Recent Streetsblog USA posts about Boston

How American Cities Can Protect Cyclists From Deadly Trucks

By Angie Schmitt | Oct 25, 2016 | 1 Comment

Heavy trucks kill. They account for as much as 32 percent of cyclist deaths in New York City and 58 percent in London, far out of proportion to their share of traffic. Across the U.S., 1,746 bicyclists and pedestrians have been killed in collisions with commercial trucks over the last five years. For cities looking to reduce traffic […]

Boston Wants to Lower Its Speed Limit to 20 MPH — But Can’t

By Angie Schmitt | Apr 29, 2016 | 10 Comments

Twenty is plenty in Boston, according to its elected officials. The City Council voted unanimously this week to lower the default speed limit on most residential streets to 20 mph — and not for the first time. Speeding is the number one complaint council members hear from residents. And on Boston’s narrow streets, packed with pedestrians, […]

What Went Wrong With Boston’s Green Line Extension?

By Angie Schmitt | Dec 14, 2015 | 89 Comments

Last week, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority abruptly cut ties with four contractors working on the 4.7-mile Green Line extension to Somerville and Medford, outside Boston. The announcement came shortly after reports that the cost of the light rail project had ballooned to about $3 billion, an increase of a billion dollars. State officials said the decision doesn’t mean […]

Tactical Urbanism Win: Cyclist Protects Boston Bike Lane With Flowers

By Angie Schmitt | Sep 11, 2015 | 3 Comments

Even the most delicate barrier between bikes and auto traffic can change the behavior of drivers and make cycling a lot more appealing. Case in point: An ingenious bit of tactical urbanism in Boston this week resulted in a bike lane protected by $6 pots of hardware store mums. Jonathan Fertig told Streetsblog he was upset the city had […]

The Politically-Driven, Koch-Backed Campaign to Undermine Boston Transit

By Angie Schmitt | Aug 20, 2015 | 5 Comments

Boston’s MBTA has been having a tough year. Following a disastrous winter season marked by extreme weather and service disruptions, the agency has been inundated with charges of mismanagement. While the MBTA has its flaws, the charges against it don’t stem from a good government campaign so much as an ideologically-driven assault, filled with exaggerations and lies and backed by groups […]

Boston Says So Long to the Casey Overpass, a 1950s Highway Relic

By Angie Schmitt | May 20, 2015 | 5 Comments

This month, Boston is demolishing a monument to 1950s-era car infrastructure: The Casey Overpass, a short elevated road built in 1955 to whisk drivers over the Forest Hills MBTA station in Jamaica Plain without encountering any pesky things like intersections or pedestrians. The last car drove over the decrepit 1,600-foot-long structure just a few days ago, and construction […]

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