Environment
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The T’s New Electric Fairmount Line Trains Could Run On Other Lines, Too
A a Tuesday morning press event in Mattapan, elected officials joined neighborhood transit and environmental justice advocates to celebrate the MBTA's decision to electrify and add significantly more transit service for the predominantly Black neighborhoods it runs through.
August 13, 2024
State House Democrats Flub Major Legislation As Formal Sessions End
Even as they worked into the early morning hours of Thursday morning in an attempt to cheat their July 31 deadline, lawmakers in the Massachusetts State House ultimately failed to agree on several major pieces of legislation in time, leaving numerous important bills unresolved and likely dead.
August 1, 2024
Eyes On the Street: Some Shade Flair for Day Square
This summer in East Boston, a new pop-up public space is covering up a sun-baked field of asphalt in Day Square, offering a small measure of relief for a neighborhood that is uniquely vulnerable to summer's increasingly miserable heat waves.
July 30, 2024
Feds Warn Congress That Americans Need to Drive Less to Survive Climate Change
"The U.S. will not be able to decarbonize the transportation sector without addressing increased demand," a recent DOT report wrote.
July 29, 2024
This Heat Wave is a Car Dependency Problem
Our quickly warming planet has a unique impact on people who don't or can't drive — and we need policy action to protect their health.
July 18, 2024
Too Hot to Move – Heat Wave Wilts Foot Traffic and Transit Riders
As the heat index pressed past the century mark in the greater Boston region Wednesday afternoon, pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders crowded into the shade of trees and struggled to keep cool.
July 17, 2024
MBTA, Cape Cod, and Vineyard Transit Authorities Win Federal Funding for Electric and Lower-Emission Buses
On Tuesday, the Federal Transit Administration announced it would give nearly $60 million to three Massachusetts public transit agencies to help finance new fleets of electric and hybrid-electric buses.
July 9, 2024
Medford Main Street Project Sparks Community Debate on Safety, Mobility, and Sustainability
MassDOT is redesigning a high-crash intersection in downtown Medford; however, their plans currently include preserving an outdated highway overpass whose ramps are the the site of many of the crashes in the area.
June 28, 2024
Declining Infrastructure Funding From Healey Admin. Puts T’s ‘State of Good Repair’ Further Out of Reach
In spite of inflation and growing maintenance backlogs, the T is facing a bleak future of dwindling infrastructure funding from the Healey administration.
June 12, 2024
Critics Say MassDOT’s New ‘Beyond Mobility’ Plan Is Missing Accountability
A new long-range plan for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) acknowledges that the agency has serious problems with safety, traffic congestion, limited access to public transit, and pollution from its roadways.
May 27, 2024