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Our Most-Read Stories of 2024

9:15 AM EST on December 26, 2024

Our annual roundup of the year's biggest stories on StreetsblogMASS doesn't include some of the biggest transportation news stories of the year – like the remarkable comeback that the MBTA made by repairing hundreds of slow zones, or how free and reduced fares spread across the state.

Those were big stories, but they were already being covered extensively among other news outlets.

Our most-read articles were stories where StreetsblogMASS got the scoop, or uncovered important details that other outlets may have missed.

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We were the first outlet to find public bid documents from the MBTA and Keolis, its commuter rail operating contractor, about a proposal to start running battery-powered electric trains on the Fairmount Line (our 5th most-read story this year).

We also broke the news about a serious problem in MassDOT's planned Interstate 90 project in Allston, where MBTA officials warned that "MBTA service would cease within weeks" if MassDOT proceeded with its current plans (that ended up being our 4th most-read story, and another evergreen StreetsblogMASS speciality – our updated in-depth explainer on the Allston I-90 project – ranked #2).

And while we weren't the first news outlet to cover the crash on Memorial Drive that killed John Corcoran (WCVB sent a photographer and did a perfunctory gloss of the cops' press release), we were the first news organization to confirm that the crash was a homicide, the first to find an eyewitness who confirmed that the driver had steered their vehicle off the highway to strike Corcoran head-on on the bike path, and the first to include important context about how the state parks agency had failed to act on previous warnings about the area.

Our report on that tragedy ended up being our most-read article of the year by far, and a follow-up on the criminal legal system's limp response to the killing – State Police Have Not Arrested John Corcoran’s Killer (Oct. 4) – just missed making this list; it was our 12th most-read story of the year.

If you value reporting like this, and want to support more of it in 2025, please consider making a contribution to support our nonprofit journalism.

Thanks for reading StreetsblogMASS this year – we're looking forward to covering more important news in 2025!

#1: The Killing of John Corcoran (Sept. 24)

A bicycle painted all white is chained to a fence with bouquets of flowers tied to its frame and a pot of chrysanthemums at its side. The bike's wheels are surrounded by dozens of votive candles.
A ghost bike memorial to John Corcoran, who was killed by an SUV driver on the bike path next to Memorial Drive in Cambridge in September. Photo courtesy of Peter Cheung.

#2: An Updated Guide to Boston's Allston/I-90 Megaproject (April 24)

A detail of the proposed new street grid from the MassDOT concept plan for the Allston/I-90 Multimodal Project. The map shows three new north-south connector streets between West Station (near the bottom of the map, next to I-90) and Cambridge Street (near the top of the map). Most of those streets feature four or more lanes for motor vehicle traffic.
A detail of the proposed new street grid between I-90 and Cambridge Street from the MassDOT concept plan for the Allston/I-90 Multimodal Project. Courtesy of MassDOT.

#3: MassDOT Approves New Route 9 Highway Interchange In Natick, at a Price That’s 40 Percent Over Budget (July 23)

A rendering of a complex cloverleaf intersection over a four-lane highway lined with parking lots and strip malls. The interchange features three bridges over the highway, two for motor vehicles and a smaller middle bridge for bikes and pedestrians, with intersections on either side.
A MassDOT rendering of its proposed "diverging diamond" interchange at the intersection of Route 9 and Main Street in Natick. Courtesy of MassDOT.

#4: MBTA, Amtrak Warn That MassDOT's Allston Highway Megaproject Could Inflict 'Significant' Impacts On Regional Rail (Oct. 10)

A rusted bridge covered with graffiti spans a river with a city skyline in the distance.
The Grand Junction railway bridge, which spans the Charles River near Boston University, is a crucial link in the MBTA's regional rail network, but MassDOT's highway building plans in Allston would put the bridge out of service for several years.

#5: Massachusetts Will Offer Rebates for E-Bike Purchases (April 12)

Editor's note: this program's launch date has been delayed yet again, to spring 2025. Learn more from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.

Deodhar's e-bike leans against the wall as he exits the storage shed.
Aseem Deodhar brings out the RadMission e-bike he purchased in 2022. Photo by Grecia White.

#6: Somerville’s ‘Grounding McGrath’ Plan Has A New Look, With Fewer Lanes (Feb. 14)

A wide highway with a fenced-in pedestrian overpass in the distance
The newly-paved McGrath Highway in Somerville includes a buffered curbside bike lane that narrowed the obsolete highway from 6 to 4 lanes. Photographed on Oct. 1, 2024.

#7: MBTA Plans Frequent-Running, Battery-Electric Trains on the Fairmount Line (March 16)

A woman wearing a grey blazer speaks at a podium bearing the seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Behind her, a crowd of people in business suits, many of whom are smiling, listen. Behind them all is a steel canopy over a commuter rail platform.
Governor Healey (at podium) speaks at the MBTA's Morton Street station in Mattapan on August 13, 2024, several months after StreetsblogMASS broke the news about plans to electrify the MBTA Fairmount Line.

#8: DCR Will Start Tearing Out Pavement for Memorial Drive Narrowing Project In 2025 (Dec. 13)

A crowd of people on bikes rides down an empty four-lane highway. On the left side of the roadway are large trees and multi-story brick buildings; on the right is the Charles River with the Boston skyline in the distance.
People on bikes ride down Memorial Drive near John F. Kennedy Street in July 2023. Courtesy of Car Free Boston.

#9: Boston Cop Crashes Cruiser Into Busy Freedom Trail Sidewalk (April 23)

A cellphone snapshot of a crash scene where a Boston Police cruiser is on a sidewalk, with the wreckage of a traffic light underneath it. In front of the cruiser, near the left edge of the photo, a white man in a police uniform talks on a cellphone. Several pedestrians are walking around the crash site by walking in the street in the foreground. Behind the crashed car is a iron fence surrounding a graveyard where numerous people in coats are walking.
A Boston cop talks on his phone next to a wrecked police cruiser in the aftermath of an April 20th crash on Tremont Street in downtown Boston. Photo by Sean MacDonald, used with the photographer's permission.

#10: Alewife Redevelopment Could Convert Obsolete Garage Into Thousands of New Transit-Oriented Homes (Aug. 19)

A drone's-eye view of the massive Alewife parking garage in Cambridge. The top level of the garage is roughly the size of 3.5 football fields, and is completely empty of any parked cars in the image.
A drone's-eye view of the Alewife parking garage in Cambridge. Each of the garage's five levels is roughly the size of 3.5 football fields. Courtesy of the MBTA.

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