Here’s what’s happening:
The City of Boston has just released its skewed and unrepresentative 30-day review of street safety projects — and it’s clear our voices are needed now more than ever.
While paying lip service to safer and better transportation for pedestrians, cyclists, and bus riders, the report prioritizes drivers and recommends scaling back protective infrastructure like flex-post bollards, despite strong evidence that these features keep people safe. Worse, the city has not disclosed which residents and groups it consulted — and ignored the input of the hundreds of everyday Bostonians whose requests for meetings went unheeded,
If we want Boston to keep its promise of streets that are safe, accessible, and work better for everyone, we need to keep raising our voices.
Here’s what to do:
The Review Is Over — But the City Still Needs to Hear from You
Mayor Wu’s 30-day review of Boston’s street safety projects is complete — but that doesn’t mean the conversation is.
The City heard plenty from those demanding more space for cars. Now it’s time for them to hear from you — from the people who walk, bike, take the bus, and want safer, more livable neighborhoods.
📣 Tell the Mayor what’s working — and what we need more of.
Has a new bike lane made your commute safer? Has a bus lane helped you get to work or daycare on time? Have traffic-calming measures made your block feel safer for your kids or neighbors? Say so.
These are the kinds of everyday changes that make Boston a better place to live — and we need city leadership to keep going, not back down.
📧 Email Mayor Michelle Wu and Director of Stakeholder Engagement Mohammed Missouri.
It doesn’t have to be long. Just a few lines about how recent changes have helped you or your community — and what you want to see more of.
Send your message to:
michelle.wu@boston.gov
mohammed.missouri@boston.gov
📍Tip: CC your city councilor! Find yours here.
📸 Got photos of safer streets or better commutes?
Whether it’s your family using a protected bike lane or just a shot of a part of your commute that is working better or needs to work better — send them our way.
✉️ Help us keep track
Forward your email to bostonbetterstreets@gmail.com so we can lift up your voice and include your message in future advocacy. Let us know if we can share your story (we won’t do it without your OK).
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Here’s the full context:
Since 2021, Mayor Michelle Wu’s administration has embodied bold leadership on one of the most vital issues facing the City of Boston: safer streets and better transportation for Boston residents of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds. Building on important groundwork in the Menino and Walsh administrations, the Mayor’s administration has worked thoughtfully and with careful community outreach to ensure that Boston’s transportation network is safer, more reliable, greener, and more equitable for the city’s residents.
Boston has revitalized its infrastructure through dedicated repair programs, reduced neighborhood traffic hazards, expedited public transit improvements, eliminated bus fares on key routes, pioneered AI-driven traffic management, and cracked down on dangerous delivery vehicles, and has built upon fifteen years of multimodal street design with the goal of moving more people safely through a vibrant, historical city. This work has been instrumental in making Boston the most family-friendly city in the country, and accessible to people of all abilities.
We — pedestrians, bus and subway riders, cyclists, and drivers — have been beneficiaries of these changes. Even as progress has not been as quick as many of us would like, we have enjoyed safer streets for ourselves and our families, quicker and more reliable commutes, and improved infrastructure that allows us to live, work, learn, and play in a world-class city that is home to people of all backgrounds, ages, and abilities.
This progress is now being threatened. As the Boston mayoral election approaches, multimodal transportation — including sidewalks, bus lanes, and bike infrastructure — is being used as a wedge issue to divide Bostonians who share so many of the same goals. Despite robust community engagement, Boston's transportation progress now faces organized opposition. Well-resourced neighborhood groups and people who do not live in Boston have secured negative media coverage and special access to officials, resulting in a hasty 30-day review of all planned mobility projects. This “review” threatens to derail years of data-driven planning for bus lanes, bike infrastructure, and pedestrian improvements—undermining the administration's own commitment to safer streets for all Bostonians. Rolling back these changes will have immense negative consequences for the increasingly accessible and family-friendly transportation that so many Bostonians value.
We do not want to see fifteen years’ progress thrown away for political expediency. We urge the city to continue prioritizing multimodal transportation and better infrastructure for the benefit of all Bostonians, including the families and people of different abilities who rely upon it. We ask the city to continue using data alongside the robust community feedback and engagement that has characterized the City and the Administration’s work. We are from different neighborhoods and diverse backgrounds, but each of us can speak to the ways in which improved infrastructure has improved our lives in Boston. We urge the Mayor’s administration to continue to prioritize the overwhelming majority of people who prioritize better streets for all users.
BETTER INFRASTRUCTURE FOR ALL BOSTONIANS