Mayor Walsh announces 2019 Environment and Transportation Legislative Agenda

(BOSTON - Tuesday, January 8, 2019) - Mayor Martin J. Walsh today announced his environment and transportation legislative package, the second of four legislative packages the City of Boston will be submitting to the Massachusetts Legislature. The six-bill package will strengthen the Commonwealth's commitment to the goals set out in the Paris Agreement and the City's goals to be carbon neutral by 2050. Mayor Walsh's legislative agenda builds upon the work of the Administration to ensure equity, opportunity and resilience for all residents by strengthening current systems and creating new tools to adapt, mitigate and invest in local transportation and the environment.

"Addressing the threat of climate change and making sure we keep up with our transportation needs goes beyond city limits. That's why we must work together with the Massachusetts Legislature on issues of climate mitigation and adaptation, and do everything we can to address congestion and increase safety in our streets," said Mayor Walsh. "I'm proud to propose legislation that will explore incentives to reduce pollution and create a statewide vehicle to work on resiliency projects, as well as proposals that would provide investment in transportation infrastructure."

Environment

Mayor Walsh's second legislative package of the year focuses on Boston's shared commitment and leadership with the Commonwealth to be robust environmental stewards, strengthening our ability to address climate change and its impacts. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions to be in line with the Paris Agreement while preparing for rising sea levels and extreme weather events is a shared responsibility that requires immediate legislative action. To that end, the environmental bills proposed seek to create a statewide vehicle to work on resiliency projects and explore market incentives to reduce pollution.

This work builds on Mayor Walsh's recent vision plan for a Resilient Boston Harbor. This comprehensive and transformative vision calls for investing in Boston's waterfront to protect against the impacts of rising sea level and climate change. The Mayor's plan lays out strategies along Boston's 47-mile shoreline that will increase access and open space along the waterfront while better protecting the city during a major flooding event.  

The City has already completed segments of the Resilient Boston Harbor plan through district-level projects in East Boston, Charlestown, and South Boston. These projects led to immediate action along the East Boston Greenway where a deployable flood wall was installed last year, an elevated section of Main St. in Charlestown was added to the design of the City's Rutherford Ave. and Sullivan Square project, the ongoing planning for Moakley Park in South Boston to prepare it for coastal and stormwater flooding, and the construction of Martin's Park in the Seaport, which is expected to be completed this year.

Most recently the City, in partnership with the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA), submitted its proposal for a $10 million FEMA pre-mitigation grant to begin resilience work along the Fort Point Channel. As the City continues to make strides towards building a more climate-ready Boston, it will begin its next district-level planning project for the Downtown and North End neighborhoods early this year and begin the same work in Dorchester later this year.  

Furthering strengthening Mayor Walsh's commitment to protecting Boston against rising sea levels and climate change, the City is accelerating its progress toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The City of Boston is committed to being carbon neutral by 2050. Early this year the City will begin the process to update its Climate Action Plan. The update will provide an implementation roadmap to achieve carbon neutrality in Boston, identifying the immediate next steps Boston must take to reach its goals. Most recently the City rolled out its regulation of single-use plastic bags, encouraging all customers to switch to reusable bags when shopping in Boston and help move the City toward zero waste. The City also took a big step forward in implementation of Community Choice Energy by seeking proposals from qualified consultants to develop a municipal energy aggregation program and by convening a community-led working group to inform the program design.  

As a leading city on climate action, the City was named a winner of the Bloomberg American Cities Climate Challenge as Boston works to strengthen and accelerate its progress toward reducing carbon emissions. The City will receive a support package, valued at up to $2.5 million, to increase low-carbon mobility choices and improve energy performance of Boston's building sector.

"Massachusetts residents are already feeling the impacts of climate change, from hotter summers to increased coastal flooding and heavier rainfall. Our research has shown that to address these challenges and protect vulnerable communities, we need partnership among local, regional and state government," said Rebecca Herst, Executive Director of the Sustainable Solutions Lab at UMass Boston. "We applaud Mayor Walsh for proposing a comprehensive approach to protect communities throughout the Commonwealth and encourage better governance for all."

The environmental bills in the Mayor's legislative package include:

An Act to Establish a Commission for a Climate Ready Commonwealth: would create a regional commission to determine which entity should lead major coastal and inland resiliency projects, how such projects might be funded and how those projects should be prioritized. Boston is not alone in facing the threat of climate change, and all communities are experiencing the reality of extreme heat, snow, rain, and flooding. As the impacts increase and intensify, it's more important now than ever before to coordinate investments to adapt infrastructure and our natural and built environment to future climate conditions.

An Act to Modernize our Natural Gas Infrastructure: would impose a fine on natural gas providers for the total volume of all gas leaks, incentivizing the utility companies to update their infrastructure and providing revenue for climate-ready municipal projects. Natural gas is a powerful greenhouse gas and significant contributor to climate change. The City of Boston and all other cities and towns throughout the Commonwealth have outdated and aging natural gas infrastructure. Gas leaks not only harm the environment but are a public safety issue, public health concern, and financial burden to ratepayers.

For more information on the City's environmental work, please visit  boston.gov/environment.

Transportation

As Boston's population continues to grow, with projected growth to reach almost 760,000 people by the year 2030, Mayor Walsh is proposing four transportation bills aimed at efficiently supporting residents by providing investment in transportation infrastructure, reducing carbon emissions from motor vehicles, and providing for safer streets.

