Hello Green Streets friends!
June 28th is Walk/Ride Day! No matter your transportation style, make sure to check-in (or “log”) your commute any day between June 24th and July 9th to enter the raffle & redeem retail rewards.
Check-in Raffle Prizes
Lunch for 5 participants with Boston City Councilor Althea Garrison (current date is Tuesday July 23)
A Kryptonite Bike lock
Two $10 Commuter Benefits Prepaid Mastercards (use for to pay for transportation expenses, including MBTA passes)
Check-in Questions of the Month:
How much has your commute been impacted by the recent MBTA derailment and by construction
On another topic related to our mission: Does your employer's 401(K) or 403(b) retirement plan give you the option to invest in businesses that meet Environmental, Sustainability and Governance (ESG) criteria (or in organizations with a positive environmental and societal impact)?
Thank you for your responses to last month’s questions. Check out our latest blog post recapping your May data and your April feedback on desired commuter benefits in the workplace (more detailed report forthcoming).
June’s Theme: Bus Riding
Bus riding is a great alternative to car driving, often cheaper and more carbon efficient. MBTA lines span all the way from Bedford to Braintree and more, with most lines converging in the Boston area that easily connect to T stations. Most of the MBTA’s local bus lines and SL4 and 5 allow for bike storage on racks -- a convenient option when biking gets tiring or the weather changes!
About 389,000 bus trips are taken each day, accounting for 33% of the 1.2 million total trips taken on an MBTA service. According to Mobility Lab, factors that affect one’s choice of transportation include convenience (frequency and hours of service) income, travel time, commuter benefits (such as employee discounts), travel distance, and life events (such as having a family). Factors specific to bus demand are strongly correlated to the population density at bus stops, socioeconomic characteristics and age range. Racial and ethnic minorities, people of low income, immigrants, and the disabled are, on trend, less likely to own a car, making bus riding a reliable and cost-effective option. Children and young adults aged 10-34 and seniors aged 65+ are also less likely to drive a car, also making bus riding a convenient option for these groups.
Current and Upcoming Boston Bus Projects
The Better Bus Project was recently launched to improve the MBTA bus lines in response to a growing population in the Greater Boston area. MBTA bus riders were asked to submit proposals for improvement, which will be put into effect starting on September 1st if approved. The MBTA welcomes bus riders to fill out this survey.
Several priority bus lanes have been implemented to reduce time spent in traffic for bus riders as a plan for the Go Boston 2030 Project. Go Boston 2030 is an initiative that proposes to improve Boston’s transportation systems as a response to income and ability equity gaps, and importantly, as a way to adapt to and mitigate climate change causes.
These priority lanes are enforced in densely-populated areas like Massachusetts Ave in Cambridge, Washington Street in Roslindale, and Broadway in Everett.
Bus Resources to Check Out:
Check out average bus commute times to and from various areas!
Rules about bringing bikes on buses and other transport modes (yes you can!)
Check out our May participants' commute data To look at May bus riders only, check out
with this map! this map:
.
Among Green Streets' May participants, top towns with the most bus riders include Brighton and Somerville. The most common bus commute goes from Brighton
to the Longwood/Fenway area and
takes an average of 35 minutes.
Bus Lines of the Boston area:
Planning a summer vacation? Take the bus to save yourself the hassle of driving or flying, and save carbon while you’re at it! Check out Wanderu to search bus (and train) options. These bus lines will take you across the New England region and beyond:
May Commutes & Walk/Ride Day Recap
Check out the switches made last month! 20% of those who normally drive alone reduced driving or chose not to drive for May Walk/Ride Day. Riding the bus is our 5th most popular mode, with 15% riding the bus normally. We saw an uptick of bus ridership of 7% last Walk/Ride Day. Let's see if we can surpass these figures this month!
Events (Many more listed here!)
Walk/Ride Day - June 28th
Free yoga classes, free ice cream, free coffee, and other free and discounted goodies throughout our region
Many museums in the Boston and Cambridge are open for free on Free Fun Friday!
Free pancake breakfast at Ferris Wheel Bike shop in Jamaica Plain (7am - 9am)!
City of Cambridge dance party 7pm to 11pm
Post Walk/Ride Day Events
July 1st - 7th, Boston Harborfest
July 4, Fireworks and Pops
July 12th, 10 AM - 4 PM, Free Fun Friday on the Charles River,
July 13th, 5 PM - 9 PM, Fitchburg Riverfront Park - Folkfest, Fitchburg, MA
July 27th, 5:30 PM - 10:30 PM, Boston Water Lantern Festival, Boston, MA
All weekends: Take advantage of the MBTA’s generous $10 Weekend Commuter Rail Passes to explore the greater Boston region! Or treat yourself to a trip to Cape Cod or the Islands on the Cape Flyer!
Help us Spread the Word about Walk/Ride Day!
Share a picture of yourself on social media with one of these signs or your own (based on how you plan to commute on Friday, or another day near then). Post to social media and tag #walkrideday!
Featured Sponsors and Donors
The Cambridge Community Foundation recently awarded Green Streets with a grant to bring Walk/Ride Day programming to Cambridge housing projects.
Kryptonite has generously donated their state-of-the-art bicycle locks for this - and all upcoming months’ raffles! Be sure to log your commute for a chance to win one.
And, of course, thank you to our retail partners, raffle donors, and ongoing sponsors!
Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter (@WalkRideDays) for more theme-related facts, cartoons and stories. Share your commuting photos and stories with us on our website or by tagging #walkridedays or #walkrideday on social media.
Have a great rest of your day, week, and weekend, and please stay in touch!
Janie Katz-Christy, Director
Sophie Schmitt, Associate Director
Mikaela Lessnau, Communications Intern