At our February 13 regular meeting, the City Council approved the acceptance of a $60,000 Municipal Road Safety Grant from the state. This grant is a major source of funding for traffic enforcement badly needed in our city, and it also has been a source of controversy over the years. Fortunately, the traffic enforcement programs and the policies around these programs have evolved recently, to the point where this year's grant acceptance was approved by the council with no opposition.

This happened following the de-priortization of The Idaho Stop citywide last year and assurances last night and during the Finance meeting last month that the cyclist safety enforcement program component of this grant would follow that de-prioritization policy.

I've seen some confusion on social media about the cyclist enforcement that makes up a small percentage of the programs funded by this grant, so it's important to get the facts out there. Let's start with the fact cyclist safety programs comprise less than 25 percent of the safety programs included in this grant, and campaigns protecting cyclists make up a decent percentage of those cyclist safety programs. This grant almost entirely targets motor vehicle violations, and the part that does concern itself with cyclist behavior specifically exempts The Idaho Stop from this enforcement.

Here's the backstory on how we got here, and what will and won't be happening as a result of this grant acceptance being approved:

In early 2022, one of the first big moments for a council with five new members was a vote on that year's version of the Municipal Road Safety Grant. Councilor Kelly had requested the grant application in committee, with the Finance Committee then raising concerns about a requirement that a certain number of traffic stops happen per hour as part of these enforcement programs. When the Police Department was unable to commit to following the alternative to the quotas laid out in the grant application, the council voted to reject the acceptance of that grant.

When the following year's version of the grant came before the council, we were told then-Interim Chief Femino had persuaded the state to change the quota requirement in the grant application. The Finance Committee had questions about the educational programs for cyclists included in that grant, but ultimately the removal of the quota led to the unanimous approval of the 2023 grant acceptance.

Shortly thereafter, the council received a significant number of constituent emails and read accounts on social media about being pulled over by Somerville Police targeted enforcement programs for traffic violations, including following The Idaho Stop that is proven to increase street safety. So in July 2023, Ward 3 Councilor Ben Ewen-Campen and I co-sponsored a resolution calling on SPD to de-prioritize enforcement of The Idaho Stop that effectively allows cyclists to treat a red light like a blinking red light and a STOP sign like a YIELD sign.

Last year's edition of the grant came to the council late, with the discussion happening in June. By that point it was too late for cyclist education programs that had been scheduled, and the remaining programs were entirely focused on motor vehicle enforcement. However, we did receive an important update that following the City Council's advocacy for The Idaho Stop the prior year, the Administration and Police Department were finalizing a policy of de-prioritizing enforcement of that behavior.

De-priortization, decriminalization, and legalization often get conflated. In this instance, legalization only can occur at the state level with a change to Massachusetts General Law to allow The Idaho Stop as a legal cyclist maneuver. But a local police department can officially de-prioritize the enforcement of something, effectively committing to not enforce that particular aspect of state law. Until we can get the state to change the law, de-prioritizing it here in Somerville accomplishes the same thing here locally. We have done this with a number of other things, including jaywalking, psychedelics, and minor drug offenses.

That brings us to this year. The Finance Committee discussed the 2025 version of the Municipal Road Safety Grant in committee at our January. We discharged the item with no recommendation, in order to allow time for the grant application to be provided to the council ahead of a vote by the full body. That grant application was communicated as an agenda item for the February 13 regular meeting, and Sgt. Michael McCarey of the Police Department talked about the grant application explicitly de-prioritizing enforcement of a "true" Idaho Stop, where at cyclist comes to a stop at a light before proceeding if it is safe to do so. Consequently, the grant acceptance was approved by the full council without opposition.

I've yet to hear a report of a cyclist being pulled over for practicing an Idaho Stop since the de-prioritization announcement last summer. Given that update and the assurances provided last night, I expect that to remain the case. But if you or someone you know does get pulled over for practicing safe cycling and doing The Idaho Stop, I want to know about it.

In the meantime, if you encounter misinformation about this on social media or in conversation, I would encourage you to correct the record to prevent unnecessary alarm. Here is the relevant video from last night's meeting for anyone who wants to see the actual discussion.