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Author Archives: semiller
MassDOT’S HEALTHY TRANSPORTATION POLICY DIRECTIVE: Framing Economic Needs as Public Health Measures Strengthens Both
TweetMassDOT’s recently issued Healthy Transportation Policy Directive could actualize the most profound transformation in the state’s transportation system since the anti-highway movement convinced Governor Frank Sargent to cancel the massive Inner Belt project (the first time any state had done … Continue reading
Posted in Commentary & Analysis
1 Comment
OPENING STREETS, CHANGING POLICIES: Creating Space for Neighborhood Revival and Transportation Reform
TweetMovement building requires organizing activities and programs that have inherent value and meet people’s immediate needs while also raising their awareness of the importance of larger reforms and putting pressure on relevant officials and power brokers to implement those changes. … Continue reading
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LEGACY TIME: Styles and Strategies for the Political Administration End Game
TweetTom Menino’s tenure is now measured in weeks. Deval Patrick is entering the monthly count-down period. But neither of them has left yet. And until they do, advocates (and everyone else) seeking to advance their issues will have to deal … Continue reading
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THE RIGHT TO BE ON THE ROAD: When Bicyclists Have To Pull Over, When Cars Can Pass
TweetYou might have the impression, as once did I, that the passage of a bill by the Legislature and it’s signing by the chief executive makes it a law. But trial lawyers know better. A law is just a bunch … Continue reading
Posted in Commentary & Analysis
5 Comments
CYCLING ACROSS MASSACHUSETTS: Connecting With Nature, and Why We Need Urban Greenways
TweetI love cities. They are the engines of our nation’s energy, diversity, cultural opportunities, social interaction, and entrepreneurial vibrancy. Cities are where most of our population lives and where most of our economic growth originates. Cities are the base from … Continue reading
Posted in Commentary & Analysis
2 Comments
IF VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED IS DECLINING, WHY DOES TRAFFIC KEEP GETTING WORSE
TweetOur roads feel more congested than ever. It takes forever to get down Mass Avenue across Boston or Cambridge. Memorial Drive, near where I live, is now backed up starting at about 4pm and continuing until nearly 7! Route 93 … Continue reading
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SNOW REMOVAL ON BIKE LANES; SEAPORT TRAFFIC JAMS
TweetPREPARING FOR SNOW: WHEN SHOULD BIKE LANES GET PRIORITY? Most municipalities and most state agencies have carefully negotiated lists of which streets get plowed clear of snow in what priority order. First priority usually goes to busy highways and arterials, … Continue reading
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THE FUTURE OF RAILROADS: Why Rail-To-Trail Conversion Is The Key To Both Eventual Rail Restoration and Current Off-Road Networks
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THE ADVOCATES DILEMA: When The Need for Action is Immediate But the Pace of Change is Slow
TweetThere are situations where the danger is so great, the potential damage so devastating, the outrage to decency so powerful that you feel that immediate, radical change becomes an emotional and moral imperative. And you do everything you can to … Continue reading
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CAMERAS, TERRORISM, AND TRUST: Fears and Memories Across the Generational Divide
TweetThe revelation during the hunt for the Marathon Bombers of how totally we are all tracked by the rapidly expanding web of electronic systems, and Edward Snowden’s disclosure of how easily it is for government’s security agencies to tap into … Continue reading
Posted in Commentary & Analysis
1 Comment
THE NEXT MAYOR’S BIGGEST CHALLENGE: Creating Prosperity by Lifting the Basement Instead of Raising the Roof
TweetWhen bank-robber Willie Sutton was asked why he held up banks, he supposedly quipped, “Because that’s where the money is.” Cities, like every level of government, also have to go where the money is. In this country, government’s aren’t usually … Continue reading
Posted in Commentary & Analysis
2 Comments
OPEN STREETS: How Public Space Creates Civic Culture – and Democracy
TweetThe importance of the two Circle The City events this summer – July 14 on Huntington Ave. (“Avenue of the Arts”) and September 29 on Blue Hill Ave – go beyond the ability to walk, bike, roll, dance, play, eat, … Continue reading
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INTERGRATING VISION INTO OPERATIONS: Balancing Front-Line Empowerment With Organizational Priorities at MassDOT
TweetAll too little attention and praise has been given to MassDOT’s recent announcements of state funding for the Neponset River Greenway, the inclusion of Community Path design as part of the Green Line extension, and funding for a major expansion … Continue reading
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CIRCLING THE BLOCK: Saving Money, Time, and Aggravation Through Parking Reform
TweetWe’ve all done it; cruising around the block looking for an open parking space. In fact, we all do it so much that studies suggest between 8% and an incredible 75% of the traffic in high demand areas have already … Continue reading
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FIXING THE FUTURE McGRATH/O’BRIEN CORRIDOR: A Six-Lane Boulevard Is Still A Highway
TweetParadigm shift. A fundamental change in one’s core understanding of a situation. It’s hard to do. It takes abandoning everything you’ve been taught and believed and that made sense, then adopting something totally new and perhaps both untried and unsettling. … Continue reading
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BICYCLING SAFETY: Preventing Injury Requires Multiple Strategies
TweetIn recent years, bicycling has increased nationwide. However, the growing numbers are most visible in urban areas where car congestion and mixed-use density make cycling particularly useful, which also gives bicylists the political clout to push for improved safety facilities. … Continue reading
Posted in Commentary & Analysis
1 Comment
ANOTHER GENIE OUT OF THE BOTTLE: Be Careful What You Wish For; You Might Get It.
