Baker’s Climate Plans Presume A Future With Lots of Driving
Governor Baker's climate plan focuses most of its attention on subsidizing electric car purchases, and generally dismisses the potential of reducing pollution with transit-oriented development or expanded transit services.
January 18, 2021
In Case You Missed It: Watch Our ‘Right of Way’ Book Discussion With Angie Schmitt
On Wednesday evening, about 50 Streetsblog readers got together virtually for a discussion of Angie Schmitt's new book, "Right of Way: Race, Class, and the Silent Epidemic of Pedestrian Deaths in America."
January 15, 2021
Higher Uber/Lyft Fees Could Boost Funding for Street Safety and Transit
Historically, municipalities have used their share of fees on Uber and Lyft to finance local transportation improvements, including quick-build safety projects and small transit services. Under new legislation awaiting Governor Baker's signature, that funding could increase significantly.
January 14, 2021
Data Confirm That More Fatal Crashes Happen in Commonwealth’s Black Neighborhoods
Of the 210 fatal car crashes in Massachusetts where a driver killed a bike rider or pedestrian between 2018 and 2020, a quarter of those killings occurred in neighborhoods where the Black population makes up a higher-than-average proportion of the neighborhood population, according to a Streetsblog analysis of MassDOT fatal crash records.
January 12, 2021
Senate Considering $10B for Highway Teardowns
The Restoring Neighborhoods and Strengthening Communities Program — known among advocates as the “Highways to Boulevards” initiative — would be available for projects located in regions with a high concentration of low income residents or residents of color.
January 11, 2021
Bond Bill Boosts Proposal to Reconfigure Boston’s Charles Circle
"It would be the largest expansion of Esplanade parkland in decades," says Rep. Jay Livingstone, the state representative for the neighborhood.
January 7, 2021
Driver Hits Pedestrian, Flees in Gruesome Charlestown Killing
At the purported crash site, where Chelsea Street meets Terminal Street, there is only one narrow sidewalk on the south side of Chelsea Street, and no crosswalks.
January 6, 2021
Final Bond Bill Sets 20-Cent ‘Transit Access Fee’ For Uber/Lyft Rides
In 2018, there were about 50 million Uber and Lyft rides that originated in Boston and Cambridge alone, which could have contributed around $10 million in new revenue for the T had this policy been in place then.
January 6, 2021
Highway Boondoggles 2020: Boston’s Big Choice
Will the commonwealth will invest in a bold, transformative plan that will help it meet its transportation and climate goals, or will it rebuild the auto-intensive infrastructure of generations ago?
January 4, 2021
2020 In Review: The Year’s Top 10 Stories
Thanks for reading StreetsblogMASS this year – we'll be back in 2021.
December 30, 2020
