Fifteen years ago, an elevated highway still cut through the heart of Boston’s downtown—the end of the “Big Dig” still seven years away. Fifteen years ago, Bicycling Magazine kept ranking Boston among the country’s worst biking cities. Now that elevated highway is gone. Boston’s downtown and waterfront are linked by the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors a year. We’ve got a Bike Czar, 100-plus miles of bike lanes, and more than a thousand Hubway bikeshare bikes spreading their way into surrounding cities, with more than a million miles logged by residents, commuters, and tourists.
What a difference fifteen years makes. How much further could we go over the next fifteen years? How convenient, fast, and fun could it be getting around Greater Boston? In fifteen years—2030—Boston will turn 400 years old. This is our chance, in our historic city, to make transportation history.
What if we never had to wait for a bus again? What if our roads fed the grid? What if our transportation cleaned the air? These are among the questions the City of Boston will consider as it launches Go Boston 2030—a new campaign to shape the future of how people get around our city.
The initiative, which Barr is supporting, aims to create a bold and strategic plan for Boston’s transportation future. That is why the Go Boston 2030 planning process relies heavily on the input and engagement of Boston residents. From now through February 8th, the City is soliciting questions from all over the city—from people old and young who live in, work in, and visit Boston.
The goal is to get as wide a range of ideas from the public as possible. Look for Go Boston 2030 signs and sample questions on your MBTA trains and buses, on billboards in Fenway, and at the Convention Center. And the Go Boston 2030 truck will be roving about the city gathering questions, too.
So, what’s your question about getting around Boston in the future? Visit Go Boston 2030 to see and react to questions others are asking, and to submit yours.
