“We don’t need everyone to back to the office to have the worst congestion in the country, and we’re there,” Thompson said. “Even if we are in a future where more folks are moving to rural parts of the state ... I think that there’s a misperception that that will take the strain off of our transit systems and our roads and bridges, and if anything, we need all of that plus great broadband.”

Jim Aloisi and Stacy Thompson discussed the current state of President Joe Biden’s infrastructure bill and the return to pre-pandemic levels of traffic and congestion. Aloisi is the former Massachusetts transportation secretary, a member of the TransitMatters board and contributor to Commonwealth Magazine. Thompson is the executive director of LivableStreets.

“Giving primarily white and wealthy transit riders a free trip, while forcing primarily Black and low income riders to jump through hoops to access similar fare-free service, is exactly what structural racism looks like,” says Stacy Thompson, executive director of the LivableStreets Alliance

Stacy Thompson, executive director of LivableStreets Alliance, said the group had not heard from the DCR in at least three years. Thompson said she hopes the plan will focus on making parkways multi-use and de-emphasize motor vehicles. “It’s just about a lot more than just managing their parkways and roadways. This is about recognizing that centering and prioritizing walking, biking, and climate resilience is how we will conserve our natural resources for future generations,” Thompson said.

In addition to a graduation ceremony, the event featured presentations from nine project teams organized around the themes of food security, affordable/fair housing, youth mentoring, racial equity and small business supports. As a result of the pitches, approximately $50,000 of funding was committed by philanthropists and foundations to launch projects to address these community and regional priorities, organizers said in a statement.

Stacy Thompson, the executive director of the LivableStreets Alliance, said the designation of funds in the House bill means “we are one step closer to implementing desperately needed transportation projects in Boston and Somerville.” “These projects aren’t about paving roads — they are about the freedom to move,” Thompson said.

“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.”

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.

“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.”

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.