DCR to Block Drivers From More Parkways in Boston, Watertown
| | No Comments
DCR hopes that the closure of parking areas and certain road segments to motor vehicle users will reduce crowding and give park users more space to spread out.
Recent Streetsblog MASS posts about COVID-19
Study: Highway Pollution Contributes to Higher COVID-19 Death Rates
| | No Comments
The study's results are especially concerning for many of communities of color in Massachusetts, where the legacies of racist planning policies expose Asian, Latinx and Black neighborhoods to higher levels of tailpipe pollution.
Cambridge Council Balks at Giving Residents Space to Physically Distance
| | No Comments
The Cambridge City Council narrowly voted down a proposal to give its residents more space to safely physically distance themselves on city streets during their regular meeting Monday night. In a 5-4 vote, with most Councilors participating by teleconference, the Council voted to table two policy orders that would have closed certain city streets to […]
DCR Starts Shutting Cars Out of Park Roads to Reduce COVID-19 Risk
| | No Comments
The Department of Conservation and Recreation has announced new limits on vehicular traffic on Chickatawbut Road in the Blue Hills Reservation and a portion of Fellsway West in Medford.
Cambridge City Council Considers Opening Streets for Outdoor Exercise
| | No Comments
On Monday evening, the Cambridge City Council (with most councilors calling in to participate by teleconference) discussed two policy orders that could give people walking and bicycling more space during the COVID-19 pandemic by closing city streets to car traffic. One order requested that the City Manager “confer with the Director of Traffic, Parking, and […]
Bike Shops Deemed ‘Essential’ As Bike Transport Surges
| | No Comments
Governor Baker ordered all “nonessential” businesses to close on Tuesday, but with a surge of people bicycling for recreation and transportation, bike shops are being allowed to stay open across Massachusetts this week. The Governor’s order is a sharp escalation in the Commonwealth’s efforts to fight the spread of COVID-19 as the number of confirmed […]
T Restores Early-Morning Commuter Rail Trips For Health Care Workers
| | No Comments
Responding to issues raised in a StreetsblogMASS report last week, the MBTA has announced that it will bring back early-morning commuter rail trains that will allow health care workers to get to work for their 7 a.m. shift change, even as the rest of the transit system continues to run on a reduced schedule. Last […]
Congress Urged to Act as Pandemic Losses Threaten Transit Agencies
| | No Comments
A $1 trillion draft economic stabilization plan from the U.S. Senate provides no financial assistance for the nation’s transit agencies, which have been bleeding red ink as the COVID-19 pandemic slashes fare collections and revenues from state sales and payroll taxes. Large transit agencies, whose budgets are generally more reliant on fare revenue, have taken […]
COVID-19 Crisis Stretches Small Transit Providers Thinner
| | No Comments
Years of service cutbacks have made it difficult for Regional Transit Authorities to adjust their schedules without seriously impacting the ability of transit-dependent residents to get to their service jobs or access vital services.
Reduced Commuter Rail Schedules Leave Health Care Workers in the Lurch
| | No Comments
For many hospital workers who work 12-hour shifts that start at 7 a.m., the new commuter rail schedules have eliminated transit as a commuting option.
Public Transit and Public Health
| | No Comments
The new Coronavirus (COVID-19) started having a major impact on civic life in the Commonwealth this week: public agencies are cancelling meetings, universities are sending students home, traffic congestion has evaporated, and the MBTA started taking additional measures to disinfect stations and vehicles. These are still early days in the transmission of COVID-19 in Massachusetts, […]