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Proposed "shared streets" and expanded curbside pedestrian areas, part of the city's COVID-19 mobility plan. Courtesy of the City of Somerville.

Check Out Somerville’s Citywide ‘COVID-19 Mobility Strategy’

By Christian MilNeil | May 24, 2020 | No Comments

The City of Somerville has announced a citywide mobility strategy to provide safer walking and biking routes with more room for physical distancing as “stay at home” orders ease this spring and summer. Roughly a quarter of Somerville’s households are car-free. The city’s COVID-19 mobility plan therefore focuses on creating safer routes between residential neighborhoods […]

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NACTO Issues New Playbook for ‘Physical Distancing’ on City Streets

By Kea Wilson | May 22, 2020 | No Comments

Pawtucket Boulevard and the Merrimack River waterfront in Lowell, just west of downtown. Courtesy of Google Maps.

Driver Kills Two Pedestrians In Lowell

By Christian MilNeil | May 21, 2020 | No Comments

A driver struck and killed two pedestrians on Lowell's riverfront on Thursday evening, according to reports from the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office.

A protected bike lane and 20 mph "safety zone" on Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge. Courtesy of the City of Cambridge.

MassDOT Begins Reexamining Deadly Speed Limit Policies

By Christian MilNeil | May 21, 2020 | No Comments

Ultimately, the new policies should make it easier to implement traffic calming measures, and provide a data-driven process to prioritize speed reduction efforts.

A meeting of the MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board in December 2017. Courtesy of MassDOT.

The MBTA’s Pandemic Woes Include a Looming Governance Vacuum

By Christian MilNeil | May 18, 2020 | No Comments

It’s looking increasingly likely that the MBTA’s governing board, which was established in state legislation in 2015 to guide the agency back to a state of good repair and sound management after a disastrous year of service interruptions, will dissolve at the end of June with no dedicated replacement.

Photo by Doug Kerr, licensed under Creative Commons BY-SA 2.0.

Guest Column: Mobility, Disability, and Diversity During the Pandemic

By Punita Arora | May 18, 2020 | No Comments

Everyone gains, regardless of ability or disability, when all can share access to a car, public transport, and other support services. These essentials, and the freedoms that make them possible, allow us to gather for a greater good.

A new Orange Line train at Assembly Station in summer 2019. Courtesy of the MBTA.

Pandemic Adds to Delays for New Orange and Red Line Cars

By Christian MilNeil | May 15, 2020 | No Comments

The new Orange and Red Line cars are a key element in the T's ambitions to reduce crowding on its two busiest subway lines.

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.

Guest Column: T Shows Strong Leadership In COVID-19 Responses

By Caitlin Allen-Connelly | May 14, 2020 | No Comments

In the United States, 2.8 million transit riders – one-third of transit commuters – are considered “essential workers” during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the situation continues to evolve daily, a comparison of multiple transit agencies suggests that the MBTA, which just last December was the subject of a serious safety report, has become a national […]

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.

Boston Plans Expanded Sidewalks, Expedited Bike Projects for Pandemic Recovery

By Christian MilNeil | May 12, 2020 | No Comments

City of Boston staff are proposing to expand pedestrian space into on-street parking areas, build pop-up bike lanes, expand waiting areas at busy bus stops, and close some residential streets to through traffic in a wide-ranging strategy to support car-free mobility in a new era of physical distancing. City officials discussed these strategies and several […]

Rush-hour bike traffic takes the lane on Boylston Street, a heavily-used bike route with no dedicated bike facilities, on the morning of Friday, May 3, 2019.

Portents of a Post-Pandemic Walking and Cycling Boom

By Christian MilNeil | May 12, 2020 | No Comments

As Governor Baker’s administration prepares its phased reopening plan, ongoing physical distancing requirements present a stark choice for the region’s political leaders: will people returning to work physically distance themselves in massive traffic jams, or will cities and towns give them they space they need to travel safely with widened sidewalks, protected bike routes, and […]

A rendering of the new three-lane "road diet" layout on Main Street in Reading. The new layout will be tested in a "pilot" project over the summer and fall of 2020, and evaluated according to its benefits in reducing rates of crashes and illegal speeding. Courtesy of MassDOT.

MassDOT Tries Out Traffic Calming on Reading’s Main Street

By Christian MilNeil | May 11, 2020 | No Comments

MassDOT is test-driving a narrower road layout – and new online public engagement tools – in a suburb north of Boston.

Massachusetts Avenue at Appleton Street in Arlington. Courtesy of Google Street View.

Driver Hits Two Bicyclists, Killing One, on Mass. Ave. in Arlington

By Christian MilNeil | May 7, 2020 | No Comments

The driver is facing charges – but they have nothing to do with his role in ending someone's life.

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