A new Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority program has quickly deployed bus infrastructure around the Boston area, focusing on neighborhoods where people are relying on the bus during the pandemic.

Cinnamon Janzer reports on the Rapid Response Bus Lanes program launched by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), adding 14 miles of dedicated bus lanes in four regional municipalities (Boston, Chelsea, Somerville, and Everett).
"The 'Rapid Response' program can create new bus lanes, from planning to implementation, in roughly four months. That’s slightly faster than the average six to eight month time that the agency and its partner municipalities have been able to lay down lanes in the past," explains Janzer.
The program is offered as a benefit to riders impacted by reduced bus capacities and reduced service schedules during the pandemic—and specifically to provide efficient bus service to essential workers during the pandemic.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, low-income neighborhoods of color around Boston have held steady with ridership on public transit, while bus routes usually filled with high-wage earners heading downtown have been empty. The Rapid Response program was specifically designed to deliver first where ridership was likely to be durable during the pandemic, according to Janzer.
"To add an equity lens, [Eric] Burkman and [Melissa Duellea’s] teams used equity data from the Livable Streets Alliance and mapped that to the Rapid Response plans they were devising. This was used to 'truth check to make sure we weren’t accidentally being inequitable in our implementation,' Burkman says, as 'Boston region [riders] tend to be more people of color and primarily of lower incomes,'" writes Janzer.
FULL STORY: Boston Area Adds ‘Rapid-Response Bus Lanes’ for Pandemic Transportation

Maui's Vacation Rental Debate Turns Ugly
Verbal attacks, misinformation campaigns and fistfights plague a high-stakes debate to convert thousands of vacation rentals into long-term housing.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

San Francisco Suspends Traffic Calming Amidst Record Deaths
Citing “a challenging fiscal landscape,” the city will cease the program on the heels of 42 traffic deaths, including 24 pedestrians.

Half of Post-Fire Altadena Home Sales Were to Corporations
Large investors are quietly buying up dozens of properties in Altadena, California, where a devastating wildfire destroyed more than 6,000 homes in January.

Opinion: What San Francisco’s Proposed ‘Family Zoning’ Could Really Mean
Mayor Lurie is using ‘family zoning’ to encourage denser development and upzoning — but could the concept actually foster community and more human-scale public spaces?

Jacksonville Launches First Autonomous Transit Shuttle in US
A fleet of 14 fully autonomous vehicles will serve a 3.5-mile downtown Jacksonville route with 12 stops.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Gallatin County Department of Planning & Community Development
Heyer Gruel & Associates PA
JM Goldson LLC
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
Transportation Research & Education Center (TREC) at Portland State University
Jefferson Parish Government
Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Claremont