Christian MilNeil

How Boston Drivers Stole a Public Playground

Like many parking lots, the dead-end alleyway on Foster Street in the North End is easy to overlook. It’s the kind of place that few people care about: a dead-end alleyway with trash collecting in its corners and about 18 cars parked haphazardly among its potholes. But unlike most parking lots, this small plot of […]

Christian MilNeil

July 30, 2020

Streetsblog Massachusetts |Equity

How Massachusetts is Reforming Fare Enforcement

In addition authorizing debt spending for hundreds of infrastructure projects across the Commonwealth, the multi-billion dollar bond package that the Massachusetts Senate passed earlier this month would also make significant reforms to how the MBTA enforces fare payments on its trains, buses, and ferries. The Commonwealth’s current fare evasion law sets large penalties for people […]

Christian MilNeil

July 28, 2020

Streetsblog Massachusetts |COVID-19

Car-Free Residents Struggle with Food Insecurity

In Mid-March, community members had just planted beets and peas in GreenRoots Chelsea’s 1200-square-foot urban farm. Then the pandemic hit, and social distancing made collective farming impossible. For GreenRoots, a community-based organization striving to achieve environmental justice, the growing season had just begun. The organization immediately adapted to the increasing demands for food and shifted […]

Christian MilNeil

July 21, 2020

Streetsblog Massachusetts |Bicycling

Meet the Pedal People, Northampton’s Bike-Powered Cargo Haulers

Pedal People, a cooperative started by Alex Jarrett and Ruthy Woodring in 2002, uses bicycles and bike trailers to transport goods and provide services in the Pioneer Valley.

Christian MilNeil

July 6, 2020

Streetsblog Massachusetts |Legislation

Debate Begins Over the Next U.S. Transportation Funding Bill

Yesterday, House Democrats released a draft bill that establishes a $494 billion, 5-year plan for the nation’s transportation infrastructure – but in spite of language to address climate change, and significant funding increases for rail and transit programs, the lion’s share of the bill’s funding would still go to roads and highways. The proposed legislation, […]

Christian MilNeil

June 4, 2020

Streetsblog Massachusetts |Streetsblog

How Transit Closures Escalate Protest Tensions

Management at the MBTA is facing intense criticism after shutting down core subway stations on recent evenings, leaving thousands of its riders stranded and trapped among the belligerent police forces they were protesting against. On Sunday evening, thousands of people participated in a peaceful march from Nubian Square to the State House. As night fell […]

Christian MilNeil

June 4, 2020

Streetsblog Massachusetts |Equity

Streets Need to Be Safe for Black Lives

It’s been one week since Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, choked George Floyd to death in a Minneapolis street, and three months since a retired Georgia cop and his son gunned down Ahmaud Arbery on a quiet street in Georgia. Both killings were caught on videos that contain damning indictments not only of the […]

Christian MilNeil

June 1, 2020

Streetsblog Massachusetts |Equity

MBTA Takes Small Steps to Improve Fare Equity

Boston's transit overseers approved some small-but-significant changes in the agency’s fare policies at a meeting last week to improve fare equity for minority and low-income riders.

Christian MilNeil

May 27, 2020

Streetsblog Massachusetts |Equity

Op-Ed: Rush Hour Is Over – So What Comes Next?

If we keep equity, sustainability, public health, and livability as our guiding principles, we can build a better world, even if it looks a little different than our vision from a few months ago.

Christian MilNeil

May 26, 2020

Streetsblog Massachusetts |COVID-19

A Large Town Answer to COVID-19 Mobility

Somerville, Mass. will provide safer walking and biking routes with more room for physical distancing.

Christian MilNeil

May 24, 2020

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