By Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

The telltale signs that spring is upon us are all around: longer days, daffodils, leaf buds forming on the trees. Yet in Somerville we have additional signs of spring: our streets fill up with bicycles and our sidewalks fill up with pedestrians. We have built a city where you can get around without a car and that is exactly what people do when the weather gets warmer. Yet that also means we’ve got vehicles, bikes and people on foot trying to get where they’re going in a congested space. People’s attention slips and tempers flare. What we want is everyone to arrive at their destination safely and my challenge to everyone (including myself) is to put courtesy first while we’re doing it.

We have 52,500 registered vehicles in Somerville, and those vehicles are not here for show. People need them to get around. Increasingly, the same thing is true of bicycles. We even had a lot of bikes out on the road throughout the mild winter we just experienced. Yet we get legions of cyclists when the warmer weather hits. Just one example, we see more than 500 bikes per hour along Beacon Street during peak commute times. According to the League of American Bicyclists, Somerville ranks as the top city in the northeast (4th in the nation) for its percentage of bike commuters – 7.8%. That means thousands of Somervillians ride their bikes to work.

We have an even higher number of on-foot commuters: 12.2%. For that we rank #6 in the nation among cities with a population of less than 100,000. And to get where they’re going, those thousands of walking commuters need to cross the streets where all those cars and bikes are travelling. We really are in this together. That’s where courtesy, and common sense, comes into play.

Nobody wants to hurt anyone out there, or get hurt. Simplest way to keep everyone safe is to follow the rules of the road. Red lights mean stop, even for bikes. Cross the road at designated crosswalks. Don’t drive or park in a bike lane. As much as anything else, the rules of the road are designed to create predictability. The less chaos you have to deal with, the safer you will be. For the City’s part, the Somerville Police will be out as always enforcing the rules—for everyone (cyclists get ticketed too). But we’d rather not have to stop or ticket you. So let’s break it down for each group.

Since we started taking bike counts in 2010, we’ve seen an 80% increase in the number of bikes on our streets. To accommodate that, we now have more than 40 miles of streets marked for bike traffic and off-street paths. We also have the Hubway bikeshare program. That means in addition to riding alongside vehicle traffic, cyclists now have additional bike traffic to be alert to. We have too many bikes on the road for you to be freelancing out there. Ride on the right. Obey traffic signals and signs. Stay off the sidewalks in city squares. Use lights and reflectors at night. Cars can’t avoid you if you’re coming at them from all directions—and if they can’t see you.

Another key thing to remember is that just as cars can be scary and dangerous to cyclists, bikes can be scary and dangerous to pedestrians. Our elderly residents don’t need to be dodging bikes, and cyclists need to be vigilant around young children, who can be unpredictable. When you’re on a bike you need to yield to pedestrians same as you would if you were driving a car.

Pedestrians need to remember that just because cars and bikes are supposed to yield to them, that caution is warranted. You need to check the street for oncoming cars and bikes before you step into it. Don’t assume they see you, especially at dusk or in foul weather, and know that cyclists can’t stop on a dime if they’re right on top of you. Jaywalkers in particular are hard for them to react to in time. Some joggers like to use the bike lanes, running opposite the flow of traffic. That creates an unsafe situation for cyclists, who have to veer into car traffic lane to get around you. Run on the sidewalks as much as possible.

As for cars, there’s an added responsibility that comes with operating the biggest, fastest vehicles on the road. When cars hit other cars or bicyclists or pedestrians, the consequences can be fatal. Yet mobile devices and passengers can easily distract us from the road. Please commit to stay focused and obey the no-texting-while-driving law.

Drivers should also be aware that at some of our major intersections, we’ve instituted something called bike boxes. It’s safer for bikes to get to the front of the line at a stoplight so that all the cars can see them. So motor vehicles need to stop behind the bike box to allow bikes that space. On the bright side, if we had thousands more cars on our roads rather than bikes, it would create massive gridlock. So try to remember, those people on bikes actually do speed up your commute, even if one of them is working your last nerve at a given moment.

So please remember, cars, bikes and pedestrians are in this together. Our citywide policy goal is, by 2030, for 50% of all new trips in Somerville to involve biking, walking or public transit. We’re well on our way to it, but it means we all have to adjust to that new normal. Respect and courtesy will get us all a lot farther than road rage. Keep yourself and everyone else safe out there.