Boston Youth Transportation Project

The Boston Youth Transportation Project is a report released by Michelle's City Council office that examines the transportation experiences of Boston's teenaged youth. The project was focused on whether Boston youth face any barriers to transportation and what attitudes they held toward different transportation modes. The report delves into factors around transportation and socioeconomic mobility, environmental impact, and public safety.

The City of Boston and MBTA provide substantial transportation benefits to over ten thousand youth living in and attending school in Boston. Yet, there are thousands of young people locked out of these benefits and who may face financial barriers to transportation and may not be able to afford to move around the city as they would like. This results in missed opportunities related to education, employment, personal development, and social life. Boston youth, and especially teenaged students, are particularly dependent on public transit. Young people travel all over and outside the city in order to offset historic and persistent racial segregation, so that they may have opportunities to attend higher quality schools and access jobs that may not be offered in their own neighborhoods. For students to truly take full advantage of opportunities throughout Boston, a highly dependable public transit system is vital.

The findings revealed that there are young people who cannot access opportunities available to them, and worse, that their transportation experiences put them at risk for discipline with educational and transit authorities, limit their learning and earning potential, produce social apprehension, affect relationships with their parents, and reduce their ability to meet basic needs. The report lays out a clear path for improving the quality of life for youth in Boston today and removing impediments to their future success. The steps on this path require collaboration and action from various government agencies and stakeholder groups—together they would create a more sustainable future that benefits the city as a whole.

This report, released in September 2018, was foundational to Michelle Wu's proposal for a city-level Boston Green New Deal & Just Recovery.