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- Dear Mayor and staff, I usually don't write to mayors or state officials and perhaps I am doing so now because I honestly hope this city I love more than any other city can improve its public transportation so I don't have to make the hard choice to leave. Background: I recently became a mother and it was a difficult birth with extended hospital stays for both me and my child. When my husband and I returned to work, we commuted via the red line. Ten years ago, the red line trip to work took me 20 minutes. Now it takes 40. My husband's trip that should take 40 minutes is now usually 70. That's almost double the time from years past. So what does this do for a family on the day to day? It wears us down in very real ways. On most days my husband doesn't see his baby before she goes to sleep. I then become essentially a single parent on weekdays because my commute is the shorter of the two parents. Because of this, I have been slower to recover from my health post partum health challenges. Things like a mislabeled train that says Braintree instead of Ashmont sound inconsequential but for a sleep-deprived, harried new parent, this means getting on the wrong train and adding another 30 minutes t an already long commute. We have thought about buying a 2nd car but with that comes more expenses especially for parking. We feel trapped. For these reasons we need to consider moving to another city that isn't so hard on new parents on a daily grueling basis. Just getting to and from work is exhausting. We chose our housing to be close to an mbta line so we wouldn't need an extra car and we could be more environmentally conscious commuters. It has not panned out the way we hoped. The commuter rail is available but the cost is nearly triple the rate of a regular transit fare and we cannot make that work. My husband and I are both in nonprofit work--I am an arts administrator and he manages a space that improves access to STEAM education for historically marginalized communities. We are also both people of color working to help organizations be more accessible and inclusive so that the path for others will be easier than ours. In my line of work I have seen many artists leave Boston because of the rise in expenses. I want to hold fast to this city because it has always been my soul city. And that's why it's breaking my heart that I am realizing I might have to leave before it burns me out. So many artists and community workers and parents (and everyday hardworking people) have demanding responsibilities...and the persistent difficulties and extra time that an arduous commute entails can really make life truly miserable. I don't know how much can be done for our ailing transit system and I know you have your own obstacles and challenges. I have wondered a few times while writing this if I should even send it. The problem seems so huge, like our city is literally stuck and can't move forward. I hope I can hold on and stay. I love my work and my city. But I am losing energy and feel very worn thin because getting to and from work is work in itself. It's sapping us of critical time we need to handle the things life throws at us. A transit problem isn't just about transportation. It influences many parts of our lives because it impacts the time we have in a day to get by. Thanks for listening and for the monumental (and thankless) work you do. | Case (SR) Type: [Miscellaneous] Referred To: [INTERGOVERNMENTAL RELATIONS]
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