Recent Streetsblog MASS posts about Rail Vision

The "Roxbury Love" mural on Warren Street near Dale Street.

Bus Lanes On Warren Street Could Save Riders Millions of Hours Every Year

By Christian MilNeil | Nov 18, 2019 | No Comments

Planners from the Boston Transportation Department’s transit team shared some early concepts to bring bus-priority lanes to Warren Street, a heavily-used bus route that carries over 20,000 bus riders every day, at a public meeting in Roxbury last Thursday evening. To set the stage for the discussion, project planner Lindiwe Rennert shared a presentation with […]

The Massachusetts State House in downtown Boston.

State House Leadership Issues Final Draft of Distracted Driving Bill

By Christian MilNeil | Nov 18, 2019 | No Comments

Leaders of a conference committee in the State House have finally submitted a final version of a distracted driving bill that passed by overwhelming margins in the House and Senate earlier this spring, and the bill could face a final vote this week. The bill declares that “no operator of a motor vehicle shall hold […]

Participants in the 2018 World Day of Remembrance march up Beacon Street towards the State House. Photo by Andy Robinson, courtesy of the LivableStreets Alliance.

Street Safety Advocates Hold ‘Day of Remembrance’ Vigil This Sunday

By Christian MilNeil | Nov 15, 2019 | No Comments

The state’s leading safe streets advocacy organizations are holding a vigil on the steps of the Massachusetts State House this Sunday to commemorate those who have been injured or killed by motor vehicles. The Massachusetts event is one of hundreds of vigils being held globally on the World Day of Remembrance on November 17, 2019. […]

State House Stalls On Transportation Funding

By Christian MilNeil | Nov 15, 2019 | No Comments

After saying earlier this year that the MBTA was “in crisis” and that his chamber would have a “long-term strategic investment plan” for the state’s transportation systems before the end of the year, House Speaker Robert DeLeo has announced that he and his fellow Democrats in the State House will delay that debate until 2020. […]

Boston City Council President Andrea J. Campbell

Council President Andrea Campbell Wants Boston To Accelerate 'Vision Zero'

By Christian MilNeil | Nov 14, 2019 | No Comments

Earlier this week, City Council President Andrea Campbell, who represents parts of Dorchester, Mattapan, Roslindale and Jamaica Plain, renewed her calls for accelerating street safety projects across the city after a person driving a car struck a 7-year-old boy on Groveland Street in the Lower Mills neighborhood. “I’m grateful he was not seriously injured, but […]

An Amtrak Vermonter train arrives at the John W. Olver Transit Center in Greenfield, MA. Courtesy of the Franklin Regional Council of Governments.

Amtrak Wants To Compete With Planes And Roads

By Aaron Short | Nov 12, 2019 | No Comments

Amtrak could become profitable as soon as next year as it beefs up short-distance service across the country as more Americans explore cost-efficient, less-polluting alternatives to driving and flying between cities. The railroad company carried a record 32.5 million customers in the fiscal year that ended in September, a 2.5-percent increase from the previous year, […]

Planners and members of the public discuss the intersection of Beacon and Arlington Streets, a popular but treacherous bike and walking route for people using the Fiedler Footbridge to the Charles River Esplanade, during a community walk on November 7, 2019. This intersection and others around the Common and Public Garden are being considered for upgraded crosswalks and bike routes in the city's Southwest Corridor Extension planning project.

Planners Soliciting Ideas For Safer Routes Through Downtown Boston

By Christian MilNeil | Nov 12, 2019 | No Comments

Planners from the City of Boston are hosting a series of walks this autumn to kick off planning for new “high-comfort” bike routes and crosswalk upgrades to encourage more people to walk and bike across downtown Boston. The city’s “Connect Downtown” project is studying numerous city streets around Boston Common and the Public Garden, from […]

A group of Lime e-bikes parked on a sidewalk. Courtesy of MAPC.

Bikesharing Data Reveal Latent Demand For Suburban Bike Infrastructure

By Christian MilNeil | Nov 8, 2019 | No Comments

Route data from shared LimeBikes suggest that users use suburban off-street paths extensively, but frequently strike out along connecting arterial streets that lack safe bike infrastructure.

A view of the Allston I-90 tollbooths and Beacon Yards in 2015. Photo by Nick Allen, licensed under Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0.

MassDOT Report Kicks Off Environmental Review For Allston Multimodal Project

By Christian MilNeil | Nov 7, 2019 | No Comments

MassDOT and the Federal Highway Administration have officially kicked of the two-year environmental review process for the Allston Multimodal Project – a reconfiguration of Interstate 90, Soldiers Field Road and the Framingham/Worcester railroad line along the Charles River waterfront in Allston – with the release of a “scoping report” that outlines how the project will […]

A sketch of the bus and bike lane improvements that the City of Somerville implemented on Broadway this summer. Courtesy of the City of Somerville.

Voters Living Near Somerville’s New Bus Lanes Overwhelmingly Back Their Proponent

By Christian MilNeil | Nov 6, 2019 | No Comments

Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone, who backed the rollout of an ambitious all-day, bidirectional bus lane on Broadway in Somerville during an election year, won a commanding majority of votes in the three wards immediately adjacent to the bus lane project, according to preliminary election results. The results suggest that the opponents of the city’s “Winter […]