Makayla Comas, co-executive director of the advocacy group LivableStreets Alliance, welcomed the plan for the new signals as a “great investment,” particularly for areas where dedicated bus lanes may not be the strongest option available, or even viable. The majority of folks who take the bus, which Comas called “the unsung hero of the system,” are low-income, people of color, disabled, and older adults.

“If we are trying to think about, ‘How do we make Boston streets work?’ and ‘How do we make sure that folks who deeply rely on public transportation are able to take it and feel like they want to take it consistently?’ — I think we need to do a deep evaluation of our bus system," she said.

"That’s one of the few positive notes in “Funding Our Future: A Roadmap for Equitable and Sustainable Transportation Action in Massachusetts,” a publication of the Transit Is Essential coalition. Thoroughly reported and backed by more than 40 organizations spanning Transit Matters, Walk Massachusetts and Livable Streets to the Conservation Law Foundation, Boston Center for Independent Living and MassBike, the overall assessment is clear: “The current state of transportation is unsustainable for our climate and public health, our economy and ultimately for the people of Massachusetts.”"

"In a March letter co-signed by advocates from TransitMatters, the LivableStreets Alliance, Boston Cyclists Union, and several neighborhood groups called the proposed Allston layover "unnecessary, inconsistent with the MBTA’s Regional Rail vision, (and) incompatible with economic development.""

"The MBTA is facing an operating budget deficit of over $600 million in the upcoming fiscal year. The Commonwealth has over 600 structurally deficient bridges. The Commonwealth also needs to expand our EV charging infrastructure to meet our climate goals and address rural infrastructure for communities that rely on mostly gravel roads to get around," the coalition of more than two dozen groups wrote in a letter Tuesday to House and Senate budget chiefs. "Diverting $225 million from the Education and Transportation Fund only hinders our ability to address these investments moving forward."

“We believe that shifting funds from the Education and Transportation Fund [the account where surplus millionaire tax revenues are kept] to backfill accounts that were previously funded by the General Fund sets a bad precedent for future budgets,” the advocates said in their letter. “Using the Fair Share dollars to balance budgets rather than make new investments in transportation and education moving forward risks damaging public trust. We believe a much better approach would be to use funds from the Stabilization Fund, as historically has been done, to close out prior year’s budgets.”

“That group of folks 18 to 64, you know, they're in the midst of life and working every day and dropping kids off at child care and, you know, working poor," said Makayla Comas of the Livable Street [sic] Alliance.

"You want to make sure that the technology is thinking about everyone at the intersection whether they're walking, biking, using transit or taking a car. My understanding is that the city is considering all these users because that same impact happens regardless of your mode."

"That's a lot, when you think about the amount of time that you spend in a vehicle or maybe standing on a street corner waiting to get through the intersection," said Stacey Thompson, executive director of the Liveable Streets Alliance.