walkboston

Pricier Boston parking meters is a start

AS PUBLISHED IN BOSTINNO ON JAN. 18, 2017

Brendan Kearney is the Communications Director at WalkBoston and a member of the Boston Vision Zero Task Force.

The City of Boston recently rolled out a performance parking initiative that includes flexible parking meter pricing in the Seaport and Back Bay. Prices will be lower on streets that consistently have availability, while the meter price will be higher on streets that are often filled. You may be able to park a little farther away to save a few quarters, which frees up a spot closer for someone who needs it – or doesn’t mind paying a little more.

Kudos to Mayor Marty Walsh. The city is on the right track with a pilot project like this one. Boston is home to an innovation economy. We should be pushing for more pilot projects to change how our streets and curbside spaces are allocated.

If modifying the price of parking can help change habits, all the better. People may realize that for many of their daily trips, it is cheaper and more convenient to walk, take the bus/train, or bike, leading to fewer cars on the road and endless searches for a spot curbside. Boston should also follow the lead of surrounding communities like Cambridge ($25), Somerville ($40), Brookline ($25) and Quincy ($20) offering annual residential parking permits to help pay for city services.

The Boston Globe’s Dante Ramos makes the argument that the new meter price isn’t nearly high enough, and it is hard to disagree with his logic: “Before Boston adopted the current rate in 2011, the city had charged curbside parkers $1 an hour for the previous 30 years. By comparison, MBTA subway fares rose from 60 cents in 1982 to $2.25 today. Had meters merely kept up with inflation since 1981, they’d cost $2.66 an hour citywide.”

While cities and towns don’t control the MBTA, the cities and towns do control most of the streets and signals. The City of Everett debuted a bus-only lane in December during the morning rush hour, helping to speed the trips along a busy corridor. A similar pilot on Summer Street in South Boston would be well worth a try. Stacy Thompson at LivableStreets Alliance says “[buses] can be awesome, and they should be fun.” More pilot projects for bus corridor improvements can help with that.

Transportation for Massachusetts (T4MA) released a report in October titled “Fast Forward” giving a snapshot of transformative changes in transportation and how they could play out in Massachusetts. One key takeaway of the report: “Walking – along with biking and transit use – allows vast numbers people to navigate tight urban spaces without contributing to congestion, supporting the vibrant mix of businesses, amenities and housing that make Massachusetts’ cities special. No innovative mobility solutions work for the urban core, therefore, unless they enable and foster walkability.”

Let’s not be afraid to try out new solutions on our streets, which may just be new to us, of course; many cities around the United States have been trying out pilot projects to improve transportation. The goal shouldn’t be innovation for innovation’s sake, but to find ways to make our cities a better place for more people to work, live, and play – no matter how they are getting around.

This article was featured in WalkBoston’s March 2017 newsletter.
————————————————————————————————
Join WalkBoston’s Mailing List to keep up to date on advocacy issues.
Like our work? Support WalkBoston – Donate Now!
Connect with us on Twitter and Facebook

Funding equity is the missing link to our transportation future

Jim Aloisi is a former Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation. He is on the board of the advocacy group TransitMatters.

There are many moving pieces to our transportation system, no pun intended. In order to develop and maintain a truly sustainable mobility system you need to understand and respond to how the pieces fit together. The utility and attractiveness of public transportation is directly related to the rider’s ability to access a bus stop or train station. In most instances, that requires a safe and convenient pedestrian pathway connecting the rider and her transit destination.

We spend a lot of time talking about modal equity, but the reality is that modal equity will come only when we have funding equity and planning equity. Our approach to transportation funding and planning has shortchanged citizens who are drawn to walking and cycling. Two straightforward ideas that, if enacted into law, would go a long way toward ensuring modal funding equity and safe pedestrian pathways. Those ideas are what I call Transit Improvement Districts (TID) and Safety Impact Reviews (SIR).

The TID concept is simple: allow local communities meeting certain population or destination thresholds to impose a carbon impact parking assessment on nonresidential parking facilities with 10 or more spaces. This would operate in two ways: first, it would identify parking as a specific set-aside revenue source; second, it would enable the public and private sectors to leverage this dedicated fund to make important pedestrian and bicycle investments.

The SIR would require projects meeting a certain financial or scale threshold – such as public infrastructure and utilities – to demonstrate impacts on bike and pedestrian safety and accessibility, measured against set metrics. The outcomes can be reviewed and impacts mitigated to maximize safety. By establishing clear thresholds for an SIR, we can ensure that it will not add undue time or expense to implementing smaller scale improvements like pedestrian islands or bike lanes in discrete urban environments. The SIR would be structured to encourage safe multi-modal mobility, with a specific focus on three desired outcomes: reduced likelihood of crashes; greater access to, and increased use of, streets and open space; and maximized access to light, public open space, ventilation, and recreation opportunities.

