Can Bicycling Be a Normal Mode of Travel in Concord? Here’s How.

Mass cycling – meaning lots of people riding for everyday transportation – is critical to public health, climate, safety, and livability goals. Hundreds of kids riding to the high school and middle school; hundreds of commuters riding to the train station; thousands more doing errands and going on recreational rides. Mass cycling can only be achieved by “low-stress connectivity” – meaning people have a bike route with little traffic stress from home to their destinations. We’ll describe what low-stress connectivity looks like and how it is measured, so that it can become a goal for a community like Concord. We’ll describe some innovative road designs for creating low-stress bike infrastructure without road widening, including flexpost-protected bike lanes, advisory lanes, and sidepaths.

About the Speaker:

Peter G. Furth is a researcher and professor of civil engineering at Northeastern University known for his work in transit planning, traffic signals, and bicycle infrastructure. He is a recipient of three “best paper” awards from the Transportation Research Board for research in public transportation planning and in traffic signal signal control, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Pedestrian and Bicycle Professionals for his development of the Level of Traffic Stress approach to bicycle network planning.

This program is offered in partnership with the Concord Chapter of Mothers Out Front, a volunteer-led organization dedicated to ensure a livable climate and better future for all children and Bike-to-School Concord.