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MassINC

MassINC, the state's leading non-profit public policy think tank, is a non-partisan, evidence-based organization. The mission of MassINC is to develop a public agenda for Massachusetts that promotes the growth and vitality of the middle class. We envision a growing, dynamic middle class as the cornerstone of a new commonwealth in which every citizen can live the American Dream. MassINC is a different kind of organization, combining the intellectual rigor of a think tank with the vigorous civic activism of an advocacy campaign. MassINC is also the publisher of CommonWealth magazine. Check out our website for more information.

http://www.massinc.org/

How Free Fares Could Impact Our Transportation Systems

Fri, Apr 23, 2021

Amid conversations around budget and services cuts for the MBTA, advocates, transit administrators and policymakers are asking the question: Can free buses save public transportation in Massachusetts? Hear from panelists Vineet Gupta, Director of Transportation for the City of Boston, Laurel Paget-Seekins, a public transportation expert formerly of the MBTA, and Martha Velez, the City of Lawrence’s Director of Health and Human Services and point person on its free bus program. The fare free movement is gaining momentum on Beacon Hill and in Gateway Cities like Lawrence and Worcester. Many are touting free fares as a way to make public transit more accessible to low income riders, and increase the use of public transit, which took a big hit during the pandemic. Is it time to change the way we provide public transportation? What is the impact on riders, cities, and transit agencies? Can we afford to do it?

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Transportation Planning for Climate and Health

Fri, Mar 26, 2021

Transportation now generates more greenhouse gas emissions than any other sector in the United States. It is also a major source of air pollution in our communities, particularly neighborhoods striving for environmental justice, where many low-income residents and people of color live. How can we redesign our transportation system to become healthier for both our bodies and our planet? GBH News transportation reporter Bob Seay and Andre Leroux, currently leading MassINC’s Transformative Transit-Oriented Development program, host a panel with Massachusetts State Senator Joseph A. Boncore, Clean Transportation organizer for the Union of Concerned Scientists Paulina Muratore, and Alternatives for Community & Environment director of transit oriented development, Mela Bush-Miles to discuss the role of urban and transit planning in addressing climate change.

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How will our public transportation system recover after the pandemic?

Fri, Feb 26, 2021

The pandemic has led to dramatic decreases in ridership on mass transit. In response the MBTA is cutting and reducing service on bus and subway routes, commuter rail and ferries. Officials say when the pandemic eases and demand comes back, service will return. But will it? And if it does, will it look like it did before? What does this mean for cities and towns across the state and how should we adapt? With a focus on equity and impact, MassINC and the GBH Forum Network explore these issues with Jarred Johnson of TransitMatters, Veronica Vanterpool of Delaware Transit Corporation and Mayor Thomas McGee of Lynn, MA. _This event is part of the TTOD "Transformative Transit-Oriented Development" Talks sponsored by MassINC and is produced in collaboration with GBH Forum Network._

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The Impact of Transit Cuts on Equitable Development

Fri, Jan 22, 2021

In December 2020, the MBTA approved widespread cuts to bus and commuter rail service despite objections from officials and transit advocates. Starting in January, twenty bus lines will be shut down, and weekend commuter rail service will end for communities along the Fitchburg, Franklin, Greenbush, Haverhill, Kingston/Plymouth, Lowell and Needham lines. What impacts will the cuts have on the Commonwealth’s pandemic recovery? Many lawmakers, transportation advocates and Gateway City business owners say public transit is essential for equitable and enduring pandemic navigation - both in terms of public health and the economy. But with the grim realities of budget shortfalls from the pandemic, transit agencies across the country face similar cuts. Join GBH transit reporter Bob Seay, MassINC’s transit-oriented development fellow Dr. Tracy Corley, Steven Higashide of TransitCenter, State Representative Andy Vargas for the 3rd Essex District in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, and Will Dickerson, the executive director of Brockton Interfaith Community, as they discuss the immediate and long-term impacts of service cuts and how they will impact communities across the state and nation differently.

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Can Shared Streets Pave the Way for Equity?

Fri, Nov 13, 2020

The pandemic has put critical issues front and center for many cities, including stimulating economic development, expanding public space, reducing air pollution, addressing traffic incidents and fatalities, and promoting equity. Reports have repeatedly shown that communities of color and environmental justice communities are much more likely to have been hit hard by COVID-19, making innovative approaches that address these issues crucial to recovery. In response, many cities have turned to tactical street interventions. In Massachusetts, the widely-praised Shared Streets and Spaces grant program has dispersed $10.2 million for 103 tactical projects to cities across the Commonwealth in a record 100 days. GBH News transportation reporter Bob Seay and MassINC fellow Dr. Tracy Corley explore the impacts of tactical street projects on equity in local communities. Bob and Tracy welcome Kate Fichter, Assistant Secretary for Policy Coordination for MassDOT, Warren Logan, Policy Director of Mobility and Inter Agency Relations for the City of Oakland, CA, and David Kucharsky, Director of Traffic and Parking Director for the City of Salem to discuss the successes and challenges of Shared Streets, Slow Streets, and related projects that aim to improve transportation access and connections for all. This event is one of a series of TTOD Talks co-produced by MassINC and the GBH Forum Network. Image: Pexels.com

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15-Minute Cities for Pandemic Recovery? Start with Streets!

