Federal transportation officials have never done much to center the needs of pedestrians in their policies or funding decisions. But in 2012, things took a turn for the worse.

A Hard Right Turn: The Moment the U.S. DOT Abandoned U.S. Walkers

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>

Christian MilNeil

A bar chart titled "ticketed civil violations of Mass. speed limit laws since 2013, source: MassDOT driver citation portal, drivercitationdata.dot.mass.gov. The chart x-axis goes from 2013 (left) to 2025 (right) and the y-axis from 0 to 120,000. The bars show a steady downward trend from 2013 (112,503) to 2020 (55,314), then rebound slightly and plateau around 65,000 in 2024 and 2025.

Policing

Mass. Law Enforcement Data Show Dramatic Decline In Speeding Tickets

A city street with a two-way bike path, separated from the rest of the street by concrete curb barriers to the left. In the middle distance someone is riding a bike on the path.

Street Design

Traffic Analysis Shows Newton Bikeway Project Reduced Car Traffic, Speeding, and Crashes

A crowd of approx. 60 people, some seated in four rows of chairs, and more standing against the walls, fills a room facing a podium where a white-haired woman is speaking in front of the Massachusetts state seal and two flags.

Traffic Enforcement Camera Bills Pick Up Speed on Beacon Hill

A camera inside a gray metal box mounted to a street light pole next to a "no standing" sign.

Legislation

Policy Riders In Governor’s Budget Proposal Would Legalize Speed Enforcement Cameras, End Debt-Based License Suspensions

A computer animation shows a flashing pedestrian symbol next to an aerial view of a city street where a large dump truck is about to turn onto a side street where a pedestrian is crossing the crowwalk. A note above the crosswalk reads "pedestrian detected." A green triangle surrounding the truck indicates areas where cameras are detecting bikes and pedestrians in the truck's blind spots.

Vision Zero

T Receives Additional Federal Funds to Eliminate Blind Spots On Buses

Jesse Coburn is a reporter at ProPublica after a stint as Streetsblog’s investigative reporter, where his reporting received a Polk Award, a Sigma Award, and awards from the Silurians Press Club and the Overseas Press Club Foundation. Previously he was a reporter at Newsday and an editor at ARCH+.

Jesse Coburn, ProPublica

Crashes

Trump’s U.S. DOT Is Rolling Back Safety Rules Meant to Protect the Public

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 chart titled Massachusetts Average Weekly Retail Gas Prices Per Gallon with dates from Jan. 18 to March 1 on the x axis and prices from 0 to $4 on the y axis. A blue line indicates weekly average prices, which hover just above $3 per gallon for much of the winter until the end of February. The right-most data point is at $3.47 per gallon. An annotation near the March 1 data point indicates the start of the US-Israel attacks on Iran.

Car culture

Trump’s Oil Crisis Is Already Costing Massachusetts Drivers Over $2.4 Million A Day In Higher Gas Prices

Daily headlines

Friday’s Headlines Change How We Keep Score

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

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.

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.

Housing

Guest Column: South Station Is Not An Adequate Emergency Shelter

Transit

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.

A Hard Right Turn: The Moment the U.S. DOT Abandoned U.S. Walkers

Stay in touch

More from Streetsblog Massachusetts

Trump’s Oil Crisis Is Already Costing Massachusetts Drivers Over $2.4 Million A Day In Higher Gas Prices

Friday’s Headlines Change How We Keep Score

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

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

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