Tour de Worcester: Riders In Free E-Bike Program Take Inaugural Trip

WORCESTER, MA — As the group of about a dozen bicyclists rode west along Pleasant Street Friday evening at a gradual pace, two men on loud mopeds sped up from behind — a sign that they wanted to pass, and do it quickly.

It was one precarious moment during a pretty pleasant dusk ride around Worcester for a group of cyclists who are participating in a new local e-bike program funded by a $440,000 state grant. This spring, the nonprofit MassBike offered 100 free electric-assist bicycles to Worcester residents, and this month started distributing the Momentum Pakyak bikes to participants.

Friday's ride was the e-bike group's first meetup, and included a social ride around the downtown area and a trip to a Worcester Red Sox game.

The e-bike program is also helping build Worcester's future transportation network. Data from each e-bike recipient will be tracked over an 18-month period, allowing MassBike and the city to assess where in Worcester bike trips can replace more carbon intense forms of transportation, like cars.

The data may also help plan cycling upgrades along city streets. Worcester has a patchwork of bike lanes, but none are protected from traffic. There are also missing connections between lanes.

New bike lanes along Main Street, for example, begin near Marin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and end abruptly a few blocks south at Chandler Street, squeezing cyclists into speeding traffic and up against parked cars. And unlike cities like Boston and Somerville, Worcester doesn't offer a map of bike lanes or bike facilities online.

"The bike lanes that are available in Worcester are poorly signed, reducing their visibility and the likelihood that they will actually be used. The lack of bike lanes reduces the safety of biking, whereas having bike lanes allows bikes and vehicles to have their own designated lanes safely separated. Also, the lack of any more nuanced information, such as roads where it may be safe to bike despite the lack of bike lanes, further limits inexperienced riders’ ability to make informed route choices," a group of Worcester Polytechnic Institute researchers wrote in a 2017 report on Worcester's bike infrastructure.

The area of Pleasant Street where the moped riders approached the group on Friday has no bike lanes, and features parked cars, which presents the danger of getting "doored." The dozen cyclists — which included teens from the Worcester Earn-a-Bike program — had to take over a full lane to stay safe.

But none of the e-bike recipients at Friday night's ride reported problems using the bikes to travel far and wide, bike lanes or not.

Julie Holy, who lives off Plantation Street south of Belmont Street, uses her e-bike to shop at Target and the Shop Rite along Southbridge Street. She even recently used her bike to visit relatives in Marlborough.

Each e-bike comes with cargo racks that allow riders to use the bikes for shopping and other errands. More importantly, the batteries help riders travel with far less effort than traditional mechanical bikes — a big help tackling Worcester's many hills.

Obdulio Lopez emigrated to Boston about a year ago and started using a bike to travel. He moved recently to live with his son in Worcester, and heard about the free e-bike program on social media. He uses his e-bike to travel across the city from his home in Burncoat, mostly running errands like going to the doctor. He likes his e-bike a lot so far, but did say he would feel safer if there were more bike lanes in Worcester.

Friday's ride traveled from behind Worcester City Hall up Pleasant Street to Elm Park, briefly down busy Highland Street and around the Elm Park neighborhood before heading back downtown via a steep dive down Walnut Street. The ride ended at the Major Taylor monument behind the main library branch along Salem Street.

Worcester resident Alex Salcedo is managing the e-bike program for MassBike. She's also a participant in the program. Salcedo rode at the rear of the group on Friday night to make sure no one got left behind. She also got to experience a few hairy moments, from the tailgating moped riders to a woman in a big SUV who nearly made a right turn onto Highland Street and into the group. Salcedo said Worcester does need bike infrastructure upgrades, but has come a long way over the years.

Seven Hills Wheelmen Secretary Kim McCoy helped lead Friday's ride, and said he felt it was a success. With the notable exception of Belmont Street, McCoy said Worcester is a good city for a ride, especially compared to surrounding communities where he has lived.

At the Major Taylor monument, Salcedo was hopeful that the e-bike program is the start of something big in Worcester — people making connections that will help improve the city.

"This is an example of community," she said after riders posed for a photo with Major Taylor.