Autonomous vehicles might not solve the already disproportionate pedestrian death toll faced by black communities.

Study: Self-Driving Cars Are Worse at Detecting Darker-Skinned Pedestrians

A smiling black woman with long braided hair wearing a black-and-yellow plaid patterned sweater

Meghan Volcy

This rendering of Back Bay is from inside the station facing the street. A glass wall shows the Back Bay Logan Express bus passing by. Inside, there is a staircase with blue tiling that leads down to the train platforms. Commuters are walking up the stairs, through the station, and sitting down.

Transit

Construction Is Underway On Back Bay Station Makeover

A map of MBTA communities, with dark blue indicating compliant municipalities, blue striped ones indicating those that are conditionally compliant, light blue indicating zoning plans that have been adopted and/or submitted for review, red indicating noncompliant municipalities, grey indicating adjacent small towns whose zoning plans that were due as of December 31st of 2025, and white indicating inapplicable areas.

Housing

MBTA Communities Act Holdouts Are Losing State Funding

Temporary fencing lines the sidewalk on the DCR-controlled approach to the Beades Bridge. Google Street View imagery suggests that the temporary fencing has been there for nearly 8 years. Photo by Tony Dutzik.

Highways

MassDOT Highway Administrator Discusses Challenges of Aging Highways and Rising Costs

A look at the Fitchburg Commuter Rail Line from the Sherman Street grade crossing in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The train tracks with a white utility truck and industrial buildings on the right and trees, shrubs, and a small parking lot on the left.

Accessibility

Trump’s Budget Cuts Won’t Stop Cambridge From Bridging Its Communities

<p>Got tips? Send them to me via Signal, the encrypted messaging app, at 207-310-0728. You can also follow me on <a href="https://better.boston/@cmilneil" rel="me">Mastodon.</a></p>


Christian MilNeil

A police officer stands next to a police car parked under a traffic light in a wide multi-lane intersection

Crashes

Ambulance Data Reveals That Boston Drivers Are 4 Times More Likely to Run Over Pedestrians From Black Neighborhoods

A group of people hold handmade signs at a public rally advocating for public transit funding. Signs read "FUND TRANSIT NOW!" "TRANSPORTATION FOR ALL!" and "Don’t leave us STRANDED! Save transit."

Equity

Black Transportation Justice: How Mobility Affects Housing, Health, and Freedom in a Modern World

lede_post_card_default

lede_post_card_stacked

lede_post_card_featured_post

lede_post_card_featured_post_3:2

lede_post_card_featured_post_1:1

lede_post_card_featured_posts_hero

lede_post_card_featured_posts_hero_3:2

lede_post_card_featured_posts_hero_1:1

lede_post_card_featured_posts_sidebar

lede_post_card_highlighted_post

lede_post_card_horizontal_a

lede_post_card_horizontal_c

lede_post_card_related_post

lede_post_card_square

lede_article_featured_16x9

lede_article_featured_16x9_full_width

lede_article_featured_3x2

lede_article_featured_3x2_full_width

lede_article_featured_1x1

lede_article_featured_1x1_full_width

lede_article_featured_flexible

lede_article_featured_flexible_full_width

lede_article_content

lede_article_content_wide_width

lede_article_content_full_width

lede_byline_avatar_post_card

lede_byline_avatar_highlight

lede_profile_coral_avatar

lede_logo

lede_logo_banner

lede_logo_footer_banner

lede_logo_simple_header

lede_sponsorship_logo

lede_sponsorship_logo_river_card

lede_sponsorship_homepage_card_logo

lede_sponsorship_homepage_card

lede_leaderboard

Header

Streetsblog Network

Connecting people to information about how to improve walking, biking, and transit

Streetsblog Massachusetts

A person rides their bike along a straight, flat, paved trail lined with trees to the left and a power line at right. The rider is approaching a small traffic circle junction with a street sign at left that reads "Speen St". In the middle of the junction is a stone column with the words "Natick Cochituate Rail Trail"

Trails

Natick’s Rail Trail Now Connects to Its Downtown MBTA Station

Daily headlines

Thursday’s Headlines Can’t Keep Up

<p>Brian Kane is Executive Director of the <a href="https://mbtaadvisoryboard.org/">MBTA Advisory Board</a>, a quasi-state body providing budget oversight of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority on behalf of 178 cities and towns in the Commonwealth. He is also the volunteer Chair of the Brookline, Massachusetts Transportation Board. Established in 1974, by statute this board manages parking, traffic, and multi-modal transportation in New England’s largest town by population. Previously, Kane worked in both operations and budget management at the MBTA.</p>


A middle-aged man in a suit stands in the operator cab of a light rail train.

Brian Kane

A crowded train hall filled with people, many of whom are carrying luggage. A large electronic sign hanging from the high ceiling displays upcoming train departures.

Guest Column: South Station Is Not An Adequate Emergency Shelter

Trump’s Funding Freeze Derails Transit, Undermining Growth and Economic Opportunity For All Americans: Report

A man in a grey shirt bikes down a bike lane between a sidewalk and a row of parked cars on a street lined with 4-5 story buildings and trees.

Street Design

City of Cambridge Reports Better Bike Lanes Led to Surge In Bike Traffic

‘Big Dig’ Producer Takes His Show On the Road With ‘Highway Teardown Tour’

Become a subscriber today to get unlimited access

Thanks for reading!

post

Three young black people standing in front of a row of parked bicycles. The woman in the center is wearing a blue t-shirt and glasses and holding a microphone in one hand and raising her other hand high.

Black Transportation Justice Boston Spotlight: Mattapan Food and Fitness

Register to continue