Dear Biking Brookline Community:
Vote May 5th for safe streets in Brookline! Contact your family and friends in Brookline to encourage them to vote for safe streets candidates! The polls will be open from 7 AM to 8 PM. Click here for polling locations.
Biking Brookline has rated the three Select Board candidates (who are running for two seats). The ratings represent the unanimous opinion of the Biking Brookline Board of Directors and are based on each candidate’s record and response to the Biking Brookline Candidate Questionnaire.
Candidate Scorecard
You can read the full candidate scorecard, which includes candidate positions on specific issues, at this link.
Biking Brookline Perspective on Each Candidate
Amanda Zimmerman has made “safer streets for all” one of the four cornerstones of her campaign. In her roles as a Town Meeting Member and a member of the Brookline Bicycle Advisory Committee, she has a long history of working to make Brookline’s bicycling infrastructure safer. She has been a consistent supporter of the Washington Street Project, the Beacon Street Bridleway, protected bike lanes on Chestnut Hill Avenue, and the South Brookline to BHS Bicycle Access Plan. As a parent who sometimes gets around Brookline with her children on a cargo bike, she has first hand experience of using our public ways on bicycle.
Anthony Buono, like Amanda, has made roadway safety one of the four cornerstones of his campaign. He recognizes the need for infrastructure changes to consider the needs of small businesses. His views on this are influenced by studies showing that protected infrastructure can increase foot traffic and attract more customers. He promises to follow a data-driven approach to infrastructure changes, as he did on the Washington Street Complete Streets Project, where he helped persuade fellow Town Meeting Members that the project would not hurt businesses and had the potential to be good for local businesses.
John VanScoyoc actively opposes implementation of safe bicycling infrastructure. While his previous Select Board campaign platforms claimed support for safe bicycling infrastructure, he was the only member of the Board to vote against the Washington Street Project, and he is the only member of the Board seeking a pause in the Beacon Street Bridleway Project. John refused to meet with Biking Brookline to discuss the Washington Street Project. This refusal was consistent with a pattern in which he allies himself with certain stakeholders opposed to bicycling infrastructure while shutting out other members of the community, and in which he fails to acknowledge the strong public support for protected bike lanes and the data showing their value. This conduct has made it impossible to engage in collaborative discussions that would lead to roadway safety improvements that maximize benefits for our community.
Biking Brookline Questionnaire and Candidate Responses
You can read the Select Board responses to the Biking Brookline Questionnaire at this link.
You can learn about the election and read all the candidate responses, including for Select Board, School Committee, and Town Meeting Member, at bikingbrookline.org/election-2026.
We hope that you will consider bicycling and other transportation issues when you vote.