City Hall – DR assigned this issue to Police - JW (Communications)

Shortly after I posted, I passed Central again, and there was another police car in the bus stop

Thank you for reporting your concern to City of Cambridge via Commonwealth Connect, Daniel. We have shared your concerns with the Commanding Officers of our Central and Harvard Square Unit. There is a high volume of patrol vehicles in that vicinity due in part to the location of the Cambridge Police Central Square Substation. Regardless, vehicles should not be blocking or interfering with MBTA bus parking. If you would like to follow-up with a Commanding Officer to discuss this matter further or share any other concerns, the Operations Unit can be reached directly at 617-349-3309.

Thank you for the response. To be clear, this space is not "bus parking", it is an active bus stop where thousands of people interface daily with a critical public good.

I would hope that this issue doesn’t require further advocacy from me. The police are 1) jeopardizing the operations of another public agency 2) endangering the lives of people on bicycles and 3) inconveniencing disabled community members, through a single inconsiderate action. I would like to be able to hold police to a higher standard on the issue of traffic violence. I’m sure that the city would be happy to convert some parking spaces to ‘police only’ in the area, especially on Green St.

Also, please don’t use my real name. While you have access to that info as an admin, it is not a part of my public profile and I believe anonymous reporting should be the standard unless I identify myself.

Thank you for your follow-up reports. This system is best suited to respond to service requests like potholes, street lights, rodent issues, etc. that can be assigned to staff and addressed in a timely manner.

However, we have shared these concerns with the appropriate departments so that this report can be taken into consideration as we study future roadway design and enforcement efforts.

/