Committee.

2001: Prevented passage of a dangerous bill to require bicyclists in Massachusetts to ride facing traffic.

2000: Convinced MBTA to eliminate requirement that bicyclists must have a pass to carry their bikes on the T, and secured the right to carry a folding bike on the T at all times.

1996: Passage of landmark Bicycle/Pedestrian Access Law, guaranteeing that bicyclists must be accommodated in all new roadway projects. In 2005, Massachusetts is still one of only four states nationwide to have this critical law.

1992: Opening of the Minuteman Path, now the second-most popular trail in the United States. MassBike worked tirelessly from its inception to advocate for the creation of the trail.

Late 1980s: Completion of Southwest Corridor Linear Park and Jamaicaway Bike Path. MassBike was heavily involved in lobbying for and ensuring these paths were built. MassBike successfully prodded Governor to appoint State Bicycle Advisory Committee.

1987: Pushed the MBTA to allow bikes on the commuter rail.

1985: Secured the right for bicyclists to take their bikes on the MBTA, which had previously been prohibited.

1978: Helped publish the first Boston Bike Map.


History

The Boston Area Bicycle Coalition, was founded in February 1977 by Anita Brewer, Cathy Buckley, and Jonathan Fine. The BABC, which became a statewide organization in 1993, helped publish the first Boston Bike Map in 1978, and began coordinating a series of Bike Weeks and Bike-to-Work Days, a tradition that continues into the present. In 1985, MassBike successfully encouraged the MBTA to lift the ban on bikes on the subway. MassBike has continued to advocate for Bikes on the T, expanding the program to commuter rail (1987), without a special pass (2000), and dramatically expanding the hours during which bikes are allowed on the subway (2004).

MassBike has promoted improved cycling skills since its beginning. MassBike member John S. Allen published The Complete Book of Bicycle Commuting in 1981. A shorter version of this work, Bicycle Street Smarts, has been continuously in print and has recently become the official Bicycle Drivers Manual of several states. John Allen also began offering cycling skills classes in the early 1980s, a program that has continued and expanded.

MassBike opened its first office in 1986, in Kendall Square, Cambridge. BABC members John S. Allen, David Gordon Wilson, and Ed Gross were appointed to the Massachusetts Bicycle Advisory Board, an official state advisory group that was dormant for most of the 1990s but has recently been revived and strengthened due to MassBike's efforts. In the late 1980s, thanks in large part to MassBike’s work, several important bike paths were completed, including the Southwest Corridor Linear Park and the Jamaicaway bike path (Boston Bike Paths). After twenty years of hard work and encouragement by MassBike and other cycling advocates, the Minuteman Bikeway from Cambridge to Bedford was opened in 1992 as the nation’s 500th rail trail. Today, it is the second most popular rail-trail in the United States.

For more information about our early history, see A History of the Boston-Area Bicycle Coalition, by Doug Mink.

In 1993, the Boston Area Bicycle Coalition went statewide, first becoming the Bicycle Coalition of Massachusetts (BCOM) and, in 1998, the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition—MassBike for short. In 1996, we secured passage of the Bike-Pedestrian Access Law, making Massachusetts one of only four with a statute that requires consideration of bicyclists and pedestrians in all major road construction projects. In 2004, we successfully promoted a bill to to require better information about bicycling in the Massachusetts Driver’s Manual, and won dramatically expanded access for bicyclists on the MBTA. MassBike members have been key in establishing and joining local bicycle committees. MassBike developed a guide to creating such committees. We also produced a curriculum to train police officers in the rules of the road as they apply to bicyclists, which was adopted by the Massachusetts Municipal Training Committee. Starting in mid-2005, new recruits and veteran officers in the Commonwealth will be trained in bicycle laws.