David's Biking PLatform
Safety
I agree with Bike Newton that Newton needs to be doing a much better job in making our city safe and friendly for bikers - compared to other cities and towns in Greater Boston, we are behind. The desire to walk and bike places is the very reason why so many people, including my family, choose to live in Newton! I am a life long biker - I grew up biking to school in Newton and biked to work as a graduate student at MIT and working professional in Greater Boston.
PROTECTION
The vision for making biking safe and friendlier in Newton should include protected bike lanes across the city for commuters/travelers as well as protected routes within the city for people to get to and from key locations such as village centers and schools. Any upgrade/repaving of streets should integrate updates for making Newton more bike friendly.
NEAR-TERM PLAN
We need to move immediately (i.e. in 2023) to pilot additional protected routes through quick builds (similar to what Boston did) to prove:
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There is demand from bikers for their use
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Having protected lanes is better for both bikers and drivers
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Bike routes lead to increased commercial activity and help support small businesses.
Once validated, the city should invest resources in turning quick builds into permanent protected lanes.
Why me?
The city has not made sufficient investments in safe biking over recent years for a variety of political reasons - an independent and outspoken voice is needed to ensure that safe and friendly bike routes are invested in as a high priority. Given my approach to running an independent campaign and my commitment to making it safe and friendly to bike in Newton, I think I am uniquely positioned to be that independent voice.