For those who think this will add to costs and red tape, I would point to the unacceptably high costs of inaction – bodily injury and death, the costs of litigation, and the loss of economic growth (expressed as both private sector investment and housing values). Pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly neighborhoods are less burdened by all these factors.

If an SIR is part of transportation planning, we can ensure the kind of thoughtful public process that will improve safety and quality of life. History has proven that this issue will not take care of itself – the transportation planning and design system that exists today is not designed to produce outcomes that are friendly to today’s changing mobility habits. We cannot rely on the status quo to change the paradigm it has lived with comfortably for decades. A truly multi-modal transportation system begins with funding equity. The time to act is now.

March 2017 Newsletter

“Funding equity is the missing link to our transportation future”
By Jim Aloisi/former Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation, Board member of the advocacy group TransitMatters
“Pricier Boston parking meters is a start”
By Brendan Kearney/Communications Director, WalkBoston
“Start planning a Jane’s Walk near you”
“Transit-Walkability Collaborative”

Download the March 2017 Newsletter PDF

Golden Shoe Award winners for March 2017 Annual Meeting

As presented at this year’s annual event on March 29, 2017

Alison Pultinas | Persistent, effective Mission Hill/Roxbury citizen activist
Alison Pultinas is a leading Mission Hill activist and a key member of the Friends of Melnea Cass Boulevard. Alison has been a guiding hand for the design of the Melnea Cass roadway as it has evolved from a roadway widening project to a Complete Street. Throughout the five-year advocacy effort, Alison has been persistent and effective, providing key institutional memory, recalling comment letters sent and informal decisions reached.
Alison is a strong advocate for development that is not dependent upon automobiles. She is a key ally of WalkBoston and consistently encourages WalkBoston to attend meetings and to respond to projects, like the proposed Tremont Crossing mixed-use development. She keeps watch over several of the outdoor stairways which connect walking routes on the hilly landscape of Mission Hill, cleaning and shoveling when needed. Alison is happy to report that the reconstruction of the Hayden Street Stairs, a City of Boston Public Works project, is upcoming. She also writes for the monthly community newspaper, The Fenway News, with a focus on development and historic preservation issues.

Sarah Bankert, Healthy Hampshire | Rural walking advocate in Western Massachusetts
Sarah Bankert conceived of the Route 202 – Common to Courthouse Corridor Study in Belchertown, which brought together municipal staff, Belchertown seniors, and economic development entities to work toward a shared goal of a safer, higher quality walking experience along Route 202. Sarah and her team’s efforts attracted the attention of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Design & Resiliency Team (DART) who conducted a multi-day workshop which resulted in a “Three Villages & A Farm: Belchertown Beyond” case study report. She is also leading efforts to improve health and walkability in 14 towns in Hampshire County as part of the MDPH 1422 grant.

Caitlin Marquis, Healthy Hampshire | Rural walking advocate in Western Massachusetts
Caitlin Marquis has been a committed voice for incorporating physical activity – particularly walking – into town-wide planning efforts in Williamsburg. She contributed to the formation of the Facilities Master Plan Committee, plays an advisory role with seniors at the Williamsburg Council on Aging, and promotes healthy food choices at the local town center market. Her efforts demonstrate how walkability permeates so many aspects of the daily lives of Williamsburg residents. Caitlin also works to improve health and walkability in 14 towns in Hampshire County as part of the MDPH 1422 grant.

Dillon Sussman, Pioneer Valley Planning Commission | Rural walking advocate in Western Massachusetts Dillon Sussman, a land use planner at the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission (PVPC), has also brought walkability to the rural towns of Hampshire County. Dillon conducted a Health Aging and Community Design regulatory review in Williamsburg and directed the town’s Facilities Master Planning efforts. He also authored the adaptation of PVPC’s Healthy Community Design Tool-Kit to include age-friendly design elements that are applicable across the Commonwealth.

Michelle Wu, Boston City Council President
Boston City Council President Michelle Wu has elevated the conversation about walking (and bicycling and transit) at the City Council, in City Hall, and among many Bostonians. Her proactive efforts to reach out to WalkBoston and many of our fellow activists about the importance of making Boston safer for people walking in the City has helped keep active transportation efforts alive in Boston. Partnership with Councilor Wu is particularly powerful as we work with many City departments, grassroots organizations and residents to implement Vision Zero.