Boston City Councilors File Legislation to Improve Transportation Department Accountability

Responding to widespread frustration over Mayor Wu’s management of the Boston Public Works and Transportation Departments, the Boston City Council this week moved three pieces of legislation to improve accountability at the Boston Transportation Department and reaffirm the city’s commitment to eliminating fatalities and serious injuries in traffic-related incidents on the city’s streets.

Council President Liz Breadon (Allston/Brighton) and Councilor Enrique Pepén (Hyde Park/Mattapan) filed a proposed city ordinance that would require the city’s of Office of Budget Management to produce an annual report card on the administration’s progress, or lack thereof, in implementing transit improvement and street safety projects across the city.

Introducing the legislation to her colleagues, Council President Breadon said that she had been “incredibly frustrated at both the lack of transparency and accountability” associated with transportation projects, many of which have stalled and lost funding under Mayor Wu’s administration.

“What we’re asking is that the city publish, once a year, a comprehensive accounting of every significant streets project, what’s been delayed, and what projects have been cancelled and why. How much has been spent on each project, and where the funding is coming from. This should not be controversial,” said Breadon.

Breadon also revealed that, even as the City Council president, she can’t get her calls returned from the Boston Transportation Department’s current leadership.

“Over the past four months I’ve sent five separate emails to the streets cabinet, asking for the re-installation of bike lane buffers in our neighborhood,” said Breadon. “I have yet to receive a response. This status quo is unacceptable.”

“We all want to make our streets safer, and we all want updates, and our residents are asking us for updates,” said Councilor Pepén.

Councilor Ben Weber (Jamaica Plain/West Roxbury), who was added as one of the original co-sponsors for the ordinance during Wednesday’s meetings, also expressed frustration at the lack of progress for transportation projects in his district, including safety improvements in Egleston Square and on Hyde Park Avenue.

“Despite having the city already spending considerable time and energy working on them, they’ve been halted with no explanation,” said Weber.

The Council unanimously referred the proposed ordinance to the Committee on Government Operations, where it will receive a public hearing and a possible work session to refine its specific legal language. Councilors Ruthzee Louijeune, Miniard Culpepper, Sharon Durkan, John FitzGerald, Ed Flynn, Julia Mejia, Erin Murphy, and Brian Worrell all asked to be added as co-sponsors at Wednesday’s meeting.

The Council passed two related items at Wednesday’s meeting.

One was a resolution to reaffirm the city’s commitment to “Vision Zero,” the international campaign to eliminate fatal and severe traffic crashes.

In 2015, under Mayor Marty Walsh set a goal for Boston to reach Vision Zero by 2030. But with only four years remaining, the city has a daunting amount of work to do in order to meet that deadline.

Wednesday’s unanimous resolution affirmed the Council’s commitment to that goal, and added that the Council “urges in the strongest terms that the administration strengthen its approach to Vision Zero with ambitious and meaningful infrastructure projects.”

The Council also passed an order for a public hearing in the Committee on Planning, Development and Transportation to discuss the creation of an official citywide bike network plan.

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