StreetsblogMASS

@mass

Connecting people to information about how to improve walking, biking, and transit across the Commonwealth

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StreetsblogMASS@mass· 9d

Fed Up With Blocked Bike Lanes? ‘Bike Bureau’ Wants to Let City Hall Know It mass.streetsblog.org/2026/08/12/f...

StreetsblogMASS@mass· 28d

Not even the @boston.gov City Council President can get her calls returned from Mayor Wu's streets cabinet. I guess it's nice to know it's not just us? Story here: mass.streetsblog.org/2026/07/24/b...

Text from a Streetsblog article:

Breadon also revealed that, even as the City Council president, she can’t get her calls returned from the Boston Transportation Department’s current leadership.

“Over the past four months I’ve sent five separate emails to the streets cabinet, asking for the re-installation of bike lane buffers in our neighborhood,” said Breadon. “I have yet to receive a response. This status quo is unacceptable.”

StreetsblogMASS@mass· Jul 21

@ridebluebikes.bsky.social availability is very thin around the closed @mbta.com Red Line stations this morning

A map of Bluebikes stations around Davis and Porter Squares showing several stations with no bikes available, and others with only one bike available

StreetsblogMASS@mass· Jul 16

Several hundred mourners are already here for the vigil in honor of Louisa Gag, and City Hall Plaza is still filling with new arrivals

A large crowd of people many of whom are wearing yellow in front of Boston City Hall

StreetsblogMASS@mass· Jun 23

This chart of transit agency ridership in Mass. clearly illustrates the effects of fare-free policies. You can tell which year an agency adopted fare-free operations by looking for the sharp increase in ridership:

A line chart showing "MA transit agency ridership as a percentage of pre-pandemic average annual ridership". The x axis shows years from 2019 to 2025. The y axis shows percentages from 0% to 150%. Six colored lines generally follow a S-shaped curve across the chart. All the lines start at 100% in 2019, then decline to 50 to 75 percent in 2020. After that, the lines for the MBTA (not fare free), Cape Cod RTA (fare-free since June 2025), Pioneer Valley RTA (fare-free since Nov. 2024), and Lowell RTA (fare-free since Dec. 2024) climb slowly and steadily, reaching 75 percent to 100 percent of their 2019 levels in 2025. Two other lines – for the Brockton RTA (fare-free since December 2023) and Southeastern RTA in Fall River/New Bedford (fare-free since Jan. 2024) rise slowly until 2023, then spike upwards in 2024, reaching around 150% in 2025. The MeVa (Lawrence/Haverhill) line spikes up in 2023 and again in 2024 before plateauing around 150% in 2025. MeVa went fare-free in March 2022. The tallest line, for the Worcester RTA, which has been fare-free since 2020, hits 125% in 2022 and plateaus above 150% in 2024 and 2025.

StreetsblogMASS@mass· Jun 11

Editor's note: this replaces an earlier, now deleted post that erroneously referred to "Shannon" Durkan (screenshotted below). Apologies for the error, especially to Councilor Durkan

Screenshot of a deleted post with a typo: "City councilor Shannon Durkan warns that the amended budget will 'undoubedly result in layoffs'"

StreetsblogMASS@mass· May 20

It's in the article

Screenshot of the linked article reading "Dallas is also planning to pedestrianize several downtown streets next to to its fan festival zone and its World Cup broadcasting center, even though its World Cup games will be 17 miles away at a suburban football stadium."

StreetsblogMASS@mass· May 6

Key detail from Monday's @streets.boston.gov budget hearing: officials hyped up more paving projects, but also revealed that there will be a huge decline in sidewalk repairs this year. The city fixed 14 mi. of sidewalk in 2024; this year, they tell us to expect 1-2 miles.

Screen shot of an article: Heading: "More asphalt, fewer sidewalk repairs"

"In a slide deck presentation at the beginning of the budget hearing, city staff revealed that they aim to re-pave about 45 miles of streets and re-build 75,000 square feet of city sidewalks this year.

"That latter number sounds impressive, but in fact, it would cover only about 1.4 miles (7,500 feet) of a single 10-foot-wide sidewalk, in a city with over 800 miles of streets.

"In the Streets Cabinet’s 2025 budget presentation, Gove’s predecessor, former Chief of Streets Jascha Franklin-Hodge, reported that the city had repaired more than 14 miles’ worth of sidewalks in 2024."

StreetsblogMASS@mass· Mar 25

Hell of a time for a big city mayor to cancel a shovel-ready, federally-funded transit project:

Chart titled "Massachusetts weekly average retail gas prices per gallon" with the y axis spanning $0 to $4 and the x axis spanning from early January to March 25. A blue line charts prices, which are steady around $2.99 to $3.02 until March, then then line rises steadily to $3.07 on March 1, $3.47 on March 8, $3.65 on March 15, and $3.84 on March 22.

