Guest Column: A Valley Divided by Public Transportation

The Valley Advocate: "As a cultural anthropologist working on environmental, health and socioeconomic equity issues in Springfield, I have observed for too long that the racially- and class-stratified “tofu curtain” has divided the Pioneer Valley into an affluent, mostly white north and a marginalized but diversified south. Nowhere is this truer than for the people of Springfield and Holyoke. A significant structural factor has been the lack of affordable, accessible and sufficient regional public transit. This gap in our regional infrastructure has profoundly negative environmental consequences, contributes to global warming, negatively impacts public health, reinforces racial apartheid and creates enormous economic hardship for the poorest among us."

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People want #publictransit and its obvious benefits

The Recorder: "The weekend of the Green River Festival brought thousands of people to Greenfield. It was a no-brainer to provide them FRTA buses. I heard many compliments about how nice the service was. It’s time to build a bus system the people of Franklin County can use and appreciate. Time to expand service, providing transportation to the people who contribute to the local economy every day."

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RUSSELL FISHER

Northfield

Read whole letter: "It’s a no-brainer"

Inadequate Public Transit Hurting State’s Low-Income Latinos

WBUR: "But overall, 3 out of 4 respondents agreed with this statement: “If public transportation was better, I would drive and/or be driven less.”"

Negative attack on cars will backfire

If you want people to use public transit, make it free.

Boston limiting new parking as number of residences soars - Business - The Boston Globe: "The policy shift — which comes even as thousands of new residents flock into its neighborhoods — is being implemented across the city, with officials relaxing once inflexible requirements that parking be built with every new residence. The goal is to encourage the use of public transportation, and to devote more land and money to affordable housing, open spaces, and other amenities. Officials also say the city’s youthful population is becoming more accustomed to life without a car."

While U.S. west burns, east is slammed by storms

Part of the Sports World dome near exit 44 on I-91 in East Windsor

 blew into the southbound lanes of the highway, officials said. (JOHN WOIKE)

Hartford Courant: "A tornado lashed its way across Windsor, Windsor Locks and East Windsor Monday afternoon, toppling trees, taking down power lines, tearing apart an inflatable sports dome and ripping tobacco netting from fields and draping it across houses and I-91."

Tandem parking spots sell for $560,000 - Business - The Boston Globe

COLM O’MOLLOY FOR THE BOSTON GLOBE

Tandem parking spots sell for $560,000 - Business - The Boston Globe: "Bidding began at $42,000. It shot up to six figures within seconds. When the auction ended 15 minutes later, the lucky winner agreed to pay $560,000 — nearly double the $313,000 median sales price of a single-family home in Massachusetts."

Insurance industry leads split in 1% by openly opposing #climate lies

Insurers Stray From the Conservative Line on Climate Change - NYTimes.com: "And the industry expects the situation will get worse. “Numerous studies assume a rise in summer drought periods in North America in the future and an increasing probability of severe cyclones relatively far north along the U.S. East Coast in the long term,” said Peter Höppe, who heads Geo Risks Research at the reinsurance giant Munich Re. “The rise in sea level caused by climate change will further increase the risk of storm surge.” Most insurers, including the reinsurance companies that bear much of the ultimate risk in the industry, have little time for the arguments heard in some right-wing circles that climate change isn’t happening, and are quite comfortable with the scientific consensus that burning fossil fuels is the main culprit of global warming."

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