Electric Bikes and Scooters Are Everywhere. Here’s How You Can Stay Safe
There are plenty of ways to get around Boston University’s unique campus layout, which spans both sides of Comm Ave for nearly two miles. Many BU community members opt for the MBTA Green Line, which runs straight through campus and into downtown Boston, while others walk, take the free BU Shuttle, or bike. But in recent years, many cities, including Boston, have seen a rise in electric bicycles and scooters on their roads. The majority of these vehicles are battery-powered micromobility devices and can include “bicycles, skateboards, scooters, and other small, wheeled conveyances designed for personal transport,” according to BU Transportation Services.
‘There’s No Way Through This but Forward’
No matter your political leanings, policy preferences, or preferred candidates, the presidential re-election of Donald Trump presents serious challenges for the health of the public on a local, national, and global scale. Trump’s Cabinet nominations thus far have provided a clear window into the direction his administration hopes to take on a number of health issues. Below, members of the SPH community share what a second Trump administration means to them personally and to the public health issues that matters most to them—and how we can remain optimistic and embrace opportunities to make progress towards a safer and healthier world.
Transit providers help improve voter turnout with free rides to the polls for 2024 Election Day
The U.S. joint general, special, charter and bond elections are upon us and voters throughout the country will be planning their trips over to their local poll station to cast their vote. Transportation challenges should not prevent a U.S. citizen from casting his or her ballot this Election Day. Many voters are experiencing connectivity issues on Election Day due to a lack of a personal vehicle or efficient mode of transportation.
Professor Partners with Boston Public Schools to Study Classroom Air Quality
The most comprehensive database of Massachusetts’ affordable housing inventory spotlights the use of age-restricted housing to maintain racial segregation, its creators say. In 44 cities and towns, not a single unit of non-age-restricted affordable housing has been built despite state laws such as Chapter 40B that make it easier for developers to build income-restricted projects.
Gastronomy Student Helps Bring New Life to City Farmers Markets through Mayor’s Office Fellowship
When Andrea Catania first heard about an opportunity to join the Boston Mayor’s Office of New Urban Mechanics, she didn’t think her Master of Arts in Gastronomy studies would qualify her. But she soon learned the program was open to graduate students of all types, and with the help of the BU Initiative on Cities, she was able to land a summer fellowship that gave her eight weeks to make a difference in the lives of Boston residents.
Building a Better Boston
BU’s campuses aren’t the only place where the Arts & Sciences community learns—Greater Boston itself is a classroom, laboratory, and workplace. Governmental agencies, nonprofit organizations, and private sector companies are partners, and their challenges—from education to the environment—provide opportunities to contribute to solving real-world problems.
Building Better Cities
Two global trends collided in 2023: the warming of the atmosphere and the growth of urban areas. Phoenix, Ariz., the fifth-largest city in the US, reached 110 degrees on 31 consecutive days. Heat-related hospitalizations spiked and people burned themselves on scorching asphalt. Texas, home to several of the country’s largest and fastest-growing cities, experienced the second-hottest summer ever, leading to a BBC headline that asked if the Lone Star State could “become too hot for humans.”
Former Governor Charlie Baker and Coauthor Talk about Their Book Results
Charlie Baker (center), former Massachusetts governor, and Steve Kadish (left), his former chief of staff, discussed their book Results: Getting Beyond Politics to Get Important Work Done (Harvard Business Review Press, 2022) during a panel discussion moderated by Siobhan Dullea (CAS’91) (right), Innovate at BU executive director, at the BUildLab November 2. Results is a manual for government and business leaders interested in results-oriented problem-solving. With several examples—spanning from rural broadband access to reform of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families to the COVID-19 pandemic—Republican Baker and Democrat Kadish show how to move from identifying problems to achieving results in a way that bridges instead of exacerbates divides.
Four Mass. residents awarded MacArthur ‘genius’ grants
Four people from Massachusetts — a cellular and molecular biologist, an environmental ecologist, a computer scientist, and an interdisciplinary scholar — on Wednesday received “genius” grants from the MacArthur Foundation, which awards fellowships to individuals pursuing a range of intellectual and creative interests. Hutyra is a professor in Boston University’s Department of Earth and Environment and has been a member of BU’s faculty since 2009. She is investigating impacts of urbanization on environmental carbon cycle dynamics.
A big chunk of lobbying in Massachusetts is not tracked: Cities, towns are active on Beacon Hill but their activity treated differently
In March, Professor Julia Payson of New York University addressed a small group who had gathered at Boston University’s Initiative on Cities to hear about the new book she wrote — When Cities Lobby. Dr. Payson told the small crowd that the inspiration for her book came while she was a graduate student in California listening to NPR, and a strange statistic popped up: local governments in California are the state’s top spenders on lobbyists, spending more than any individual private interest. Included in that number were not only outside firms, but in-house lobbyists who worked directly for local governments. This is notable in a state where Silicon Valley billionaires, Hollywood studio heads, and some of the highest-grossing farmers in the country all live, work, and lobby.