Call And Email The Mayor, Let Him Know You Want A Better Bicycling Budget!

From The BCU:

Email Script

Below is a template for emails to Mayor Walsh. Please personalize it and add your own information. The more personal details, the more effective the letter will be. Don’t forget to forward it to your your local district city councilor and the four at-large (city-wide) councilors with a brief note asking them to support the Boston Bike Budget. Thanks!

To:

[email protected]

CC:

[email protected], joyce.[email protected], budget@boston.gov, a&[email protected], ch[email protected], gina.[email protected], btd@boston.gov, info@bostoncyclistsunion.org

Dear Mayor Walsh,

As a resident of [YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD] who bikes [OR who would bike in Boston if it were safer], I’m writing to ask you to include the Boston Cyclists Union’s Boston Bike Budget in your FY18 budget.

The City of Boston has made real progress toward changing its official policies to make riding a bike in the city easier and safer, but changes to our physical infrastructure have been slower. For many people who bike in Boston today — or would if it were safer — there has been little visible progress on the ground. The City’s Transportation Department is doing what it can, but insufficient staffing and resources are holding us back.

[WRITE A SENTENCE OR TWO ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE RIDING A BIKE IN BOSTON]

This year, Boston allocated just $3.1 million for its Vision Zero Action Plan. That’s less than $5 per capita per year towards ending traffic deaths in our city. Meanwhile, New York City has dedicated approximately $13 per capita and San Francisco about $75. Boston is trailing behind cities that have been aggressive about building safe, protected bike infrastructure. In New York City, Mayor De Blasio recently proposed an additional $66 million per year for Vision Zero street projects, bringing NYC’s funding to over $20 per capita.

If Boston is going to end traffic fatalities, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and make our city more livable, we need a drastic increase in the city’s funding for safe, protected bike infrastructure.

Please include the Boston Bike Budget in your FY18 budget:

• Increase the capital budget for Vision Zero from $3.1 million in FY17 to $12 million in FY18.
• Increase the capital budget for the Strategic Bicycle Network Project from $900,000 in FY17 to $4 million in FY18.
• Increase the capital budget for Transportation Planning from $200,000 in FY17 to $800,000 in FY18.
• Increase the operating budget for Transportation Department Policy and Planning from $1,074,431 in FY17 to $2 million in FY18.

With our proposed Boston Bike Budget, we could build more than a dozen miles of protected bike lanes each year. Today, 2% of Bostonians regularly bike to work, and with just 2% of the City’s $898 million streets budget, we could make major strides towards allowing people of all ages and abilities to bike safely in every neighborhood of Boston.

[WRITE A SENTENCE OR TWO ABOUT BIKING IMPROVEMENTS YOU’D LIKE TO SEE]

In both the GoBoston 2030 Vision Framework and the City’s Vision Zero Action Plan, Boston set forth several positive goals to achieve by 2030, including increasing bicycling mode share fourfold, ensuring that all households are within a 5-minute walk of a protected bicycle facility or shared use path, and eliminating traffic deaths. If we are to reach those goals, we need increased funding for safe, protected bike infrastructure.

I hope you will include the Boston Bike Budget in your FY18 budget and help make Boston safe and friendly for people riding bikes.

Sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]

Call Script

Below is a script for calls to Mayor Walsh and City Councilors. Mayor’s office: 617-635-4500.

Hi,

I live in [YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD] and I’m calling to ask Mayor Walsh to include the Boston Cyclists Union’s Boston Bike Budget in his budget.

[SAY SOMETHING ABOUT YOUR PERSONAL EXPERIENCE RIDING A BIKE IN BOSTON]

If Boston is going to end traffic fatalities, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and make our city more livable, we need a drastic increase in the city’s funding for safe, protected bike infrastructure.

With our proposed Boston Bike Budget, we could build more than a dozen miles of protected bike lanes each year. Today, 2% of Bostonians regularly bike to work, and with just 2% of the City’s $898 million streets budget, we could make major strides towards allowing people of all ages and abilities to bike safely in every neighborhood of Boston.

I hope the Mayor will include the Boston Bike Budget in his FY18 budget and help make Boston safe and friendly for people riding bikes.

Thank you.

(If asked for details on which budget line items you are calling about:

• Increase the capital budget for Vision Zero from $3.1 million in FY17 to $12 million in FY18.
• Increase the capital budget for the Strategic Bicycle Network Project from $900,000 in FY17 to $4 million in FY18.
• Increase the capital budget for Transportation Planning from $200,000 in FY17 to $800,000 in FY18.
• Increase the operating budget for Transportation Department Policy and Planning from $1,074,431 in FY17 to $2 million in FY18.)

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Support The Vision Zero Bill!

From Boston Cyclists Union:

The Bike Union, along with our partners in the Massachusetts Vision Zero Coalition including MassBike, Livable Streets Alliance and WalkBoston, have been working with State Legislators, led by Senator Brownsberger and others, to file a road safety omnibus bill!

The bill, An Act to Reduce Traffic Fatalities, would take a number of steps to improve safety for people biking, walking and driving.  We’re thrilled that two policies that the Bike Union championed at the local level that have been adopted by the City of Boston – side guards and truck safety measures as well as improved bicycle crash reporting – have been elevated to be adopted state-wide in this legislation. The numerous other pieces of this omnibus bill make this the most impactful step towards bike safety since the last Bike Safety Omnibus Bill was passed in 2008!

