Christian MilNeil

If the T Decriminalizes Fare Evasion, What’s Next for Its Transit Police?

While the Massachusetts State House ponders significant reforms to fare enforcement on the MBTA, and – in separate legislation – to policing in general, the MBTA’s in-house police force faces a reckoning. The Transit Police attracted intense criticism earlier this summer for their closures of downtown subway stations during Black Lives Matter protests and for […]

Christian MilNeil

August 10, 2020

Streetsblog Massachusetts |Bicycling

Guest Column: Biking With Babies

In the Netherlands, infants regularly ride in bikes. In the United States, there are mostly horror stories.

Christian MilNeil

August 5, 2020

Streetsblog Massachusetts |Environment

New Mass. Climate Bill Will Reduce Tailpipe Emissions

The Massachusetts House of Representatives passed a significant new climate bill on Friday night that commits the state to cutting greenhouse gas emissions by “at least 50 percent below the 1990 level” within the next decade. The Senate passed a bill with similar goals at the end of January. The two chambers, which recently agreed […]

Christian MilNeil

August 3, 2020

Streetsblog Massachusetts |Parking

How Boston Drivers Stole a Public Playground

Like many parking lots, the dead-end alleyway on Foster Street in the North End is easy to overlook. It’s the kind of place that few people care about: a dead-end alleyway with trash collecting in its corners and about 18 cars parked haphazardly among its potholes. But unlike most parking lots, this small plot of […]

Christian MilNeil

July 30, 2020

Streetsblog Massachusetts |Equity

How Massachusetts is Reforming Fare Enforcement

In addition authorizing debt spending for hundreds of infrastructure projects across the Commonwealth, the multi-billion dollar bond package that the Massachusetts Senate passed earlier this month would also make significant reforms to how the MBTA enforces fare payments on its trains, buses, and ferries. The Commonwealth’s current fare evasion law sets large penalties for people […]

Christian MilNeil

July 28, 2020

Streetsblog Massachusetts |COVID-19

Car-Free Residents Struggle with Food Insecurity

In Mid-March, community members had just planted beets and peas in GreenRoots Chelsea’s 1200-square-foot urban farm. Then the pandemic hit, and social distancing made collective farming impossible. For GreenRoots, a community-based organization striving to achieve environmental justice, the growing season had just begun. The organization immediately adapted to the increasing demands for food and shifted […]

Christian MilNeil

July 21, 2020

Streetsblog Massachusetts |Bicycling

Meet the Pedal People, Northampton’s Bike-Powered Cargo Haulers

Pedal People, a cooperative started by Alex Jarrett and Ruthy Woodring in 2002, uses bicycles and bike trailers to transport goods and provide services in the Pioneer Valley.

Christian MilNeil

July 6, 2020

Streetsblog Massachusetts |Legislation

Debate Begins Over the Next U.S. Transportation Funding Bill

Yesterday, House Democrats released a draft bill that establishes a $494 billion, 5-year plan for the nation’s transportation infrastructure – but in spite of language to address climate change, and significant funding increases for rail and transit programs, the lion’s share of the bill’s funding would still go to roads and highways. The proposed legislation, […]

Christian MilNeil

June 4, 2020

Streetsblog Massachusetts |Streetsblog

How Transit Closures Escalate Protest Tensions

Management at the MBTA is facing intense criticism after shutting down core subway stations on recent evenings, leaving thousands of its riders stranded and trapped among the belligerent police forces they were protesting against. On Sunday evening, thousands of people participated in a peaceful march from Nubian Square to the State House. As night fell […]

Christian MilNeil

June 4, 2020

Streetsblog Massachusetts |Equity

Streets Need to Be Safe for Black Lives

It’s been one week since Derek Chauvin, a white police officer, choked George Floyd to death in a Minneapolis street, and three months since a retired Georgia cop and his son gunned down Ahmaud Arbery on a quiet street in Georgia. Both killings were caught on videos that contain damning indictments not only of the […]

Christian MilNeil

June 1, 2020

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