Expanding bus and bike lanes is a forward-looking way to approach an important matter: the fair sharing of a finite public space.
James Aloisi
Posted inOpinion
Transportation funding plan falls short
The Transportation Funding Task Force report and recommendations do not represent a breakthrough moment, but more of the same.
Posted inOpinion
3 critical transportation issues we must confront in 2025
At the state level, 2025 presents a generational opportunity to reverse the failed policies of the past that have left us with the unacceptable status quo of chronic traffic congestion, substandard sustainable access to key regional destinations, degraded air quality, and poor land use.
Posted inOpinion
How Frank Bellotti helped launch my career — and saved my life
Frank Bellott, who died at 101, led a large, impactful life, not because of its extraordinary length, but because of what he did, and the ways he served as a role model and mentor, and shaped much of Massachusetts public life over more than three decades.
Posted inOpinion
The Allston I-90 project: once again off the rails
It was disappointing when Secretary of Transportation Monica Tibbits-Nutt announced that the Massachusetts Department of Transportation was embarking on a path forward for Allston Landing that backtracked on prior commitments to the impacted communities and may jeopardize (and in some ways reverse) the project’s commitment to providing important environmental, economic, and social justice outcomes.
Posted inOpinion
Bruce Mohl made CommonWealth must-reading — and brought me back into civic life
CommonWealth Beacon editor Bruce Mohl retired last week after 16 years. Longtime opinion contribtor Jim Aloisi offered this tribute and reflection on the mark he made. I’VE BEEN A somewhat regular contributor to Commonwealth Beacon since 2013. Like many opportunities in my life, this role was not one I had contemplated or sought out. My writing […]
Posted inOpinion
My roadmap for funding the state’s transportation system
Ultimately, Massachusetts’ political leaders need to do two things next year: stop the T from falling off the coming fiscal cliff, and then build a financial bridge enabling the T to reach across the chasm to the other side, which is the future. That means not simply solving the fiscal cliff crisis but making essential and strategic investments in a better transit system.
Posted inOpinion
Flap over zoning appointee really about old Boston vs. new
Stories about Mayor Michelle Wu’s decision not to reappoint the longtime chair of the Boston Zoning Commission have been turned into a manufactured controversy. Boston mayors get to appoint people to municipal boards who support their agenda.
Posted inOpinion
Bike lane brouhaha a test of Boston’s resolve
The great Florentine observer of human nature, Nicolo Machiavelli, famously wrote, “There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.” Boston leaders are learning that lesson anew as they push to end the era of automobile dominance in urban mobility.
Posted inOpinion
Biden’s candidacy has to end
The only way the Democratic Party can win the upcoming elections is to be perceived as fresh, new, dynamic.
Is this fair? When has politics ever been fair? This is not about fairness but about reality.