Boston’s ‘soul-crushing’ traffic creeping back after pandemic dip
“We should expect gridlock and congestion that’s the same if not worse than it was before the pandemic,” said Stacy Thompson, executive director of the LivableStreets Alliance. “People should expect to have a rough time on Boston streets.”
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State will pursue $75m Mass. Pike repair as Allston deliberations continue
Meanwhile, Stacy Thompson, director of the Boston advocacy organization Livable Streets Alliance, lamented that the state had let so much time pass without reaching a decision that it had to take up an expensive short-term measure.
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A DEEP DIVE INTO MAYOR JANEY’S ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AGENDA
“I think that Mayor Janey made it very clear from day one that equity and justice would be central to her work as acting mayor,” Thompson said about the transition process. “The goal truly was to bring a lot of community leaders together in very short order to get down to brass tacks about what this city really needs to get up and running over the summer. It was very focused and very centered on what she could do in this unique moment as acting mayor.”
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Bucking National Trends, City of Boston Marks Progress on ‘Vision Zero’
The City of Boston has achieved “consistent and measurable progress” towards its goal of eliminating serious and fatal crashes in the city, but needs to work harder to reduce the overall number of deadly cars and trucks on city streets, according to a new progress report from the Massachusetts Vision Zero Coalition.
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Boston traffic deaths: Fatalities of drivers, passengers and motorcyclists up in 2020 amid speeding spike
More drivers, passengers and motorcyclists died in Boston crashes in 2020 than in any of the previous four years, a likely result of a speeding spike with fewer cars on the road due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report released Monday.
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Gov. Charlie Baker’s seatbelt reform proposal knocked over profiling concerns
“If you read the whole bill, there is not attention or care to the potential for racial profiling,” said Stacy Thompson, executive director of the Livable Streets Alliance that is part of the coalition. “In other states, we know that Black folks are more likely to be pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt. It’s like another law on the books that doesn’t protect the most vulnerable and has been proven to cause more harm to Black and brown people.”
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Advocates Pan Proposed Expansion of Policing in Baker ‘Safety’ Bill
“We are a week out from the Chauvin conviction, and it’s been less than two weeks since police shot and killed Daunte Wright during a routine traffic stop. And the data that’s been collected out of the hands-free bill shows that racial profiling is happening in Massachusetts,” said Stacy Thompson, Executive Director of LivableStreets.
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In roadway safety package, Baker proposes traffic cameras, harsher penalties for drivers with suspended licenses
Stacy Thompson, director of the Livable Streets Alliance, a Boston nonprofit, said the provision would lead to more policing on the roadways, increasing the risk of racial profiling or other discrimination against people of color. She noted that “the national conversation around law enforcement” has often focused on high-profile traffic stops that have resulted in police killings of Black motorists.
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How Chicago Could Build Equity Into Transportation
Within a few months of the report, the MBTA purchased the buses, and now is working to acquire land for additional bus garage capacity, said Stacy Thompson, Livable Streets’ executive director. “So things are happening,” she said. “Not as quickly as we’d like, but they’re happening.”
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Biden’s Infrastructure Sales Force Knows Its Potholes and Bridges
“I believe Secretary Walsh really wants the best,” said Stacy Thompson, the executive director of LivableStreets, a transportation advocacy organization based in Cambridge, Mass. “I believe Pete Buttigieg really wants the best. It doesn’t mean they always got it right. In some cases they got it really wrong. And I hope they learned from it. We really need them to learn from it.”
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As MBTA, Transit Agencies Nationwide Consider Service Cuts; Pressley, Markey Re-Introduce Bold Legislation to Fully Fund Fare-Free Public Transit
The Freedom to Move Act is endorsed by the Sunrise Movement, 350 MASS, A Better Cambridge, Action 4 Equity, Allston Brighton Health Collaborative, Alternatives for Community and Environment, Bikes Not Bombs, Boston Cyclist Union, Community Labor United, Green Newton, GreenRoots, The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts, Inc, Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, LivableStreets Alliance, Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition, MASSPIRG, Massachusetts Sierra Club, Massachusetts Senior Action Council, Mattapan Food and Fitness Coalition, Riders Action Council, Transit Matters, WalkBoston.
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What Might Biden Infrastructure Push Mean for Transit in Mass.?
LivableStreets Alliance Executive Director Stacy Thompson said the much-debated Interstate 90 Allston Interchange project was also a likely candidate for federal funding, given its advanced planning state and its transit element: a combination bus-commuter rail hub that would serve the rapidly growing Allston neighborhood.
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Boston pilots free public transit in bid for equitable COVID recovery
Ultimately, the pandemic has demonstrated that a reliance on fare revenue is not a sustainable and equitable way to fund our transit system, [Kristiana] Lachiusa, said. "In order to really have a fare-free transit system sustainably work, we’re going to need longer-term changes in funding," she said.
