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.

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.

“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.”

“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.”

“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.

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.

“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.”

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.

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.

“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.