I recognize some of the Cambridge and Boston streets, since I walk a few miles here daily. These bike lanes are politically-loaded, for various reasons (e.g., car drivers disliking bicyclists, brick & mortar businesses losing parking), but there's also 3 additional problems in the last couple years:

1. For over a year, the rate of bicyclists and motorized bikes/scooters I see running red lights has escalated to the point where it is highly unusual that I see one not run a red. Yesterday, for example, a bike, at speed, aimed through a crowded crosswalk, not missing pedestrians by much. Also yesterday, while I was crossing in crosswalk after waiting for light, one of those heavy motorized bikes with the huge fat tires larger than some motorcyles plowed through long after the red.

2. Some (not the majority, unlike running reds) bikes and motorized treating busy sidewalks as special highways, which they use at speed. You can see this, for example, on Mass. Ave., especially between Harvard and Porter, when they can't always run reds on the street. (Incidentally, having Blue Bike rental stations on the sidewalk might encourage this among the riders of those, by desensitizing and confusing about riding on sidewalk.) I used to walk miles of Mass. Ave. almost daily, but last summer it got to the point that it was normal on a walk to get blown past by at least one bike or motorized bike/scooter on the sidewalk that was going fast enough to cripple or kill me if it hit me.

3. Some of the various kinds of protected bike lanes make it harder for pedestrians to see car traffic, to cross in a crosswalk. (Combine this with the prevalence of parked large SUVs now, blocking the view of both pedestians and moving vehicles further.) A few times a day, I can't even cross the street without leading with my left hand out, because I can't see the traffic, and reckless people on vehicles, are normal now. One of these days, I'm going to either narrowly miss a crippling/lethal crash because of that hand, or injure my left hand/arm first, because too many people are reckless and we have worse visibility than we used to.

As a walker who isn't a huge fan of cars, in a city that earned the term "Massholes" for how they drive, I can tell you that, in the last two years, IME, the car drivers behave much better than the overwhelming majority of people on bikes and motorizes bikes/scooters. There's still some red-running by cars, but it's nowhere near the standard-operating-procedure recklessness of the people who now think they can use the bike lanes, streets, and sidewalks as their personal Autobahn, and that pedestrians can always be dodged safely.

Politically, when walkers in a Masshole city start side with cars, and walkers suddenly feel a lot less solidarity with their bicyclist cousins, then you should suspect there's a big new problem.

It used to be that bicyclists rightly felt they had to look out for themselves, because they were in constant danger from the "I'm a car guy" mayor town drivers, and a lot of people sympathized with bicyclists. Now it looks like bicyclists (and the motorized bikes/scooters who've joined them) are the arrogant/smug, get-yours danger to others.

I speculate the cause is the combination of all the new "bike lane" infrastructure, and all the new motorized regulation-subverting vehicles seeking to take advantage of that infrastructure, followed by traditional bicyclists taking their behavior cues from the prevailing "bike" behavior.

A wave of new students arrives in town over the next 2-3 weeks, many of them with bikes and motorized bike/scooters, and they'll immediately adopt and reinforce the apparent de facto rules for how to operate their vehicle on the streets and sidewalks.

BTW, this LoudBicycle.com "Bike Bureau" seems to be an SEO thing by the makers of a 125 dB horn for bicyclists. If someone uses that horn in the company's own "walking friendly" dense town of Boston, I hope no one without hearing protection is hit by the blast. https://thedailyautomotive.com/how-loud-is-a-car-horn/

The reason some pedestrians feel cyclists pose a bigger threat than drivers, is mostly due to car centric infrastructure. Cars get all the room, and cyclists&pedestrians get clumped together. Of course you see little conflicts with cars when you're physically separated from them.

Additionally it's a form of servility and motonormativity. Most people accept that they themselves have to obey cars, so no jaywalking or other behavior, most people go out of their way to avoid conflicts with cars (due to the risk), which again makes the drivers seem less of a threat. But only because you yourself have removed yourself from the situation.

In total, the numbers don't support the impression. Literally no one dies from being hit by cyclists. Vs thousands upon thousands die from being hit by vehicles each year.

> bikes and motorized treating busy sidewalks as special highways, which they use at speed

I'm always amazed more people aren't hurt in these situations. I can usually jump out of the way into the street, but what are people who can't do that supposed to do, just accept their fate?

And it bizarrely happens in places where there are good bike lanes. If it was "it's the street dodging cars, or sidewalk where you dodge me" I'd "get" it, but I'll see it right next to a protected bike lane.

> Some of the various kinds of protected bike lanes make it harder for pedestrians to see car traffic, to cross in a crosswalk

Daylighting improves safety significantly, with or without a protected bike lane.

> I can tell you that, in the last two years, IME, the car drivers behave much better than the overwhelming majority of people on bikes and motorizes bikes/scooters

Stats would argue against that, as the overwhelming majority of pedestrian injuries and deaths in your city involve cars and drivers, not bicycles and cyclists. Boston sees multiple car vs ped deaths every year, whereas there was exactly one bike vs ped death, according to available data, in 2025.

> Politically, when walkers in a Masshole city start side with cars, and walkers suddenly feel a lot less solidarity with their bicyclist cousins, then you should suspect there's a big new problem

Yes, but it’s not the problem you think. Bike lanes and increased ridership simply amplify the dangers caused by car-centric infrastructure.

> It used to be that bicyclists rightly felt they had to look out for themselves, because they were in constant danger from the "I'm a car guy" mayor town drivers

This hasn’t changed at all.

lights are designed for cars, not traditional cyclists. it is literally more dangerous for me to wait at a red light surrounded by cars than it is for me to filter to the front of the red light and treat it like a stop sign, getting out ahead of traffic where i am visible and less likely to get hooked by an oblivious turning car.

rather than watching for instances where you think cyclists endanger pedestrians, try to look for instances where cars are endangering both. or if you don't believe that, just look at statistics: thousands of ped and cyclist deaths anually at the hands of drivers, basically zero deaths of peds at the hands of cyclists.

that said, agreed that many 20mph+ ebikes are out of control and needed to be regulated like motor scooters.