Transportation

Earlier this week, Nancy M. pointed me to a new Google mashup called The Right Ride, designed to allow users to document dangers spots for bikers by adding annotations to a map. Chris Briaotta created the site in response to the recent death of two Boston cyclists, and it gives fellow bikers a way to share important information gleaned from their everyday experience of navigating through Boston's often mean streets.

Two articles describe the site:

• Cyclist deaths cause concern: Hub cyclists promoting safety with bike route Wiki
  
• For safe city biking, a wiki this way comes

I find it interesting that both articles refer to the site as a "wiki" though it seems clear that the site is more accurately described as a map-based mashup, since information is not editable by everyone and revision are not tracked, etc. This fudging of terms may not matter to the averager reader, but I find it curious that the term "wiki" is used here to denote any effort at collaborative knowledge-making online,when in fact there are many web-based tools that allow for this without them being wikis.

The comments on the Boston NOW article led me to Governor Deval Patrick's website where citizens are able to post issues and invite others show their support by "voting," in this case on the issues of bike lanes: http://devalpatrick.com/issue/bikes. In good social media fashion, the site enabled me, to create my account and post my vote: "I'm a daily bike commuter with a fairly safe route, but I ofter bike to other parts of the city that are much less safe. Until space for biking is built into the fabric of the city, motorists will continue to treat us like second-class citizens who don't belong on the road. Bike lanes are simply the civilized thing to do. It's time for Boston to begin making changes."

While it's often difficult to sort through the overblown "Web 2.0" hype, these sites make it easier to excited about the democratic potential of participatory media to help strengthen local communities. As long as I don't allow my "vote" on the bike lane issue to substitute for other, more more substantive forms of political action, I can see how this and the Right Ride site play their part in helping us work toward change in the places that matter to us.

This morning I'm sitting in Sweet Finnish, one of my new coffeeshops here in JP, and I just watched a man pass by on the far sidewalk, riding on a Segway. While biking will always be my first love, I've had a little thing for Segways since I dreamed about them a while back , and I was struck by how beautiful it looked as it glided by, seeming to float it's passenger along, perching him at that odd, forward-leaning angle. I think what makes it attractive in this case is the appropriateness of the technology for this particular user, a man who without the Segway would depend on crutches to get around.

I couldn't help but watch him a few weeks ago when he came into Sweet Finnish to buy coffee. He rolled up to the counter and stood there eyeing the display of pastries, the Segway tilting and shifting to respond to his subtlest movements. A few minutes later he rolled to his table, coffee in hand, and leaned over to put his cup and bag down, while the Segway somehow adjusted to support his changing center of gravity. He struggled a bit as he stepped own, wrestling with his crutches and slowing shuffling his legs into position. Later, just as he was leaving, I was mesmerized as he stood by the door and removed his coffee from the holder, standing for several seconds on the Segway without holding onto the handlbars.

The Segway may not have been the transportation revolution it was touted to be when it first appeared, but it's still an astounding machine to watch when it provides ease of mobility to someone who might not otherwise have it.

This weekend I rented a Zipcar for the first time for Cathy's birthday and we took a little jaunt up to the Monadnack region of new Hampshire--just far enough to feel like we were getting away, but short enough that I would stay within the mileage and time constraints. We rented a Mini Cooper, a fun little car with a large sun roof, satellite radio, and plenty of zip. On the ride back I got to lay it open a bit on the interstate as we rushed to get it back on time, and I was impressed by how smooth it rode for such a small car.

We stopped at Mill State Park for a little hike, and were happy to be able to pose the Mini next to the Hummer parked in the the lot. The picture says it all, especially with the customized license plate.

More photos...