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Permalink Reply by Blatherskate on November 16, 2013 at 2:49pm

The fiance and I spent four days in Boston over the summer, in which we used Hubway and MBTA every day. Here's a few observations about traversing Boston as a ped and on a bike.

1. Hubway was a very pleasant experience overall. We cycled from Charlestown to Cambridge, to all around downtown and the waterfront, to Allston and back (we stayed in Copley Square). Not once did we get honked at, let alone did I see any cyclists (Hubway or not, even when riding like ding dongs) get hassled in any way.
2. Jaywalking in Boston is very common and cars actually stop! Crosswalk or not, didn't matter. Cars stopped and didn't say peep. In fact, the only honks I heard was "car on car" if I may.
3. The MBTA is the most non-user friendly public transits I've ever taken. I never thought I'd pine for the CTA untill using that pile of crud.

Enough blathering. As to the routes, we just used google and everything was fine.
Hope this was a little helpful...

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Permalink Reply by KayCee on November 17, 2013 at 11:54am

Thank you!  It was helpful.  I've taken MBTA in the past, but I had a "native" along with me, so it wasn't bad...  and that was before Google Maps really got on the ball (toggling between the transit, bike, and walk on my phone is pure bliss.)

Thank you for your observations!  I didn't know the crosswalk etiquette, and I see several stations still around my hotel so I'll give it a try.

*I was wrong- they don't 'rent' helmets, they sell subsidized helmets for $18 a piece.  There's a comprehensive list of places that sell these, including CVS, Walgreens, and kiosks.

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