 

In order for this bill to move forward it needs co-sponsors! Our friends at MassBike have a list of current co-sponsors that you can see here. You can click here to generate a letter that you can send to your State Legislators! The linked form will also allow you to figure out who your Legislators are by entering your address.

It only takes a few minutes! Help us make our streets safer for everyone! 

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Comm. Ave. Could Look A Lot Different, If You Speak Up!

And that would be a good thing, the street is currently one of the busiest and in my opinion worst designed streets in the city.

Public Comments are due by November 25!  So make sure you contact Zach Wassmouth, Project Manager, BPWD ([email protected]) and let him know you want more pedestrian and cyclist friendly infrastructure on Comm. Ave.!

From the KeepBostonMoving.org site:

Neighborhood: Allston/Brighton

Description: The Boston Public Works Department is redesigning Commonwealth Avenue between Brighton Avenue (Packard’s Corner) and Warren/Kelton Streets.  With its solid apartment blocks, unique carriage roads, landscaped median, and MBTA transit reservation, this segment of Comm. Ave. is both a multi-modal transportation corridor and home for thousands of people.    The redesigned corridor will feature separated bicycle facilities, improvements to pedestrian sidewalks and crosswalks, enhanced access to the MBTA Green Line, preservation and enhancement of historic landscape features, and implementation of innovative sustainable features.    The centerpiece of the project will be the redesigned intersection of Commonwealth Avenue and Harvard Avenue. Through a combination of geometric improvements and urban design features, this busy commercial and transit hub will be revitalized, with an emphasis on maximizing pedestrian space and amenities.

At completion, Commonwealth Avenue will be a livable, walkable, multimodal, green and sustainable corridor, safely and efficiently accommodating all users of this signature Boston Boulevard.

Project Status: In design

Estimated Project Cost: $20,000,000

Estimated Project Start: 2016

Estimated Project Completion: 2020

Project Design Team:

• Zach Wassmouth, Project Manager, BPWD
  • [email protected]
• Consultant Team – HDR Engineering, Inc. teamed with Crosby Schlessinger Smallridge, LLC, Ronald W. Buia, Inc., SMC, RM Engineering, Inc.

Additional Information:

Comm Ave Meeting Flyer (11-17-14)

Comm Ave Phase 3 & 4 Public Meeting #1 Presentation

Public Meeting Minutes 11-17-14

Comm Ave Meeting Flyer (10-27-15)

Comm Ave Phase 3 & 4 Public Meeting #2 Presentation

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Action Alert: Bike Safety Bill Needs Your Help

From MassBike:

—————-

In January, we filed two bills with the Massachusetts State Legislature, and we just found out that the bills are going to be heard in committee next Wednesday. We need your help to get these bills moving! The bills are:

•  The Act To Protect Vulnerable Road Users (S 1639) adds protections to bicyclists, pedestrians, wheelchair users, and other vulnerable users of the road. It gives law enforcement more flexibility to impose more severe penalties for dangerous driving. (Click here for the full text of the bill.)
• The Act To Protect Bicyclists In Bicycle Lanes (S 1640) prohibits motor vehicles from parking in bike lanes. (Click here for the full text of the bill.)

The first hearing on these bills before the Committee on Transportation is scheduled for Wednesday, June 26 at 10:00 AM, in State House Room B-1.

We hope you are able to join MassBike at the hearing to tell your story, and to urge the Joint Committee on Transportation to report favorably on these two bills. This is the second legislative session for the Vulnerable Road Users Bill, and the first hearing ever for the Bike Lane Bill. For more information on the bills, please see our Legislative Fact Sheet.

If you are unable to attend next week’s hearing, we ask you to do the following:

1. Send an email or write a letter to the Chairs of the Joint Committee on Transportation – Senator McGee (Email) and Representative Straus (Email) – and ask that they act favorably on these bills.
2. Call or email your State Senator and State Representative and ask that they recommend to the Joint Committee on Transportation Chairs to act favorably on these bills.
3. Cc [email protected] on all your emails, or send us a message telling us who you contacted.

Don’t know who your legislators are? Find out here.

We were able to educate a lot of legislators about this legislation at the Bike/Walk Summit, so we think we are in a good position to move this legislation forward. We need your help again to get this legislation rolling.  As always, we couldn’t do it without you.

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It’s Not Too Late To Make Your Voice Heard For Better Transportation

from Livable Streets:

———-

Latest update -decisions are being made in next few days! Monday night, the Massachusetts House passed the Joint Ways and Means transportation package. The package provides an average of $500 million in new funds for transportation. By approving only $500 million, the House rejected Governor Deval Patrick’s push for a heftier tax hike he said was needed to upgrade the state’s aging and debt-ridden transportation system. On Wednesday, the Senate released its bill that is a step in the right direction, but still falls short. It allocates an average $600 million per year to transportation.

The plan still falls short for 3 reasons:

1. There isn’t enough funding to fix and modernize our system as we need and begin work on projects like Green Line extension.
2. There isn’t enough funding to ensure that tolls, fees and fares do not rise sharply.
3. There is no dedicated funding for biking and walking improvements in either bill!

Together, we can secure long-term dedicated transportation funding for biking, walking and public transit. Make your voice heard now! Thank you. 

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