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Boston Mayor Janey Joins Calls for MBTA to Restore Pre-Pandemic Service Levels
"I can say with certainty that everyone here today wants one simple thing - a fully functioning T that supports us bringing back our economy, bringing back Massachusetts, and we're not there yet," Livable Streets Alliance Executive Director Stacy Thompson said.
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Orange Line commuters face crowded buses, COVID fears
“Not everyone is feeling the impact but where they are felt it is catastrophic for the people who depend on public transit,” Thompson said. “We’ve cut entire bus lines and reduced service on other bus lines. These are buses that go to health centers. That help seniors get to grocery stores.”
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Boston Council Discusses Ideas to Improve Sidewalk Snow Clearance
Kristiana Lachiusa, Director of Transit and Outreach for the LivableStreets Alliance, endorsed the Syracuse approach in subsequent testimony.
“Boston (calls itself) an age-friendly community,” Lachiusa reminded the Council. “We have a requirement – we made an agreement – that we were going to do this, so we need to keep up our end of the bargain.”
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Kim Janey Announces Chairs of Mayoral Transition Sub-Committees
“I am honored to serve as the co-chair of the Transportation and Climate Justice Sub-Committee, and to be able to contribute in a small way to the just and equitable recovery process Boston must advance in the coming months,” said Stacy Thompson, executive director of the Livable Streets Alliance.
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Sen. Markey Re-Introduces Bill To Improve Safety & Accessibility For All Road Users
“We are grateful for Senator Markey and Congressman Cohen’s continued leadership on the issue of Complete Streets,” said Stacy Thompson, executive director of the LivableStreets Alliance. “The ongoing COVID 19 crisis has demonstrated the need to fundamentally rethink our streets."
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New Role for Chief Osgood Leaves Another Leadership Vacancy at Boston Transportation Dept.
Chief Osgood has been one of the city’s most well-liked and effective cabinet members, and I can’t think of a better person to shift into an incredibly challenging role, during a pandemic and with the uncertainty about what comes next with the new (mayoral) administration. - Stacy Thompson, Executive Director
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WRTA board votes to extend fare suspension through June
You may not recognize it, but leaders across the state and across the country are looking to Worcester as a model for more equitable and efficient transit,” Lachiusa said. “I encourage you to keep going. This is serving as important proof of concept effort that is a critical step towards making the case for sustaining funding for this type of program to be put into place more permanently in Worcester and more broadly for other transit systems across the state.
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Worcester-Area Buses Will Remain Free Until July
LiveableStreets Alliance community engagement manager Kristiana Lachiusa also spoke, telling the WRTA board there's a state-level bill in the works that would allow regional transit agencies to fund fare-free pilot programs. State Sen. Hariette Chandler is expected to cosponsor that measure, Lachiusa said.
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Will Boston’s next mayor take the T to City Hall?
“When you have to spend a lot of time educating and working with a politician to get them [to understand], you lose time,” said Stacy Thompson, director of the Livable Streets Alliance, a Boston-area advocacy group. “A mayor who has been taking the bus to work every day is starting in a different place than one who was driving every day.”
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TCI opponents push other states to reject controversial carbon tax
The state has yet to lay out its plans for spending the roughly $160 million that will be raised annually through the program. A minimum of 35% of the proceeds will be reinvested in communities most affected by air pollution, but Stacy Thompson of the Liveable Streets Alliance said it isn’t enough.
“Even the best case scenario for TCI is just not enough to meet the full scope of the transportation challenges we’re facing,” Thompson said.
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Even During Pandemic, MBTA Overtime Train Kept Chugging Along
Stacy Thompson, executive director of the transit advocacy group LivableStreets Alliance, called the overtime tab "a byproduct of a philosophy that is penny wise and pound foolish," explaining the agency needs to hire more workers.
"The overtime numbers are really a canary in the coal mine, pointing to a long-term under-investment in personnel of the T," she said.
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Local Transit Advocates Weigh In On Pete Buttigieg As Transportation Secretary
Stacy Thompson, executive director of Livable Streets, said although she is optimistic, some of Buttigieg’s policies while Mayor of South Bend were controversial.
“He does not have credibility with the Black and Brown community," Thompson said. "We think about housing and transportation together. And he had a beautification policy that ended up tearing down homes in Black and Brown communities. You can't build bike lanes and tear down homes at the same time.”
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Most MA Residents Oppose Cuts to Public Transportation
"There's a false narrative that the whole state pays for the T but only a small number of people benefit from it. The whole state benefits from the economic engine of our transit system," Thompson said. "And it was very clear that the people of Massachusetts understood that when they opposed these service cuts."
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Here’s a month-by-month look at how 2021 might play out
“We never made any meaningful changes that would change behavior, and the way people get around the city,” said Stacy Thompson, executive director of transit advocacy group Livable Streets Alliance. “Because of that, the unevenness of our system feels profound.”
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