Elected Officials Opposition to BlueBikes Expansion in South Boston

Dear Chief Franklin-Hodge and Commissioner Gove,

We are writing to you today to express our concerns and opposition to the expansion of 7-14 BlueBikes stations in South Boston and the South Boston Waterfront. As we understand it, earlier this year, the administration announced 100 new BlueBikes stations throughout the City. South Boston neighbors and civic groups have contacted us to convey that they do not see the demand that would require expansion on that scale, especially when all new Article 80, Large and Small project, multi-family proposals are required by the City to have BlueBikes stations on site. As our offices have said many times to Boston Transportation Department (BTD) staff in both internal and community meetings, it is critical that the city be mindful of our narrow infrastructure and sidewalks that make existing conditions often difficult for our residents and pedestrians to navigate; especially our seniors, persons with disabilities, and young families with strollers.

Nonetheless, while we understand the City has made its intentions clear to move forward with these 7-14 stations in South Boston and South Boston Waterfront, we are respectfully requesting BTD to take the real-life concerns of the South Boston Elected Officials, our neighbors, and constituents seriously. While we should always be cognizant of road safety for all users, we should also recognize that many of our long-time residents who continue to contribute to the city in a variety of ways -including through higher property taxes – may be a senior or a person with disabilities that is physically unable to ride a BlueBike to make appointments, or a young family picking up their children from school to shuttle them to dance class, the hockey rink, or other activities.

Their responsibilities and family commitments are virtually impossible to be made, especially in the winter months, via BlueBikes. But they also view taking away parking spots, when we’re able to find BlueBikes locations elsewhere, as wholly tone deaf. We can’t claim to be the most family friendly city in the country if we continue to make it more difficult for families to navigate through Boston, our high traffic corridors, and be able to park remotely close to home.

There is no need to place these stations at the locations that would exacerbate our residential parking O’Callaghan Way at Boston Housing Authority Mary Ellen McCormack. Moreover, Councilor Flynn, a retired U.S. Navy Veteran, is of the opinion that it would be inappropriate to place a station at Medal of Honor Park (M St & East Broadway) when there are more suitable locations. In addition, as we communicated previously, the locations at William J. Day Boulevard & L Street outside the Curley Community Center, as well as the one referenced at “Day Boulevard at Babe Ruth Park”- where the snack bar is on Carson Beach and across from Moakley Park – should be placed outside of the sidewalk, as they both would unnecessarily hinder accessibility on a major pedestrian, jogging, and road race route as planned currently.

We should also be mindful of taxpaying residents who consistently express their frustrations with parking in South Boston, and the lack of resident parking protections that other neighborhoods in close proximity to Downtown Boston enjoy. As you know, in recent years, a BTD study found that there were 28,900 active resident parking permits and only 10,600 on-street parking spaces. At Councilor Flynn’s request, the Boston Transportation Department did an audit of resident parking permits and canceled 7,674 in South Boston. However, at the same time, residents continue to highlight the COVID-era policy of the automatic renewal of residential parking permits (RPP) without in-person visits to City Hall to provide proof of address. There is a fear that while those 7,674 non-residents with RPP stickers may have been removed from the City’s database, those who have old parking permits on their car may still be parking on our streets without penalty. In practice for enforcement, it would require every parking attendant to check every single permit to ensure they are not one of the 7,674 permits that were previously removed.

These are some of the reasons why we continue to advocate for residential parking permits only, 7 nights per week, throughout all of South Boston – with strict enforcement. If we are truly advocating for the use of public transportation and other modes, there should be no concerns with discouraging all of the additional vehicles that come every weekend and present both public safety and quality of life issues in the form of blocked bus stops, handicap spots, driveways and crosswalks. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our offices.

Elected Officials Opposition to BlueBikes Expansion in South Boston