Jim Aloisi and Stacy Thompson talked all things transportation, including Beacon Hill’s response to Mayor-elect Michelle Wu’s plan for free ridership on the MBTA.

LivableStreets Alliance Executive Director Stacy Thompson said 90% of Route 22 riders are people of color, a group that has had disproportionately longer commutes for decades. “Every minute” the MBTA saves riders closes that gap, she added.

“This project has been a major step forward for the MBTA and Boston when it comes to closing our system’s transit equity gap,” said LivableStreets Alliance Executive Director Stacy Thompson.

For Stacy Thompson of Boston’s LivableStreets Alliance, a successful street is one that you can use safely and enjoyably, without even having to think about it, just like you get running water from the tap or access to reliable weather on your phone.

It was successful, said Stacy Thompson, the executive director of the group LivableStreets. "The data is proving our assumptions correct." She said ridership is up 20% since the pilot started, and the MBTA confirms ridership on the 28 is up.

Wu has remained fairly consistent on her transportation policy stances over the last five years, while Essaibi George’s stances have evolved, according to a review of 2017, 2019, and 2021 candidate questionnaires from the Massachusetts Vision Zero Coalition, which advocates for policies that reduce traffic-related deaths.

Stacy Thompson, executive director of the LivableStreets Alliance, said she is “cautiously optimistic” that the new board will be up to the task despite no members of the Fiscal and Administrative Control Board and a gap of months between the final meeting of that predecessor panel. and the first yet to be scheduled meeting of the new board.

“The appointment of the new board is a really important first step,” said Stacy Thompson, executive director of the LivableStreets Alliance. “What we need is that first board meeting to happen as soon as possible and see what their actions are going to be as board members.”

"Given that there are no board members who served on the previous board and the reasonably long gap, that means that this board has a lot of catch-up to do and a lot of work to do and basically no time to do it," Thompson said in an interview. "It's not that it's an impossible feat, but it's going to be tough and it's going to take a lot of time."

“It’s safer to get on the T than it is to get in a car and go on the highway,” Thompson said. “By and large, the T is safe. But that does not excuse preventable accidents on the system. We can and need to do more.”