As cities have become increasingly motivated to be more sustainable, transport cycling has become integral in these plans. Boston is one such city enthusiastic about bicycle transportation. I take a socio-discursive approach to an investigation of transport cycling integration in Boston, MA. First, I explore the historical processes leading to the appearance of bike lanes on U.S. city streets. Next, I investigate how bike lanes are entwined in cycling safety—both in the discursive and embodied dimensions. What begins as a concern of the physical body leads to ideals of legitimacy and inclusivity, of which the bike lane has become a key symbol and act of these imaginings. Third, I tease out how this logic of cycling safety qua inclusivity becomes one that employs a rightsbased notion of social justice in which legitimacy, and ultimately safety, is garnered through becoming intelligible, or visible, as cycling subjects. Finally, I depart from a liberal democratic notion of social justice and make a case for understanding how bike lanes work through the lens of what Foucault terms “security.” I explore how we can view bikeways discourse as a technology of power that can be mobilized to transform social interaction in the city.

This thesis examines the spatial variation in bicycle commuting across New Orleans. It identifies where in the city bicycle commuting is most and least prevalent. It also explores factors that are promoting and discouraging utilitarian bicycling. A review of existing literature on variables found to influence transportation bicycling is conducted, and a survey is disseminated to residents across the city to determine some of the motivations for and obstacles to transportation bicycling locally. Additionally, case studies are compiled pertaining to two neighborhoods falling on opposite ends of the bike-commute spectrum. These include analysis of socio-economic and demographic data; an evaluation of the built environment using maps and field observation; and interviews to assess residents’ attitudes about and experiences with transportation bicycling. In the end, this thesis should be helpful in pinpointing variables influencing bicycle commute rates and in determining the types of policies and investments that may be most effective in encouraging more bicycling in New Orleans and across the country.