City Council President Marc Laredo shared some thoughts about traffic and parking in an email to campaign supporters (and also let them know that he will be seeking reelection). Here’s the portion of his email about traffic and parking.
Dear Friends:
I hope that you and your families are doing well and looking forward to spring!
In this update, I will focus on two interrelated issues that are a source of continued frustration for Newton residents – traffic and parking.
As I travel through the city, whether walking, running, biking or driving, it is readily apparent that we have a lot of automobile traffic. At times, it is difficult to walk or bike safely, and parking can be limited. So what should we do?
We need to promote safe walking and bicycling and the use of mass transit. Yet, at the same time, we should acknowledge that many (perhaps most) of us use automobiles on a regular basis in Newton, whether in our own vehicles or through ride sharing companies, and it is likely that we will continue to do so in the near future. There also is likely to be a significant increase in home delivery services. So we need to provide safe and effective means of travel for all users (pedestrians, runners, cyclists, drivers, and mass transit riders), including places to park bicycles and cars. We also need to be receptive to and encourage the use of new technologies that will change how we transport ourselves, self-driving cars, expanded ride sharing services, and electric scooters are just a few examples.
Here are some principles that should guide us as we tackle these issues:
- Consider and balance the needs of all users as we undertake street and sidewalk improvements.
- Plan for all seasons, especially for cold, wet and snowy conditions, and not just ideal weather.
- Improving the physical condition of our streets and sidewalks is beneficial to all of us and needs to continue to be an important city priority.
- Seemingly small changes, such as synchronizing traffic signals and better lighting at crosswalks, can ease congestion and make walking safer.
- Where feasible, try pilot programs for new initiatives that we are considering, such as if we decide to try to reduce the number of travel lanes on Washington Street.
- As we try to encourage certain transportation-related behavior, acknowledge that our personal transportation decisions often are motivated by convenience.
- Carefully consider the consequences, including unintended ones, of our actions. For example, if we lift the winter parking ban at the same time that we reduce the number of parking spaces required in new residential developments, will that merely lead to year-round overnight on-street parking rather than a reduction in automobile ownership and use?
- Continue to engage in respectful, measured civic discourse as we address these issues.
Too bad he’s running for reelection. His obstructionist behavior on cannabis reform cost this city million$ in lost Community Host Agreements. Elected leaders who deliberately undermine the democratic process should be impeached, not reelected.
All very sensible, especially caution in unintended consequences. I’d add that personal transportation decisions are also influenced by cost, the higher your household income, the more cars your household owns and the less impact the cost of parking, tolls, or traffic tickets.
” “Academic research has shown evidence suggesting households of color, specifically black and Latino households, are disproportionately burdened by higher transportation costs, longer commute times, and less access to private vehicles.”
Without a well-maintained public transit system that allows equitable access to jobs, services, and opportunities, we’ll never truly close social and equity gaps.”
https://commonwealthmagazine.org/transportation/transportation-equity-key-unlocking-states-potential/
Why doesn’t the city enact a program that it will subsidize all residents with free MBTA ridership — provide a free pass for all uses of MBTA (buses, Greenline, Commuter Rail, etc.)? City of Newton pays the MBTA for that service. Benefits to city would be less motor vehicular traffic on city streets.
Councilor, a good framework for future discussions! Thanks!
Some followup thoughts:
> Plan for all seasons, especially for cold, wet and snowy conditions, and not just ideal weather.
We need to really come to grips with this one. For example, we have some really busy neighborhood schools where lots of kids and families walk. In my neighborhood, we have several homes where the house is vacant (older owner has moved or passed away, family is slowly readying the property for sale while living elsewhere). Their sidewalks are impassible, and won’t be cleared under the current ordinance or probably even under one with modest fines.
At some point, we need to say that City has the obligation to open a public right of way (the sidewalk) and if needed send the bill to the owner. If this was a tree across the street or sidewalk, we wouldn’t think twice about clearing it. The issue is the scale of the problem and how we should deal with it. It’s hard. But we can’t wait for a tragedy to force us out of complacence.
> Improving the physical condition of our streets and sidewalks is beneficial to all of us and needs to continue to be an important city priority.
Absolutely. A City’s priorities are reflected by the condition of its civic infrastructure and institutions. Sidewalks haven’t always been a priority. Let’s continue to make them better.
> Seemingly small changes, such as synchronizing traffic signals and better lighting at crosswalks, can ease congestion and make walking safer.
Big thumbs up on spelling out these two issues. You can see such a huge difference between ped-friendly signals (Cambridge) and wait-all-day unfriendly ones (Waltham). And poor pedestrian lighting is a huge problem in Newton that the city has just started to address.
> Where feasible, try pilot programs for new initiatives that we are considering, such as if we decide to try to reduce the number of travel lanes on Washington Street.
