Cambridge Squares Holiday Shopping Ride
On the solstice (12/20), Cambridge Bicycle Safety co-hosted a Cambridge Squares Holiday Shopping Ride with our friends at Boston Café Bikers, a fun, social ride designed to help people do last-minute holiday shopping locally, while enjoying Cambridge’s bike network together. Stay tuned for more cafe rides to support local businesses.
People are biking to Cambridge businesses
There’s also some very good news to share about biking and local shopping across Cambridge.
The latest Biking in Cambridge Report (p 15) shows a clear and consistent trend: more people are biking to shop and dine in every major business district in Cambridge.
East Cambridge has benefitted from many new bike connections over the past decade, and it shows:
- 57% of customers walk
- 36% arrive by transit
- 32% arrive by bike
- 21% usually drive
That means more people bike to shop or dine in East Cambridge than drive (p. 11). Even more striking, the share of customers arriving by bike has nearly tripled, from 2013 to 2023.
These findings come from professional surveys of actual customers entering businesses and have been consistent across districts and over time. Safe, comfortable streets help bring more customers to Cambridge’s business districts.
Help us keep this progress going!
As we wrap up the year, we’re proud of the progress Cambridge has made, and are committed to continuing the work needed to support safe conditions for people walking and biking.
In addition to our advocacy for safer infrastructure, over the last few years, we’ve given out thousands of bike lights and other safety gear. Please consider making a year-end tax deductible contribution to support our safety work using our secure portal.
Happy Holidays!