MA/WA

By riding to Logan Airport on the far side of Boston, and then having two weeks of using a bike to move around the general Seattle area, I had a chance to compare the bicycle infrastructure of the largest cities in two states with active advocacy supporting transport by two wheels and two legs. Good thing my sister and mother didn't move to the Atlanta area. Georgia would've made an awkward blog post title.

There is no clear winner. In 2024, The League of American Bicyclists ranked Washington ahead of second place Massachusetts for "bicycle friendliness". In reality, while they ranked by state, I suspect that is more accurately a comparison of the big cities. That's were the most people live and the biggest projects happen, so urban areas will have the biggest impact on the numbers the league compared. Also, I once enjoyed a great week of riding around DC, which took the lowest spot in 51st, but maybe they were penalized for taxation without representation.

The first time I visited Seattle, I found a Bellevue Bicycle Map which covered most of the metropolis. I was in awe of the number of bike paths and lanes that exceeded anything I'd ever seen. Then, once I started exploring, I realized why. Any of the roads without specific bicycle infrastructure were, well, generally awful. I quickly learned to stick to the map's recommendations. As someone who likes, no, loves, to wander, I consider living by the map in order to stay alive a big negative. Score one for Massachusetts.

That's not to say Seattle doesn't have some wins. It definitely feels, a rather unscientific evaluation, like a bicycle friendly city. It wasn't until I ventured down to Renton in my last week that anyone honked at the fiberglass wand sticking sideways off my bike to demand space, and it was there that it was hit by a passing car the one time during my visit. Seattle also closes certain streets to motor vehicle thru traffic, so there are safer corridors with some stout signage supported by big lumps of concrete to further discourage cars.

Culture is key. Years, ok, decades, ago, I rode a bike in and around Nice in the south of France. There, even if a car came close, it never felt aggressive as my impression was that the bicycle is a well accepted part of French culture. I even learned to mimic other people on bikes and moved to the center when passing vehicles at a light ON THE LEFT! Seattle isn't there yet, but I took joy in seeing a bike centric summer camp for kids. Get them while they're young!

In the week before my trip, I attended one of the Mass DOT road safety strategy meetings in Springfield and learned a new term: Vision Zero. I don't know how old this idea is, but a group has conceived of eradicating fatalities from our roadways, which would be a huge drop from the 20,000 to 30,000 people that are currently killed every year in this country. That's a big deal, but I had to attend a midday weekday meeting to learn of it in Massachusetts. In Seattle, it's a little more out there, public.

All that said, I now call Massachusetts home, and I'm not inclined to change that and move to Washington, not even the less urban parts. One huge advantage the rural parts of New England have is they have experienced depopulation. This means people left farms for the cities, and they left lots and lots of now deserted road miles behind. I'll pick a narrow backroad with no cars over a busy one with a bike lane any day. Western Mass is great for those, and while there are less populated areas in Washington, they've always been that way, so any traffic is on the handful of roads that exist there. They aren't quiet.

That said, judging Seattle against where I live is like comparing apples to clementines. It's not a fair fight. What about Boston? I did ride a bike most of the way to Logan, only relenting to the T once I was downtown to avoid a long loop to the north to reach a bridge that was open to bicycles and pedestrians. I also avoided roads by following paths along the Charles River for as much of that as I could. Boston is busy, and I spent less time riding there than Seattle, but I did appreciate finding a number of the one-way streets had bike lanes that allowed for pedal traffic in both directions. I also spent less time riding in Boston because I elected to take commuter rail out to the country for my return trip, which is saying something.

So yeah, I'll call it a draw. I don't want to reside (I edited that from "live". I DO want to live!) in Boston or Seattle, but it seems both could be liveable with transportation by bike, especially once one learned where to go, and more critically, where to avoid. I'm guessing neither would compare favourably to Amsterdam, but really, me, I'm a country mouse.

A numbered state route about half way home 

from where I departed the commuter rail.