Alan Wirzbicki

Senior Editorial Writer at The Boston Globe

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Articles

After student’s death, should Boston’s bus monitors be doing more? - The Boston Globe

5 days ago | bostonglobe.com | Alan Wirzbicki

We still don’t know — and may never know — exactly what went wrong in April when a 5-year-old boy was struck and killed by a school bus in Hyde Park. Authorities say the investigation is ongoing, and the few details that have emerged don’t paint a clear picture of what changes, if any, the city should make in response. But when I posed the question to readers of this newsletter about how to make the city’s school buses safer in general, ideas poured in.
Memorial Day without a car, part II - The Boston Globe

1 week ago | bostonglobe.com | Alan Wirzbicki

Memorial Day is here — the traditional kickoff to the summer complaining season in New England, when gripes about traffic replace gripes about the weather. Millions of people will be in transit this weekend, for a picnic or parade — or just to take advantage of nice weather on a day off. AAA projects that 45.1 million people will travel at least 50 miles over the long weekend. As the Globe reported last week, the expert advice for beating Memorial Day congestions is to avoid afternoons.
Robotaxi company Waymo is scouting Boston - The Boston Globe

3 weeks ago | bostonglobe.com | Alan Wirzbicki

Waymo, the controversial self-driving car company whose robotaxis have become a common sight in San Francisco and a few other cities, will take initial steps that could lead to an eventual expansion into Boston. A company spokesperson confirmed that a fleet of Waymo electric vehicles (driven by humans) would be in Boston in May and June, mapping out the city’s streets . The spokesperson, Sandy Karp, said the intent was to get familiar with Boston.
Cosmic relief - The Boston Globe

1 month ago | bostonglobe.com | Alan Wirzbicki

Alien: Take us to your leader. Earthling: Um, why do you ask? Just out of curiosity. Alien: Isn’t that what we’re supposed to ask for? It says it right here in the travel guide. Earthling: Well, ordinarily, yes, but —Earthling: Look, our leader’s not into aliens, and I’m not totally sure he’d understand you’re not that kind of alien. Earthling: See, that’s only going to make it worse. Alien: We’ve come 120 light-years for this visit, you know. Earthling: I’m sorry.
Can a Baker Republican still win? Three writers on the Mass. governor’s race. - The Boston Globe

1 month ago | bostonglobe.com | Joan Vennochi |Alan Wirzbicki |Carine Hajjar

On Monday, Mike Kennealy, a former adviser to the state’s most recent Republican governor, Charlie Baker, announced his candidacy for governor in the 2026 election. A well-known figure in Republican politics and a favorite of the moderate Baker camp, he faces two stiff challenges: first, winning the Republican primary, where conservative voters tend to dominate, and second, taking on the incumbent Democrat, Governor Maura Healey. Can he do it? Three Globe Opinion writers have thoughts.
Delivery apps are here to stay. Cities need to adjust. - The Boston Globe

2 months ago | bostonglobe.com | Alan Wirzbicki

Delivery drivers clogging streets has become a fact of life in Boston. Some parts of it, anyway: If you’re scratching your head wondering what the fuss over a new city ordinance regulating delivery companies is about, then lucky you. But if you live anywhere close to a restaurant that does lots of takeout business — as many now do since the pandemic — you’ve probably seen lines of delivery cars double-parked in front, drivers recklessly weaving in and out of traffic, unsafe u-turns, etc.
Can we do better than the 30-year saga for South Coast Rail? - The Boston Globe

2 months ago | bostonglobe.com | Alan Wirzbicki

It’s not written in stone that projects like South Coast Rail, which finally opened under gloomy skies last week after about 30 years of planning and delays, have to take so long. Lawmakers can speed up the process — and there finally seems to be some momentum to do so.
We’re #38! And #7! And #11! - The Boston Globe

2 months ago | bostonglobe.com | Alan Wirzbicki

A new crop of state-by-state ranking purports to show how Massachusetts is doing on roads compared to other places. I’ve read through three of them, and the broad takeaway is… don’t take rankings too seriously. Let’s start with Consumer Affairs, which last month ranked states “analyzing metrics including rural and urban road roughness and traffic fatalities.”Massachusetts ranked #38 — weighed down, apparently by the condition of its urban roads, 30 percent of which were deemed in poor condition.
Good riddance to The Pit - The Boston Globe

2 months ago | bostonglobe.com | Alan Wirzbicki

Io Nachtwey’s doomed life in The Pit, the circular brick plaza above the Harvard Square T station, began sometime in the summer of 2001. Originally from Hawaii, she was 22 and homeless when she drifted into Cambridge. She quickly joined a loose-knit community of misfits who loitered and skateboarded in and around The Pit, often panhandling and sleeping on nearby streets or in graveyards.
Tesla owners: I want to hear from you - The Boston Globe

2 months ago | bostonglobe.com | Alan Wirzbicki

I wrote a whole article making fun of the plight of Tesla owners. Then I decided to drop it from this week’s newsletter. Instead, I’m making a request. Do you drive a Tesla? Are you tired of enduring the judgement of your friends and neighbors? The vandalism, keying, arson, shootings? Do you just want someone to listen?