StreetsblogMASS@mass· Mar 20

We're working on a story about the intersection of Park Drive and Boylston Street in the Fenway area, where a truck driver killed Brookline librarian Paula Sharaga in 2019. If you regularly walk or bike through that intersection, please send us a DM or email christian[at]streetsblog.org.

Pedestrians and an older person riding a bike crowd a sidewalk alongside an MBTA bus next to a white-painted "ghost bike" leaning against a traffic light post.

StreetsblogMASS@mass· Mar 6

Other FTA Capital Investment Grants announcements buried in last month's spending bill 🧵 $100M each for @bart.gov Silicon Valley Ph. II and @caltrain.com extension to Salesforce TC; $307M for @mta.info 2nd Ave. Subway Ph. 2 to Harlem; $700M for NY/NJ Hudson Tunnel

StreetsblogMASS@mass· Dec 15

Situational awareness for @mbta.com riders: Cubic, the company setting up the T's new fare payment system, is also a military contractor with a "strategic partnership" with a Trump-aligned AI company that uses data to facilitate ICE raids. Details here: mass.streetsblog.org/2025/12/15/w...

A text snippet reading:

"Massachusetts law (Chapter 161A, section 5(s)) also requires the T to keep personal data confidential.

But those laws are only as good as the governments who enforce them. And this feels like an appropriate place to report the fact that Cubic, the vendor that's setting up this new fare system for the T, is also a major military contractor that sells technology and equipment to militaries in the U.S., Australia, Canada, and Israel.

Cubic also just announced this month a "strategic partnership" with Palantir, the Trump-aligned AI company that provides extensive data services to facilitate Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids.

The MBTA insists that our data is safe. "In addition to technical safeguards, the..."

StreetsblogMASS@mass· Nov 21

For an indication of how choreographed @massdot.bsky.social and @mbta.com board meetings are, here's Phil Eng, running his first meeting as MassDOT Secretary, while a staffer off-camera tells him to read from "page four of your script, Secretary."

StreetsblogMASS@mass· Nov 19

Paying With Their Time: Increasing Traffic Congestion Erodes Benefits of Boston’s Fare-Free @mbta.com Buses - mass.streetsblog.org/2025/11/19/p...

A map of Boston showing the proportion of Black residents by census tract in shades of green; Roxbury and Mattapan in the southern part of the city have the darkest shadings. Overlaid on top is a map of the "pokiest" 10 slowest bus routes in the MBTA in 2024, most of which converge in the center of the map around Ruggles and Nubian Square in Roxbury.

StreetsblogMASS@mass· Nov 2

We’re out at the JP #openstreets event all day today, come say hi on Centre St. at the corner of Chestnut Ave. in Jackson Square!

StreetsblogMASS@mass· Oct 10

MA #climate law requires "all state agencies" to plan for "net zero" emissions by 2050. But MassDOT's environmental filings for the Cape Cod bridges indicate that it will miss that target by a dangerous margin. Read our report here: mass.streetsblog.org/2025/10/09/c...

A bar chart headlined "not net zero" with a subheadline reading "Existing and forecasted climate-heating pollutants from all highways and local roads within 5 miles of the Cape Cod Canal. Source: Cape Cod Bridges Program Environmental Impact Report, Appendix 4.14". The bar chart shows two boxes representing greenhouse gas emissions in 2019 (left) and in 2050 (right). The right bar is slightly smaller, representing a 17 percent decrease. The y axis runs from 0 to 600,000 tons. The height of the left bar is 489,186 tons and the height of the right bar is 405,729 tons. A red dotted line from the left bar to the bottom of the right bar indicates the path to "net zero" emissions as required by law.

StreetsblogMASS@mass· Sep 29

Editor's note: this is a revised version of an earlier post that incorrectly stated that Hoboken was in NY (screenshot below). We've deleted that erroneous post per our corrections policy.

Screenshot of a deleted post that incorrectly reads "Hoboken NY will this week start using cameras to ticket drivers who block bike lanes, bus lanes, and loading zones in its downtown." Hoboken is in fact in New Jersey

StreetsblogMASS@mass· Sep 10

Early results indicate that @mayorwu.boston.gov is on track to beat challenger Josh Kraft, who made his opposition to bus and bike lanes a major theme of his campaign, by a huge margin in today's preliminary election. #mapoli (1/2)

Screenshot of partial election results, as of 10:10 p.m., in the Boston Sept. 9 preliminary runoff election for mayor. Incumbent Michelle Wu leads with 69.3% (12,523 votes) followed by challengers Josh Kraft (4,692 votes, 26%), Robert Capucci (502 votes, 2.8%) and Domingos DaRosa (351, 1.9%).

