Walking is always good, and even a short, “mindful” walk can be calming by refocusing your thoughts on the simple act of taking one step followed by another.

What to Do Today: A Walking Meditation, and Distractions

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

Meghan Volcy

A crowd of people are seated at desks arranged in a semicircle facing a speaker in a red jacket standing at a dias in the front of a large, ornate room.

Elections and Politics

Healey’s ‘State of the Commonwealth’ Boasts About MBTA Turnaround, Promises to Fill Budget Shortfall

<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 bar chart showing three pairs of bars (with a red bar for "expenses" next to a stacked pair of bars of an equal combined hight, with a green bar for "revenues" and a black bar on top of the green for "budget gap". The x axis shows three budget years: FY2026, FY2027, and FY2028. The y axis runs from 0 to 4K and is labelled "Millions of dollars". The bars get progressively taller over the three years, but the red and black bars (expenses and deficits) grow more than the green bars (revenue). The left set of bars shows $3,103 million in expenses, $2,864 in revenues, and $239 in deficit. The right set of bars (FY2028) shows $3,640 in expenses, $2,802 in revenue, and $837 in deficit.

Another Year, Another Budget Gap: Gov. Healey Still Needs A Long-Term Solution for Funding the T

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

Front view of the Massachusetts State House with sunlight glinting off the gold dome at the top and a Massachusetts state flag at right.

‘Fair Share’ Millionaire Tax Continues to Exceed Expectations

A blue event slide titled “State Legislators Update,” with the Massachusetts State House in the background. The date, November 20, 2025, and time, 2:45 PM–4:30 PM, are on the right. At the bottom are photos of Senator Brendan P. Crighton, Representative James Arciero, and Carolyn Ryan, with their roles listed, along with the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce and State Street logos.

Legislation

Lawmakers Say Infrastructure Needs More Funding, and Congestion Pricing Should Be On the Table

A Black woman gestures while talking with a white woman seated next to her on a city bus.

Rep. Pressley Lobbies for Stronger Transit Funding, Fare-Free Programs In Next Federal Transportation Bill

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Streetsblog Network

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

Streetsblog Massachusetts

A triptych of "micromobility" vehicles. On the left a woman in a helmet straddles an e-scooter without pedals; in the center, a man in a jacket and a helmet rides a two-wheeled stand-up motorized scooter down a bike lane; on the right, a man rides a nonmotorized red pedal bike.

‘Micromobility’ Commission Recommends Improved Classification, Regulation of Motorbikes and Scooters

A diagram of alternative transit service during a closure of the Orange Line. The map shows a dashed black line between Forest Hills and Back Bay station, indicating closed subway stations served by a free on-street bus shuttle route.

MBTA

MBTA Begins 9-Day Orange Line Shutdown This Weekend

Daily headlines

Friday’s Headlines Take a Lot to Laugh, Take a Train to Cry

Four purple MBTA diesel locomotives parked next to each other on storage tracks in a large layover yard covered with ballast rocks. The Boston skyline is visible in the distance on the left edge of the photo.

Uncategorized

MBTA Teaming Up With Maryland  to Procure New Battery-Electric Locomotives

A crowd of passengers in winter coats waits to board a gray bus at a covered transit center under a white tiled ceiling.

Regional Transit Authorities

MBTA Restores Most Service, But Some South Coast Transit Authorities Remain Shut Down Wednesday

A view of a multi-track train station from an elevated perspective from a nearby building. A CSX freight train is approaching the platforms from the lower right. Several of the platforms at left are abandoned but there is a newer platform visible in the upper part of the rail yard. In the distance are multi-story masonry buildings of a small city.

Rail

Planned Springfield Station Expansion Anticipates More Amtrak Service in Western Mass.

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An extra-long articulated bus in the white, yellow, and black MBTA color scheme waits in traffic on a wide multi-lane street with a red light in the distance. An electronic sign in a side window of the bus says "28 MATTAPAN." A street sign on the left says "Rexford Street".

Paying With Their Time: Increasing Traffic Congestion Erodes Benefits of Boston’s Fare-Free Buses

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What to Do Today: A Walking Meditation, and Distractions

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More from Streetsblog Massachusetts

‘Micromobility’ Commission Recommends Improved Classification, Regulation of Motorbikes and Scooters

MBTA Begins 9-Day Orange Line Shutdown This Weekend

Friday’s Headlines Take a Lot to Laugh, Take a Train to Cry

MBTA Teaming Up With Maryland to Procure New Battery-Electric Locomotives

MBTA Restores Most Service, But Some South Coast Transit Authorities Remain Shut Down Wednesday

Planned Springfield Station Expansion Anticipates More Amtrak Service in Western Mass.