The City Of Boston Wants You To Vote On Future Transportation Projects

Want to help shape Boston's transportation future? You can now vote on the transportation projects you want the city to pursue.

The city of Boston has created a ballot with a list of transportation projects and policies it wants the public to weigh in on. The effort, announced Wednesday, is part of Go Boston 2030 — the city's long-term planning initiative to improve transportation, which kicked off last year.

The ballot includes 48 projects and policies that were narrowed down from over 3,700 ideas the city collected online and through public meetings. Ballot responses will be incorporated into a transportation action plan set to be released this fall, according to the city.

"Those projects and policies will guide our thinking for the next 15 years [and] would also directly contribute to how we structure the capital plan, which will be where the money is coming from to build this," said Vineet Gupta, the director of policy and planning for the Boston Transportation Department.

Residents can submit their ballot responses through June 17. Responses can be submitted online or by mail.

Here's how the ballot works:

The 48 ideas have been organized into four categories. One category dubbed "Go Local" focuses on improving streets in neighborhoods. Another category called "Go Crosstown" focuses on ideas to connect residents to different job centers in the city, such as the Longwood Medical area or South Boston Seaport District. A category called "Go Tech" focuses on emerging technology, such as self-driving cars. And a category called "Go Regional" focuses on how Boston can better connect to surrounding areas.

First, you select one of four categories that you want to be the city's primary focus. Then in that category, you can select three projects or policies.

Some projects include adding pedestrian and bike paths in different neighborhoods, creating new plazas or public spaces, or building streetcar service to connect underserved areas to job centers, such as a direct link from Mattapan to the Longwood Medical area. Policy ideas span from creating a strategy for autonomous vehicles to developing a plan to restructure bus routes through the city.

Many of the ideas will require coordination with the state, particularly the MBTA and MassDOT. Chris Osgood, Boston's chief of streets, said the city has been working with those agencies on the Go Boston 2030 efforts.

"They've been great partners in this effort," Osgood said. "We're optimistic about the next 15 years."

The city also outlined Wednesday some near term projects it is working on, including expanding Hubway into more neighborhoods, building more protected bike lanes and improving pedestrian safety through its Vision Zero initiative. The city is also looking into variable parking meter pricing and implementing smart traffic signals.