StreetsblogMASS@mass· Aug 5

It used to be a circle, per the 1899 Olmsted parks plan:

StreetsblogMASS@mass· Aug 5

Gov. Healey’s Environmental Bond Bill Would Surrender Dept. of Conservation ‘Parkways’ to State Highway Agency - mass.streetsblog.org/2025/08/05/g...

A map of the cities north of Boston, with Boston Harbor on the right, highlighting in pink 7 roadways: Everett St. and Charles River Dam Rd. near the Charles River in Boston (lower edge), Mystic Ave., Fellsway, and Revere Beach Parkway, which form a triangle in the center of the map around the Mystic River, the Lynnway in Lynn at upper right, and Ravine Road in Stoneham and Melrose, at the upper center edge of the map.

StreetsblogMASS@mass· Jul 9

Drivers are flocking to their newly-available extra lane on North Washington Street this afternoon – read all about it here: mass.streetsblog.org/2025/07/08/a...

Google Maps screenshot of the North End showing heavy northbound traffic on North Washington Street between Haymarket and the Bill Russell Bridge

StreetsblogMASS@mass· Jul 8

Balanced For Now – But Beacon Hill Is Putting the T Back On the Edge of Another Fiscal Cliff - mass.streetsblog.org/2025/07/07/b... #mapoli

A bar chart showing four different budget proposals from (from left) Gov. Healey, the House, the Senate, and the final enacted budget, whose bars add up just below the level of a dotted line showing the MBTA's anticipated FY2026 spending levels.

StreetsblogMASS@mass· Jul 7

Following a @boston.gov paving project, all street markings, including dedicated bus lanes for some of @thembta’s highest-ridership bus routes (111, 92, and 93) - are gone from North Washington Street. We’re trying to find out when, or if, the bus lanes are coming back - stay tuned.

A wide city street with fresh asphalt and no painted lane markings. In the background are several high-rise buildings

StreetsblogMASS@mass· Jun 30

A Common Story: Traffic Engineers Pit Safety Improvements Against Parking In Woburn Center Project mass.streetsblog.org/2025/06/30/a...

A chart shows how much land in Woburn Center is buried under asphalt and concrete pavement (about 9.5 acres) compared to buildings (7.5 acres) and the green space of the town's central common (just 0.5 acres). The left side of the image shows an aerial view of the area around the Town Common, with a 150-meter circle around the central Civil War Monument highlighted. A pie chart of the right side shows the proportion of that circle that's paved vs. building area vs. green space.

StreetsblogMASS@mass· Jun 17

Legislature’s Fair Share Budget Compromise Gets @mbta.com Closer to A Balanced Budget #mapoli mass.streetsblog.org/2025/06/17/l...

A bar chart showing four different budget proposals from (from left) Gov. Healey, the House, the Senate, and the House-Senate supplemental budget compromise.

StreetsblogMASS@mass· May 21

State data show that Tesla sales in MA have plunged 29 percent in the first 4 months of 2025 vs. the same period of 2024. More details here: mass.streetsblog.org/2025/05/21/p... #mapoli #teslatakedown

A bar chart titled 'Tesla Drags Down Massachusetts EV sales' with a subtitle that reads 'Massachusetts electric vehicle rebate applications for the first four months of 2024 vs. the first four months of 2025. Source: Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, mor-ev.org/statistics'; Two stacked columns in red (for Tesla sales) and blue (for non-Tesla EV sales) sit side by side: the left column represents sales for Jan-April 2024 and the right column for Jan-April 2025. The left column is taller, and the red portion (for Tesla) makes up about 2/3rds of the column height. The right column is slightly shorter, and the red and blue portions of the column are almost evenly split.

StreetsblogMASS@mass· May 12

#MassDOT is still paying state employees to provide content for X, the right-wing social media platform. Here's an interesting example of how that's working for them: Last Friday, the agency posted this announcement for a public hearing in Springfield... (1/2)

StreetsblogMASS@mass· Apr 29

MassDOT Is Filling Gaps In the Border to Boston Trail - 6 trail projects are in the design or construction stages, including a new car-free bridge over the Mystic River and a protected bike path through downtown Lynn: mass.streetsblog.org/2025/04/29/m...

An overview map of the Border to Boston trail network, stretching from Newburyport in the north (upper right) to Boston in the south (lower center). Gaps in the trail network are designated in red dotted lines for projects in progress and gray dotted lines for conceptual future trail projects.

StreetsblogMASS@mass· Mar 26

New @mbta.com regional rail maps with the New Bedford/Fall River line going up in South Station bus terminal this morning

Workers hang new transit maps on the wall of a hallway under a sign for commuter rail and transit lines

StreetsblogMASS@mass· Jan 16

We put together an animated GIF to show how @massdcr.bsky.social has revised its plans to redesign Murray Circle on the Arborway over the past 5 years. Read the latest here: mass.streetsblog.org/2025/01/15/s...