Christian MilNeil

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An Amtrak train waits to depart from Springfield Union Station in January 2020. Photo by Trains in the Valley, licensed under Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0.

MassDOT Multiplies Ridership Forecasts, Narrows Alternatives for East-West Rail

By Christian MilNeil | Aug 5, 2020 | No Comments

The three remaining service options under study would upgrade and double-track an existing freight rail line between Worcester and Pittsfield to support between 7 and 9 round trips a day between Pittsfield and Boston, with travel times between Springfield and Boston reduced to under two hours.

Cargo bikes and trailers are parked on the sidewalk outside the Whole Foods Market on Houston Street in New York City in this 2019 file photograph. Courtesy of StreetsblogNYC.

Boston Tests the Waters for Cargo e-Bike Deliveries

By Christian MilNeil | Aug 3, 2020 | No Comments

Citing climate goals and a surge of curbside delivery traffic, the City of Boston has issued a “request for information” from potential vendors and delivery companies “to understand how e-cargo bikes could fit into Boston’s delivery landscape.” “Parcel delivery services must be reconstructed to support our goal of carbon neutrality, get goods to our residents […]

Courtesy of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.

New Climate Bill Commits to Reduced Tailpipe Emissions

By Christian MilNeil | Aug 3, 2020 | No Comments

The Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a significant new climate bill on Friday night that commits the state to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by “at least 50 percent below the 1990 level” within the next decade. The Senate passed a bill with similar goals at the end of January. The two chambers, which recently agreed […]

The Wayside Trail, part of the Massachusetts Central Rail Trail, passes an abandoned trail station at the Church Street underpass in Weston.

MassTrails Program Announces $4 Million in Grants for 55 Trail Projects

By Christian MilNeil | Jul 31, 2020 | No Comments

This year's MassTrails grants will distribute about $4 million to 55 trail projects across the state.

A historic photo of the Boston Parks and Recreation Department's Foster Street Playground in the North End, compared with its condition today, after being taken over by car owners. Both images courtesy of Peter Petrigno.

How Did the North End’s Car Owners Steal a Public Playground?

By Christian MilNeil | Jul 30, 2020 | No Comments

An overlooked parking lot in the North End is technically a public park.

Poll Finds Strong Support for ‘Big Changes’ in Commonwealth’s Transportation Systems

By Christian MilNeil | Jul 29, 2020 | No Comments

Two-thirds of respondents agreed that the state should "make big changes to the transportation system coming out of the COVID-19 crisis."

MBTA staff disinfect fare gates in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19 and other viruses in early March 2020. Courtesy of the MBTA.

Lawmakers Are Poised to Reform Fare Enforcement on the T

By Christian MilNeil | Jul 28, 2020 | No Comments

In addition authorizing debt spending for hundreds of infrastructure projects across the Commonwealth, the multi-billion dollar bond package that the Massachusetts Senate passed earlier this month would also make significant reforms to how the MBTA enforces fare payments on its trains, buses, and ferries. The Commonwealth’s current fare evasion law sets large penalties for people […]

A rendering illustrates the City of Boston's proposal to add a two-way protected bikeway on Massachusetts Avenue between Melnea Cass Boulevard and Columbia Road in Dorchester. Courtesy of the City of Boston.

Boston Proposes 2-Way Protected Bikeway for Mass. Ave. in Dorchester

By Christian MilNeil | Jul 27, 2020 | No Comments

In the city's proposal, the westernmost lane of Mass. Ave. would be converted into a protected bicycle path, separated from traffic with low concrete barriers.

Bluebikes docked at South Station in downtown Boston.

Bluebikes Expanding to Arlington, Chelsea, Newton, Revere, and Watertown This Summer

By Christian MilNeil | Jul 24, 2020 | No Comments

Bluebikes, the publicly-owned bikesharing system serving the greater Boston region, will expand to five new municipalities later this summer with 30 new stations in Arlington, Chelsea, Newton, Revere, and Watertown. The expansion has been in the works since last fall, and will be funded in part with grant funds from MassDOT. Although ridership on Bluebikes […]

Pedestrians take advantage of expanded walking areas on Beacon Street in Brookline in mid-April. Brookline officials have repurposed on-street parking areas to provide additional space for safe physical distancing in commercial districts and on key routes to area hospitals; City of Boston officials may soon follow suit. Photo courtesy of the Brookline Transportation Department.

MassDOT Announces $1 Million in Grants for Pandemic ‘Shared Streets and Spaces’

By Christian MilNeil | Jul 23, 2020 | No Comments

The first round of grant funding will create safer walking routes to schools in Chelsea, a new bus lane in Somerville, and new protected on-street pathways in Lowell.

A new protected bike lane, photographed here on the morning of Wednesday, July 22, has been installed using temporary materials on Charles Street in downtown Boston as part of the city's "Healthy Streets" initiative. Photo courtesy of StreetsblogMASS board member Matt Lawlor.

Protected Bike Lanes Pop Up Around Boston Common

By Christian MilNeil | Jul 22, 2020 | No Comments

The first protected bike lanes of Boston’s new “Healthy Streets” initiative have popped up on the wide multi-lane streets around Boston Common. Since Tuesday afternoon, Boston Transportation Department crews have deployed hundreds of orange construction barrels to delineate protected bikeways on Tremont, Boylston, Charles, and Beacon Streets around the Boston Common and Public Garden. Pop-up […]

The City of Boston will test a proposed road diet on Cummins Highway in Mattapan with temporary materials later this summer. Photo illustration courtesy of the City of Boston Public Works Department.

Boston to Fast-Track Cummins Highway Road Diet With Temporary Materials

By Christian MilNeil | Jul 20, 2020 | No Comments

In an effort to control reckless driving during the COVID-19 pandemic and road-test its road diet proposal, the City of Boston Public Works Department will use construction barriers to turn Cummins Highway in Mattapan into a two-lane street for the rest of this summer. As we reported in March, the Boston Public Works Department is […]

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