The bills further goals established in Go Boston 2030, the City of Boston's comprehensive transportation plan. Execution of the plan is well underway with action being taken on more than half of the 58 projects and policies identified. These initiatives work to reduce traffic, encourage travel by transit, bike and on foot, and ensure safety and access equitably for all users of Boston's streets.
Examples include partnering with the MBTA to promote the use of public transit by establishing a dedicated bus lane on a section of Washington Street in Roslindale that serves eight different bus lines carrying thousands of passengers daily; incorporating new techniques and upgraded equipment into roadway projects to advance our Vision Zero goal of eliminating traffic fatalities and severe injuries in Boston by 2030; and working to build a network of low stress, strategically placed, separated or buffered bike lanes to allow for safe travel by bike throughout Downtown and Boston's neighborhoods.

"Mayor Walsh's legislative agenda is comprehensive and future-oriented," said Marc Draisen, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council. "It includes incentives to address climate and transportation issues, as well as penalties for behavior that stands in the way of progress. We are particularly pleased that the City of Boston will support Regional Ballot Initiatives to generate revenue for critical improvements in our transportation infrastructure. This is a major source of revenue for roads and transit around the country, and we need this tool in Massachusetts too."

The transportation bills in the Mayor's legislative package include:

An Act to Allow Regional Ballot Initiatives: would allow cities and towns in Massachusetts to work together to pass taxes that would be used to fund specific transportation projects.

An Act to Promote Safe Streets and Reduce Congestion: would allow photo enforcement for school buses with cameras to capture violations when the STOP arm is deployed and for addressing Blocking the Box traffic violations. This bill is part of a broader road safety legislative agenda, which includes support of previously-filed bills related to sideguards on trucks and cell phone use while driving.

An Act to Allow Parking Assessments for Infrastructure Investment: would allow cities and towns to add an assessment to spaces in private parking garages, to be used to build and maintain roads and bridges, as well as bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure.

An Act to Update Transportation Network Company Assessments: would update the existing TNC legislation to better align it with the State's and City's climate and mobility goals.  In particular, it would create a lower assessment for shared trips, a higher assessment for solo trips, and encourage walking, biking and transit as primary modes of travel.

For more information on the City's transportation work, please visit boston.gov/transportation.

Wanted: New MBTA fuel efficient, enviro-friendly buses for Meridian Street Routes

This just in from Paul Howes of the Friends of Meridian Street

We the residents of Meridian Street of East Boston would sure love to see these new MBTA buses replace the older MBTA buses that run along the Meridian Street route. There are 115 bus trips traveling on Meridian Street through East Boston weekdays Monday through Friday. The fumes from these older buses are a major pollution and health risk to all the residents. 

The Umana and East Boston School children are all effected by this daily. Living on Meridian Street myself the MBTA always seems to have the older MBTA buses running this route. It sure would be a blessing to have the older fleet replaced by these new higher technical, less polluting buses running the 115 routes through Eastie. 

Let's upgrade Eastie and make it a better place to live. MBTA route numbers 114, 116, 117.

Thank you for your help.
Friends of Meridian Street

State Senate Candidate Diana Hwang Delivers Over 1,000 Petitions to Save Late Night T Service

(BOSTON- March 23, 2016) State senate candidate Diana Hwang delivered almost 1,100 petitions yesterday to the MBTA’s Fiscal Management Control Board urging them to restore late night T service.  The service’s last night of operation was Friday, even after a decision by the control board to cut the service drew criticism from Federal officials for failing to determine if cutting the service would unfairly impact low income communities and people of color.

Two weeks ago, Hwang, along with State Senators Linda Dorcena Forry and Sonia Chang-Díaz who have endorsed her candidacy, called on the control board to complete their equity analysis before closing the service.  The analysis, which was completed last week, showed exactly what Hwang, Forry and Chang-Díaz suspected – that it will have a disparate impact on low income and minority residents.

“Over a thousand people joined me today in saying ‘enough is enough’ when it comes to decisions being made behind close doors that hurt our communities,” said Diana Hwang.  “There are so many residents in the 1st Suffolk and Middlesex district who rely on the T operating at later hours on the weekend so they can go to and from work.  People feel like they aren’t being listened to, and that they need a voice in the halls of power.  That’s why I’m running for State Senate.”


Delivered with the over one thousand petitions from residents was the following letter:


March 21, 2016

Dear Members of the MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board:

The MBTA’s financial difficulties are well-known and documented. We have a history, as a state, of under-investing in public transportation and last year’s deplorable service interruptions brought this issue to a painful head.  I certainly appreciate the difficult work you are doing to rectify the situation and I fully support raising the revenue we need for public transportation by increasing the tax rate on millionaires.

However, I feel strongly that we cannot cut MBTA costs at the expense of the hard working men and women who use late-night service to travel to and from the jobs they desperately need to feed and shelter their families. Your own equity analysis showed that these cuts hurt low-income riders the most. East Boston is ground zero for this concern.  It is physically impossible for late-shift workers who work downtown or in other parts of the city to walk home to East Boston after their shift ends.  And a cab ride can cost them hours of pay.  Late-night service shouldn’t be a luxury. Rather than eliminating it on weekends we should be working towards expanding it to weekdays.

Recently, I urged the MBTA to reconsider and now, more than 1000 individuals have joined me by signing a petition asking you to do the same (see an enclosed list of their names).   I ask that you do whatever you can to accommodate the transportation needs of those who so desperately rely on recently terminated late night service.

Sincerely,

Diana Hwang

Candidate for State Senate, 1st Suffolk & Middlesex District

Diana Hwang, a Democrat of East Boston, is a candidate for State Senate for 1st Suffolk and Middlesex representing Chinatown, Downtown, Bay Village, Beacon Hill, parts of Cambridge and North Suffolk County including East Boston, Winthrop and Revere.  The special election democratic primary is on Tuesday, April 12.

Source:  Cayce McCabe
press@dianaforsenate.com