“We firmly believe if you provide a really safe, healthy environment, people will bike,” Ms. Freedman said. The city is also establishing educational programs on bike riding and bike safety.

Image Nicole Freedman, the citys "bike czar," said, "The grand plan is to change the culture, which is an incredible task." Credit... Jodi Hilton for The New York Times

City and state officials are also backing up their efforts to turn Boston into a bike-friendly city with a crackdown on bad behavior against cyclists. The legislature recently passed a law holding drivers liable if they open a car door in the path of an approaching cyclist and injure a cyclist, or if they open a door unsafely. And the City Council is considering a fine for motorists who park in bike lanes. There are few legal penalties  at least so far  for cyclists who ride recklessly and do not obey traffic signals. But Ms. Freedman said city officials hoped more bike lanes would lead to more riders’ and drivers’ following the rules.

“Bike lanes will give cyclists a legitimate place to be, and behavior will improve,” she said.

On a recent Tuesday morning, Ms. Freedman rode in a newly installed bike lane from Kenmore Square part of the way up Commonwealth Avenue, through the Boston University campus. The ride was smooth and problem-free until the intersection of Commonwealth Avenue and Carlton Street, a notorious choke point for drivers looking to get onto Storrow Drive or the Boston University Bridge, which leads to Cambridge.

The traffic was thick. The bike riders were stopping and starting. Many just got out of the bike lane and rode on the sidewalk. A sign is needed, Ms. Freedman said, to get cyclists to loop around a side street to avoid the traffic.

“Do we have problems? Yes,” Mr. Menino said. “We’re an older city. Most of our roads were cow paths.”

David Watson, executive director of MassBike, an advocacy organization, said change in Boston, particularly in the number of miles of bike lanes put in each year, is slow compared with improvements in other cities. “I think on balance we’re moving in a positive direction,” Mr. Watson said. “During my commute in peak travel times, I’m running into bike traffic jams that are stacking up six to eight deep at lights, and that’s something three years ago I was never seeing.”