Mayor Walsh recently announced a new pilot program to test out designated pick-up / drop-off zones for ride sharing vehicles such as Uber and Lyft.
The pilot, aimed to reduce congestion and improve safety by minimizing traffic disruptions when these vehicles stop to pick-up / drop-off passengers, began earlier this month at the intersection of Boylston Street and Kilmarnock Street in the Fenway area.
Mayor’s Office Neighborhood Liaison Maria Lanza gave a brief introduction of this pilot at the March North End / Waterfront Neighborhood Council (NEWNC) meeting. Is this designated area something the North End / Waterfront should have? Vote in our poll and add your comments in the section below.
Web polls are unscientific and reflect only those who choose to participate. NorthEndWaterfront.com polls do not have any official significance and are only intended for the interest of our readers. Residents are encouraged to contact Maria at maria.lanza@boston.gov to share feedback on this pilot.
Of course it should. So much of the traffic and congestion is caused by ride-sharing vehicles and it’s made worse by their rampant double parking. Makes complete sense to do this.
They tried this with Taxis several years ago with designated areas on Cross Street and Hanover St. Nobody used them except when a cab driver used the free parking space to grab lunch or coffee or scratch tickets. Why should residents have to walk blocks to get an Uber or Lyft ride when it is the customers of the restaurants on Hanover and Salem St using these services that are causing the congestion.
Like every other quality of life problem in the North End, it’s all about enforcement. If you create a taxi stand at Cross Street, but allow cabs to cruise Hanover for fares , it won’t work. Put pick up/drop off locations at either end of Hanover, and ban all ride shares & taxis from turning onto either Hanover or Salem streets. Granted, it would only work if you can get app addicted millennials to walk a few blocks from their front door for the good of the neighborhood!
Addicted millennials? The blame on and criticism of millennials is getting old; stale.
just be happy those evil millennials as well as the vast majority of the 10,000 people who live in this neighborhood do not fee the need to own a cars because if they did, there would really be problems.
Truth: Those evil millennials are paying good rent to buildings renovated by parents of some of you ! I’d love to hear what is so evil about this millennial age bracket.
Can you tell me?
Entitlement
Selfishness.
Me? I was being sarcastic about millennials being evil. I am keenly aware of the “us versus them” and “new versus old” mentality in this neighborhood, and if you read my posts, you will know my position on most matters (hint: they do not align with the old guard).
Heather, I don’t think he was serious about them being evil. I think what he meant to say was lazy!
There should also be enforcement of no double parking outside of Mikes and other spots on hanover. We can change all these policies but without enforcement it’s menaingless.
Enforcement? People have been double parking on Hanover Street since the fifties and probably longer. Every Sunday on commercial St. They double and triple park.
They don’t even ridk losing their place in line when firetrucks are trying to get by.
Speaking of people holding up traffic… something needs to be done about the busses for the Eliot school.
Is there a reason why they need to line up and block from charter street down to the cost guard base every day for an hour? Can’t they go any later?
You want the kids to wait for the buses ? When would you like them to show up 20 minutes after the bell rings? You can always choose not to drive during the time they are there and/or not park your car on that block on school days
Some of us can’t dictate what time we get out of work. I didn’t say for them to show up 20 minutes after the bell rings but there is no reason for them to block off the biggest street in the neighborhood for an hour. They can’t go there 10-15 minutes before the bell rings? RUkidding me?
The bus schedule for public schools is notoriously hard to dictate. 55,000 kids go to Boston Public schools.
They get out of school at the same time every day. What’s so difficult about it? UPS trucks even get ticketed.
I think it would be important that these designated rideshare zones be optional, and not enforced. One of the reasons people use rideshares that pick them up at their doorstep is because of an inability to easily walk to and from bus/subway/taxi stand/other transportation. Having a designated pickup/drop off area would not serve everyone’s needs, especially not the elderly or disabled. It would be impractical to expect that everyone in this situation could/would rely on subsidized transport like the MBTA’s The Ride. It’s not just millennials who are using rideshares.
In any case, if this were enforced, I’m having a hard time understanding how this wouldn’t just result in a bottleneck of dozens of Ubers/Lyfts converging on a single corner at any given moment during rush hour (kind of like the free-for-all at the airport rideshare lot), creating its own traffic mess.
I don’t hear the lifelong residents complaining about traffic and double parking when it’s feast season…..
Why don’t we leave it alone. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. In the North End it doesn’t matter what you do there will be congestion, so why not allow for a bit of convenience and let them pick me up at home.
This would hurt residents. What do you do if it’s raining? Walk to Cross street to get picked up in the rain? That’s the whole point of an Uber or a cab…
At first glance I thought it would be good idea, but after readingu some of the comments, pickup and drop off zones for rideshare wouldn’t be better observed by their operators than designated cab stands. Even when there is a cab pull over, I seen way to often a cab that will not pull in and leave fare and their luggage, pretty much in the road. Should expect better from rideshares?
It was a practical idea, but too unenforcable and history hasn’t been good regarding restricted spots. The Mayor should move on and work on something more likely to work.
Here is the simple issue to fix the ride share issue… Riders need to be ready.
Yes some of the drivers are idiots and will double park right next to an area where they could pull over and out of traffic and don’t… and there are plenty who think temporarily taking a resident spot is ok.
I live on the corner of one of the many one way streets (as many others do) and multiple times a day, I see a driver waiting for a rider.
It’s the feeling of entitlement of few that have to ruin it for everyone (and I’m not talking about those with mobility issues). The street ends up being backed up and then the driver has to go down the street… I’ve even heard some of those riders berate the driver because they had to walk the half block.
Somerville instituted something similar in Davis about a year ago… wouldn’t it make sense to see how that worked? It’s a much smaller area that it covers, but i’m sure there has to be some lessons learned.