Commuting - Commuting in Boston - July 26-29

Hello all,

Well, we've all probably heard about the Democratic National Convention being held at Boston's Fleetcenter. Fourty miles of highway leading to and away from the convention will be closed for I guess eight hours or so during the daytime and probably many surface streets and parking garages will be closed also. Security will be tight, of course.

It might be a little early to post this, but I think it would be neat to hear about commuting tales, trip planning, etc., from Boston area cyclists during this time.

I'll bet it's going to be a real mess there. I'll be in the Boston area on my way to Portland, Maine for vacation, but not until the week after (yea!).

Well, for starters... bicycles are being banned on MTBA trains during the convention. Feel free to look at the Boston Globe's July 1 article entitled "Ban sticks in their spokes (http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2004/07/01/ban_sticks_in_their_spokes/)." Interesting at the least.

I'm in Rhode Island... I don't plan on going anywhere near Boston this week. :)

-Chris

I live in Boston. It seems to me the best way to get around will be on a bike. Just don't carry anything bigger than a briefcase or you could get stopped and searched. I guess we have no rights to privacy when it comes to security.

If I lived in Boston, I would take a week of vacation and ride away from the city.

I live in New Hampshire and will take a day off to go to the Boston DNC Zoo. I will bike to Bedford to the Minute Man Trail to Harvard and the Charles River Trail to the Esplanade to Charles Street.
I am thinking it will be a freak show.

I loaned my son my shop chain tool so he could replace the chain on his beater bike to get it ready for a long commute. He lives in Malden and works in Quincy, the DNC is on the straight line between the two. He is 2 blocks from a t-stop, but since they are shutting down the commuter rail line at that subway stop, the station will probably be overloaded. The only hope he has is that so many people will have been scared off by the forecasted traffic nightmares that it will turn out better than anticipated. At least it is better than the situation of a friend's wife, who can't get all of her planned radiation treatments next week because MGH is functioning on an emergency only basis. My friend regards his wife's cancer treatments as an emergency. Worse, no one has said if MedEvac helicopters will be allowed to land at MGH, one of the major trauma centers of the area. Difficult commutes are one thing, putting lives in jeopardy is something else.

I'm playing it by ear. I normally bike over to the commuter rail, then bike from Porter to work (I keep a beater at Porter.) My only worry is that the train will be crowded. We'll see in an hour or so.

If that is too much of a hassle, I'll just bike the whole way in.

I'm wondering if the commute won't be very, very light since so many people have fled the city for the week.

At least it is better than the situation of a friend's wife, who can't get all of her planned radiation treatments next week because MGH is functioning on an emergency only basis. My friend regards his wife's cancer treatments as an emergency. Worse, no one has said if MedEvac helicopters will be allowed to land at MGH, one of the major trauma centers of the area. Difficult commutes are one thing, putting lives in jeopardy is something else.

This is simply ridiculous. They should contact the local papers. Or, you should send a letter to M. Moore so he does a movie about this too. Seems it takes documentaries to have people react these days.

This is simply ridiculous. They should contact the local papers. Or, you should send a letter to M. Moore so he does a movie about this too. Seems it takes documentaries to have people react these days.

If only this was the RNC, I'm sure Moore would be happy to do it. Perhaps he could mention this problem when he speaks this week as a guest of the Black Caucus at the convention? :D