Fri, Sep 25, 2020

Although fewer people are driving to work every day, data shows that, outside of Boston and job centers like MetroWest, congestion and miles traveled haven’t decreased much since last year – they’ve simply moved closer to home. Many Gateway Cities and surrounding communities lack safe sidewalks and bike lanes as well as parks, grocery stores, places of worship, and pharmacies in the neighborhoods people live, making car travel a must. And in this pandemic, travel is making it harder to contain the spread of COVID-19. 15-Minute Cities, a COVID-19 recovery tool lauded by mayors around the globe, puts most of a resident’s needs within a 15-minute walk or bike ride from home. Having essentials a short walk away helps people follow public health guidance and stay close to home. The concept also promises to refill municipal coffers drained by critical services to address the public health and economic crisis. But are Gateway Cities in Massachusetts primed to follow the lead of other metropolitan areas in leveraging this tool for recovery? Join GBH Reporter Bob Seay and MassINC Researcher Dr. Tracy Corley as they welcome Tom Skwierawski of the City of Fitchburg, Francisco Ramos of NewVue Communities, Aimee Gauthier of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, and Denise Delgado, Executive Director of Egleston Square Main Street to probe this topic. Image courtesy of Francisco Ramos

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It Takes a Village to Make a City: Why We Need Equity in Urban Planning

Fri, Jul 17, 2020

To address the exclusion of people of color in urban planning that perpetuates and institutionalizes patterns of harm, MassINC has proposed a new practice called Joint Local Planning — community-centric and coordinated district, municipal, and regional planning — as a remedy for historically exclusive processes and inequitable outcomes. But what is community-centric planning, why do we need it and how is it done? Monica Tibbits-Nutt of the 128 Business Council and Leah Bamberger of the City of Providence's Office of Sustainability share with MassINC’s Dr. Tracy Corley and WGBH News Transportation Reporter Bob Seay how they have helped transform community engagement in urban planning across North America. They share examples of the way past planning efforts have created systems that marginalize Black, Indigenous, and people of color in cities large and small while describing their successes with bottom-up planning processes and outcomes. The group also discusses how COVID-19 has impacted planning efforts — especially in smaller, Gateway Cities — and why urban residents cannot wait for the end of the pandemic to take ownership of planning their neighborhoods, municipalities and communities. This event is one of a series of TTOD Talks co-produced by the WGBH Network Forum and is based on the MassINC report, From Transactional to Transformative: The Case for Equity in Gateway City Transit-Oriented Development. To access the report, visit www.massinc.org/research/equity-report. Image Credit: Pexels.com

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Biking While Black: Tackling Racism in Cycling and TOD

Fri, Jun 26, 2020

The recent protests around the world restating that “Black Lives Matter” has ignited candid conversations about racism everywhere. People around the world are starting to understand how widespread systemic racism and micro-aggressions have been for people of color, especially Black people. Patterns of exclusion and marginalization have been no different in transportation, including cycling. Los Angeles-based Social Justice Advocate and Consultant Tamika L. Butler, Esq., MassINC’s Dr. Tracy Corley, WGBH Reporter Bob Seay, and Alex Weck of R.A.D in Springfield, MA discuss how cycling, transit, and other systems and infrastructure in our cities and neighborhoods perpetuate the excessive monitoring and policing of Black and Brown bodies in public spaces. They discuss these challenges, what more we need to do to bring anti-racist policies and practices to cities across the Commonwealth, and how equitable transit-oriented development can help transform our relationships with each other in public places. Image: Pexels.com

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The Case for Equity in Transit-Oriented Development

Thu, Jun 11, 2020

Protests have erupted across the U.S. sparked by the recent deaths of Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, but more than a reaction to police violence, these protests address a chronic problem rooted in centuries of racism and injustice stemming from unfair laws and policies across federal, state, and local institutions. A recent report from MassINC titled [“From Transactional to Transformative: The Case for Equity in Gateway City Transit-Oriented Development,”](https://massinc.org/research/equity-report/) outlines solutions to change policies that don’t work for many Americans, including better access to safe and affordable housing, reliable transportation, and economic inclusion. But the report is just the start of a broader conversation about inequity in our society and the changes we need to make today. WGBH News Transportation Reporter Bob Seay leads a conversation about equitable policies and practices with MassINC’s Dr. Tracy Corley (lead author of the research paper), and Susan A. Wood, co-author of the [American Planning Association’s Planning for Equity Policy Guide.](https://planning.org/publications/document/9178541/#:~:text=By%20American%20Planning%20Association&text=APA's%20first%2Dever%20Planning%20for,%2C%20state%2C%20and%20federal%20levels.) Learn more about transformative transit-oriented development (TTOD) and sign up here for the [**#TTOD Challenge**](https://massinc.org/2020/06/11/ttod-challenge/).

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Elizabeth Warren: Opportunities for Urban Education in the New Federal Law

Mon, Mar 14, 2016

United States Senator **Elizabeth Warren** outlines her views on federal education policy in Clark University's sixth annual Gurel Lecture. As a member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, Senator Warren played an influential role in the passage of the 2015 Every Student Succeeds Act. After Senator Warren's keynote remarks, a panel of leading education experts share their perspectives on the range of skills students will need to thrive in the future, and their views on how the new federal law positions urban communities to provide the deeper learning experiences-in the classroom and beyond-that their students will need to gain a full complement of these 21st century skills. Panelists: - **Nick Donohue**, President and CEO, Nellie Mae Education Foundation - **Dr. Ronald Ferguson**, Kennedy School of Government and Director of the Achievement Gap Initiative at Harvard University - **Dr. Dianne Kelly**, Superintendent, Revere Public Schools - **Gene Wilhoit**, Executive Director, National Center for Innovation in Education Moderator: - **Dr. Katerine Bielaczyc**, Director of the Hiatt Center for Urban Education and Associate Professor of Education, Clark University (Photo: [Flickr/Ben Wikler](https://www.flickr.com/photos/bnwklr/16037332480 "Elizabeth Warren"), image cropped)

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