Issue #167 - June - LivableStreets Alliance

Tour de Streets 2022: Back in Person!!

A crowd of bike riders wait on a sidewalk, presumably for a pedestrian crossing light. One of them raises their arm to wave at the viewer.

The moment we've waited for has arrived: registration for Tour de Streets 2022 is now open! Our biggest annual fundraiser and fun gathering, Tour de Streets is happening on September 10th at the Charles River Speedway. There will be food, festivities, and more transportation + greenway enthusiasts than you can shake a stick at. Sign up now to join a walk, or bike ride, or join us for the party afterwards!

Even if you can't join us in person, you can still be part of the event – start your own fundraising team + see if you can top the leaderboard! Plus, if you donate before July 1st, you will get some of our fun new LivableStreets swag!

Tell the MBTA What You Think About the Draft Bus Network Redesign Map!

part of the draft bus network redesign, showing various t and bus lines - much too complicated to summarize here, so follow the link for more

The MBTA and MassDOT have been working over the past few years to update where and how often buses make trips. From this work they released a draft map of the new bus network. They now need your feedback! The MBTA’s website includes a lot of helpful information to make it easy to review and consider how the draft plan will impact your trips. Here is an overview of some of what is included:

Full network map (both static and interactive versions)
An overview organized by neighborhood
A tool to compare your current trip with the potential future
Online method to share your feedback

Throughout the summer the MBTA will be hosting many virtual and in-person meetings, open houses at stations, and will be deploying street teams. At these events MBTA staff will share the draft bus network map, answer questions, and collect your feedback. Sharing your feedback is important to ensure that future bus service meets your and your neighbors' regional and local needs. You can learn more and register for all of the events here or email your feedback, comments, or questions to [email protected].

Here are some of the upcoming meetings in June and July:

The City of Boston Opens Streets to All (except cars!)

City of Boston

Over the next few months, the City of Boston will host 3 Open Street events. During the events, these streets will be closed to vehicular traffic, but open to people! The Open Streets events will include street vending, space for walking and biking, and programming unique to each neighborhood.

Open Streets will take place on Centre Street in Jamaica Plain (Sunday, July 10th), Blue Hill Ave in Roxbury (Sunday, August 6th), and Dorchester Ave in Dorchester (Sunday, September 24th). More detailed location guidelines can be found at the City of Boston website.

We hope to see you there! If you would like to participate as a LivableStreets volunteer, email Jason at [email protected].

Exciting Hellos and a Bittersweet Goodbye for the LivableStreets Staff!

pictures of Nrithya, an Indian-American with brown eyes, brown skin, and black hair, who smiles at the camera in front of a light blue wall, and Olivia, a light skinned white woman with long, wavy blonde hair, smiles with her mouth closed at the camera. There is dramatic lighting and a black backdrop.

As we transition into summertime, our staff is also changing and evolving!

We would first like to welcome Olivia Poston, our Community Engagement and Emerald Network GIS Fellow! Olivia completed her first year in the Master of Design Studies program at Harvard’s Graduate School of Design (GSD) within the Ecologies domain and is a recipient of the Dean’s Merit Scholarship. Most recently, she wrote a paper titled “Ecologies of a Dormant Assemblage: Industry, Settlement, and Consequences” which was accepted for the “Narratives of Temporality: Continuities, Discontinuities, Ruptures” conference, hosted by the London Centre for Interdisciplinary Research. We are excited to have her on our team for the summer, bringing her keen sense of graphic design and analysis skills to spruce up our maps!

Additionally, we have Nrithya Renganathan joining us as a Fare Policy Intern! Nrithya is currently a rising sophomore at MIT, intending to major in Urban Studies and Computer Science. She will be spending the summer providing support for our fare-free bus advocacy in partnership with MassBudget. We are thrilled to have her joining us to conduct research and create materials sharing updates on the many fare-free bus pilots taking place across the state of Massachusetts and how they can become permanent. Nrithya is excited about how we can best use technology to help improve people’s lives. In her free time, she enjoys dancing, listening to music, and exploring the greater Boston area!

two pictures of Kristiana, a white woman with long, light brown hair. on the left, she is standing in front of a bus, smiling & holding a sign in support of bus-only lanes. on the right, she is taking a selfie while wearing a bike helmet; in the background is coworker Makayla, a Black woman on her bike, also wearing a helmet. They are both smiling very big, and Kristiana's mouth is quite wide open in excitement. in between the two pictures is text saying "how it started" and "how it's going"

As we welcome new members to our team, we are also saying a heartfelt “Thank You” and “Goodbye” to our Director of Transit + Outreach, Kristiana Lachiusa. After building and expanding our transit and community engagement programs, she will be attending Tufts University this fall to receive a Masters in Public Policy from the Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning program. While we are very excited for Kristiana’s next professional step, her presence on our team will be sorely missed. She brings enthusiasm, fun, curiosity, and a deep commitment to this work. We are happy that she is sticking around the Boston area and can take part in future staff ice cream outings!

Opportunities

Program Manager, WalkBoston: WalkBoston is seeking a Program Manager to lead their statewide technical assistance programs that work to improve the safety and quality of the walking environment. Learn more and apply here.
Program Coordinator, WalkBoston: The Program Coordinator would support all staff members and play a key role in ensuring that the office functions efficiently and effectively. Learn more and apply here.
Communications Coordinator, Boston Cyclists Union: This role is responsible for managing content creation for the Boston Cyclists Union related to policy and campaigns, fundraising, and member engagement. Learn more and apply here.
Transit Justice Organizer, GreenRoots: The Transit Justice Organizer will work closely with the Director of Organizing and Associate Executive Director to carry out grassroots, base-building that results in broad-based resident engagement, particularly with the most ethnically and racially diverse, lowest income and hardest to reach residents who are most dependent on public transit and affected by environmental injustice. Learn more and apply here.
Bicycling Program Team Member, City of Boston: The Bicycling Program Team Member will be a part of the City of Boston's Active Transportation team, and most of your time will be spent outside or at community places across the City. Learn more and apply here.

As a policy, LivableStreets will only advertise opportunities that include salary or compensation information.

Thank you!

Check out the following resources to learn more about what we've been up to lately!

Press: Read local and national press featuring LivableStreets and our work.
StreetFilms: Watch videos highlighting our advocacy and events.
Greenway Stories: Join us as we explore greenway successes and challenges around the Boston area.

Was this email forwarded to you? Here's where you can sign up for StreetLife! www.livablestreets.info/join