The Washington St consultants pointed to pilot programs as well. There are several locations on Washington St where we can try this as soon as this summer (credit to Alicia Bowman for suggesting the area just east of Walnut inbound as a possible location).
We should do these trials far enough ahead to help us build great future projects (the Transportation Dept is using trials of traffic calming techniques as well all around the city).
> As we try to encourage certain transportation-related behavior, acknowledge that our personal transportation decisions often are motivated by convenience.
And cost. Incentives (and penalties) change behavior, as well. I would also point out that denser multi-use development can be designed to allow residents (and their neighbors) to convert, say, a once a week grocery trip into an every-few-days stop at a corner bakery or deli in the same complex. Proximity to a grocery store (or even a bodega) is a wonderful thing.
> Winter parking ban…
Yes, we should consider consequences of removing the ban. But we should also consider if the winter parking ban is the best mechanism to prevent those consequences. There are other ways to limit long-term street parking. If we agree that reduced car ownership, or reduced vehicle miles traveled, are good city goals, then let’s address them head-on, rather than indirectly by tying them to winter parking.
I would like to add one more:
* Build a shared vision of transportation, mobility, and recreation between various city departments and use it to coordinate projects, saving money and producing great results.
Example: schools. Schools are our largest customer for our roads and sidewalks, one of the largest sources of traffic in the city, neighborhood destinations for civic functions/parks/recreation, and the largest line item in our budget.
Yet the School Dept. has only recently built up an internal transportation working group. The City doesn’t yet coordinate with schools regarding upcoming repaving and sidewalk work. And Schools, Parks and Rec., and DPW all have separate snow clearance.
Every school should be the center of a complete streets zone, where pedestrian safety is prioritized, vehicle speeds are limited, and a green and sustainable environment encourages healthy outdoor activity.
In these pleasant neighborhood zones, every element of built infrastructure should chosen and maintained to encourage safe, responsible behavior by all users, no matter what department maintains it.
Jim – I think free MBTA passes for seniors and youth would be great. My family over 60 in London all ride the tube for free.
From the AAA website:
“Although Americans are healthier and living longer than ever before, seniors are outliving their ability to drive safely by an average of 7 to 10 years.”
“Did you know two-thirds of people ages 65 and older take five or more daily medications that can impair their safe driving ability?”
“Consider helping the older driver in your life build up a comfort level with public transportation services to prepare for a time when he or she may have to limit or stop driving.”
Not every senior can or will want to take the bus, but for those who can/do we should make it as easy as possible.
Lucia, good points.
Also, free passes would speed up T-boarding.
Free passes might just be the tipping point for many people to take the MBTA rather than drive — so I’d say free T to all Newton residents.
I’d suggest to City Council to take up this measure — at least to debate.
If we were to subsidize transit, I’d like to do it in a way that had more assurances of value than just giving people T passes. I’d be concerned that people who don’t need them and would never use them would get them and give them away (or throw them away).
However, making student T passes easy to get, and maybe subsidizing them, would be an easy first start.
And implementing Transportation Demand Management (TDM) where employers and building owners are required to do things like provide free or discounted T passes, is also a pretty good step. And Newton can start with its own employees, including teachers. (Some of these things might already be happening….)
Come to think of it — since Boston, Metro Boston & Massachusetts are so concerned about reducing vehicular traffic and global warming, instead of just encouraging reducing carbon and, for instance other things like constructing costly solar panels (when they should be located in the sunny desert southwest rather than here anyway & electricity is on the grid so building site wouldn’t matter), why not just have the T be free to everybody all the time. It would certainly be a tipping point to get many more riders, plus it would streamline boarding process. The revenue lost would be offset by environmental and traffic gains. Everybody talks, “use mass transit”, “use mass transit”, well, here you go.
Councilor Laredo,
I just watched this hour-long documentary from 2018 called “Backpedal” – will you watch it please? Here is a link to the video on Amazon: http://a.co/d/eyzUlgC. It highlights efforts in Charleston, SC to improve bike and pedestrian accommodations. The video features city council hearings and public comments that are right in line with what is discussed here in Newton. For example, your point about improving the timing of stoplights as a strategy for improved street safety is featured in this movie.
Thank you very much for taking time to consider ways to improve the safety of Newton’s streets. In your email update you note the importance of keeping transportation safe for all users including drivers. My perspective, and perhaps that of others who bike and walk often, is that the streets are already fairly safe for cars. They aren’t safe yet for bikes and pedestrians. The focus should be on affording non-car users of streets the same level of safety that is already available to car users.
Shawn
I have to say that I’ve read Councilor Laredo’s newsletter and came away with the feeling that he wants to play the middle and defaults to statements like “it’s complicated” or “the need to balance all users”. I did not hear a lot of leadership nor came away with any knowledge on where he stands on issues.
Councilor Laredo, can you please comment on how you are going to lead us towards a smaller city council? And where do you stand on term limits? And your thoughts on zoning.