Keep Malden Moving holds standout seeking repeal of bicycle and bus lanes

By Tara Vocino

Keep Malden Moving held a standout on Centre Street on Wednesday night. The organization is a grassroots organization that was founded on August 8, 2023. Since its inception, they have more than 400 active members.

“The goal of Keep Malden Moving is to push back on the bicycle and bus lanes that have taken away automobile travel lanes from the residents and commuters of Malden, thus causing massive amounts of traffic throughout the city,” Keep Malden Moving Founder Billy Spadafora said.

Reportedly, these dedicated bicycle and bus lanes were pushed on the City of Malden and funded by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). The MBTA is known for being one of the most mismanaged agencies in Massachusetts. The City of Malden, led by Councillors Ryan O’Malley and Stephen Winslow, allowed the MBTA to bring its terrible policies to Malden, in the middle of a pandemic when ridership was down, with the hope of fixing their unreliable bus service. They did this with no regard as to how it would affect automobile traffic throughout the city.

Current ridership is so low in Malden that the MBTA has eliminated four bus routes and Encore Casino has ended bus service to the city altogether. Bicyclists account for just one percent of the public’s mode of transportation throughout the city, and those numbers drop to near zero in the winter months of New England, according to Spadafora.

“The residents of Malden have become increasingly frustrated sitting in long lines of traffic, while bicycle and bus lanes go relatively unused,” Spadafora said. “This is a quality-of-life issue, as residents are spending more time in traffic and less time with their families and loved ones.”

This is also a safety issue for residential neighborhoods. Due to the overwhelming amounts of traffic, drivers are being pushed to secondary roads that are unable to handle the unprecedented amount of traffic.

Although they have a short window to get this on the November ballot as a “non-binding referendum,” there is a clear path to do so, with the support of the City Council. They would just like for the citizens of Malden to have a voice on election day, to let the city know how residents feel about the increasing traffic in the city, clearly caused by this failed experiment.

For information, visit https://www.facebook.com/groups/keepmaldenmoving/ or email info@keepmaldenmoving.org.

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