TweetGenie’s are, by mythological definition, very powerful. They can open cave walls, turn dirt into gold, and make carpets fly. They are also devious, granting wishes in ways that turn benefits into burdens – an autonomous force from whom, in … Continue reading
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PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIPS The Priority Must Be Enhancing Public Value
TweetEnthusiastic support for Public-Private Partnerships (P3) seems to extend across the entire political spectrum. The P3 label is a huge umbrella, providing space for small-government conservatives who think business can do things better, pragmatic liberals who want to harness the … Continue reading
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FIX IT NOW: Postponing the Necessary is Dangerous Policy and Misguided Politics
Tweet“It’s not the vehicles,” points out MBTA General Manager Dr. Beverly Scott, “it’s the people and places.” She’s right – transportation is not ultimately about moving things from one place to another, not about the roads or rails, but about … Continue reading
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WIDENING MELNEA CASS BOULEVARD: When an Old Vision Blocks Future Progress
TweetIf you build it, they will come. Given the starting assumptions, Boston planners have come up with an excellent design for the reconstruction of Melnea Cass Boulevard in lower Roxbury. It is a layout worthy of the Urban Ring vision … Continue reading
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MAKING COMM. AVE. SAFER City Proposals Are A Good Start; TurnPike Overpass Is Next Issue
TweetMotor vehicles hit more bicyclists and pedestrians on Commonwealth Avenue in front of Boston University than anywhere else in the city. Last year, five bicyclists were killed in the metro-Boston area, in almost every case by getting hit then run … Continue reading
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ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION CREATES HEALTHY COMMUNITIES: How To Use Your Roads To Lower Your Doctor (and Insurance) Bills
TweetThe environmental movement has taught us that it’s a lot less harmful, difficult, and expensive to prevent toxins from entering the environment than to treat the problems poison creates once it is in our bodies and our world. Even our … Continue reading
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BUS SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT IS KEY TO TRANSIT: Local, Improved, Express, and Bus Rapid Transit
TweetPotentially as fast and as scheduled as rail and subways, but costing a fraction as much to construct, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is one of the hot topics in transportation planning these days. Even MassDOT is looking into it. Full … Continue reading
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TRANSPORTATION AND HEALTH PROPOSALS: Legislation Endorsed by the Mass Public Health Association
TweetBills submitted by the Governor, by Legislative Leadership, or in response to a media-enflamed crises can go from idea to law very quickly. The many thousands of other proposals have to wind their way through a very complicated and multi-stage … Continue reading
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ALLSTON-BRIGHTON ON THE MOVE: Boston’s Most Transportation Changing Neighborhood
TweetWhile the Seaport gets all the headlines, of Boston’s traditional neighborhoods it is Allston that is about to undergo the most dramatic change physically, economically, and demographically. As a result, it is an important case study and indicator of how … Continue reading
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GOVERNOR PATRICK’S FY2014 BUDGET PROPOSAL: A Promising Start To Future Improvement
TweetPolitics is the art of the possible and getting things pass requires placating a broad variety of often competing interests. All of which makes it hard to be bold or to even fully address complicated issues. Small, incremental steps are … Continue reading
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ADVOCACY 102: Advice For Job Seekers and Volunteers
TweetWe advocate for something because we believe it is good, needed, an improvement. We think of ourselves as the good guys eloquently convincing decision-makers to adopt our desired option or, if that fails, mobilizing a righteous grass-roots movement to demand … Continue reading
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NON-MOTORIZED HIGHWAYS: A Regional Green Routes System To Connect Municipal Bike Networks, Sidewalks, and Parks
TweetTransportation is responsible for 36% of Massachusetts’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In order to meet the reductions required by our state’s Global Warming Solutions Act, MassDOT has committed itself to significantly improving its internal operational energy efficiency (GreenDOT) and tripling … Continue reading
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GUNS, TAXES, TRANSPORTATION, AND THE MEANING OF LIFE: Why Government Is A Precondition for Livability
TweetIs caring about each other, going out of our way to help each other, a tactic or strategy or core mission of human life? For example: One of the amazing realities of our streets is that despite the frequent design … Continue reading
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A BICYCLE BOULEVARD ON COMMONWEALTH AVENUE?
TweetThe implementation of Boston’s Complete Streets Policy and the Bike Network Plan will radically improve the safety and comfort of walking and cycling in the city. But full implementation will require many different kinds of changes to many roads all … Continue reading
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