Boston City Council Meeting on October 21, 2026

At its October 21, 2026 meeting, the Boston City Council approved a $3,250,220 Massachusetts Metropolitan Area Planning Council grant for the Boston Transportation Department to add e-bikes and spare batteries to the Bluebikes system. The funding is intended to increase e-bikes’ share of the fleet from about 12% to 33%; the Council passed the docket 10–2. The city is to provide quarterly reports, and the project’s stated contract end date is December 31, 2027. The Council also passed, with 12 affirmative votes, authorization to accept and expend a $500,000 Rockefeller Philanthropy Cities Fund grant for an immigrant-led home-care worker cooperative initiative expected to involve about 60 workers and serve more than 100 people. A proposed $668,500 Massachusetts Gaming Commission grant was read into the record, but no disposition was clear in the transcript. No contract awards, RFP selections, or vendor bids were identified.

Other business included unanimous confirmations of zoning board appointments; a proposed citywide data-center zoning ban remained in committee after discussion of regulation, environmental impacts, research, and jobs. Councilors also raised housing affordability and displacement, federal housing funding reductions, youth employment funding and program changes, transit equity, and street safety. A resolution urging Congress to restore or increase federal housing support was adopted, and a resolution making Election Day a holiday for City Council employees passed 10–3.