Open up your city, get a bike

What is the fastest way to get around the city of Boston? We have one of the best public transportation networks in the nation but cycling is still a faster way to get most places. To test this I used Google maps to measure the time it takes to get from Cleveland circle to anywhere in Boston, both by bike and by the T. Cleveland is a hub of 3 subway lines and several bus lines so it seemed  like a fair challenge. In the video above, color represents the time it takes to get somewhere.
The fastest places to go by T are not surprisingly along spindly corridors defined by rail tracks and bus routes. The flashing colors reflect the rhythm of bus and trolley schedules. In contrast, the time to bike is solid and steady. There is no arbitrary network of paths defining where you can go quickly - and no pressing constraints on when you must leave.

To read about how these maps and this video were made hop over to jonathan.lansey.net but in summary: many thanks to Stamen Design, colorbrewer, Google and Matlab.

Here is the high resolution biking map, feel free to share with

this link: http://bit.ly/biking_any_time

Here is a high resolution (T) map, feel free to share with

this link: http://bit.ly/T_Time_Boston

The Boston Green Line by ericodeg, creative commons