Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s prime aide has a private stake within the firm town might rent as a public transit operator, as a part of a federal grant that seeks to advance its plans to cut back congestion by getting individuals out of their automobiles.
Tiffany Chu, the mayor’s chief of workers, is the previous CEO and co-founder of Remix, a previous San Francisco transit planning platform that was acquired for $100 million in 2021 by Through Transportation, Inc. — a non-public operator that’s poised to learn from a roughly $14 million price range to function 5 new fixed-route van shuttles and two “microtransit” service areas to complement and hook up with MBTA service.
The contract to Through — the place Chu labored till becoming a member of the Wu administration in 2022 — can be largely paid by a $21.6 million congestion reduction grant the Metropolis of Boston was awarded, partially, by the Federal Freeway Administration final month, per a prior announcement from the Metropolitan Space Planning Council, which made the grant utility.
The mayor’s workplace confirmed the connection, first reported by Streetsblog Massachusetts, to the Herald on Monday, stating that whereas Chu nonetheless owns shares within the firm, she was not conscious of Through’s involvement within the grant utility.
“Chu founded her company Remix in 2014, a technology company that supports city transportation planning,” the mayor’s workplace mentioned in an announcement. “She sold the company to Via in 2021 and worked there until joining the City in 2022.
“From the sale of Remix, Chu owns a limited number of shares in Via, totaling far below 1%,” town’s assertion continued. “Chu had no involvement in the grant application and was not aware that Via consulted on the application until after the grant was awarded by the federal government.”
The mayor’s workplace additionally famous that Through has not formally been employed as a transit operator by the grant, provided that the MAPC and its subapplicants, together with the Metropolis of Boston, are nonetheless awaiting particulars from the U.S. Division of Transportation.
“No commitments have been made, and no contractors or companies have been hired,” the mayor’s workplace mentioned. “Any services procured under the grant would be done in accordance with all relevant state laws and bidding requirements.”
The brand new shuttle community funded by the grant would increase public transit in key Boston neighborhoods, together with the Seaport, Charlestown and Allston-Brighton. It might additionally fund a major Bluebikes enlargement throughout the Larger Boston area, at a time when the Wu administration is investing thousands and thousands to increase town’s bike lane and bike sharing networks, to combined reactions.
