THE MBTA tweeted recently that it will once again be conducting track work on the Red Line between Alewife and Harvard on weekends, closing the route during that time and running substitute shuttle bus service on weekends between November 10 and December 2. Such work is important to keep the system functional and resilient, and some […]
Ari Ofsevit
Posted inOpinion
S. Coast Rail is headed in wrong direction
THE CURRENT PROCESS for South Coast Rail is on the wrong track. The current solution—an interim option which avoids sensitive environmental areas—doesn’t please the city it runs through (Middleboro), the one it misses (Taunton), or the communities at the end of the line, Fall River and New Bedford. The project also fails to offer riders […]
Posted inOpinion
MBTA’s unfair rail fares need to change
EVERY DAY, more than 100,000 people ride the commuter rail in and around Boston, headed not just to work, but also to shop, spend time with family and friends, make medical appointments, and attend cultural or sporting events. Today more than ever, mobility across our growing region is fundamental for equitable access to jobs, healthcare, […]
Posted inOpinion
Think bigger on Red-Blue connection
THE RED-BLUE CONNECTOR is back in the news, with the state funding a small study to examine whether the project might be feasible. When we last left it, the connector was tagged with a laughably-high price tag of $750 million for a deep bore tunnel, even though the existing Blue Line tracks extend west to […]
Posted inOpinion
Buses, not gondolas, are the answer
Second of two parts WHILE A GONDOLA WON’T FLY at South Station, there’s a simple solution to the mobility issues confronting the Seaport District and the basic infrastructure is already in place: buses. A bus may not be as sexy as a gondola, but it also won’t require a hulking station shadowing Congress Street, Dewey […]
Posted inOpinion
Forget the gondola, there’s nowhere to put it
Unlike Elon Musk’s latest foray in to urban transportation, which involves several as yet non-existent technologies, the idea for a Summer Street gondola is something which at least has been built and operated successfully elsewhere. The principal features of gondola technology are pretty straightforward, offering an unremarkable combination of relatively slow, expensive, and low-capacity mobility. […]
Posted inTransportation
Forget gondolas, turn Silver Line Green
PERHAPS THIS WINTER’S SECOND 100-year flood will pour cold stormwater on the latest idea for fixing transportation in the Seaport District: running a gondola down Summer Street. Hopefully this idea will go in the dustbin alongside other schemes like running commuter rail along the defunct Track 61, or worse, through the existing Silver Line tunnel. […]
Posted inTransportation
Free the ramp
I’VE BEEN WRITING for three years about the disadvantages of the Silver Line not using the Ted Williams Tunnel ramp that was designed for it, but it’s time to bring it up again. Ted Pyne recently wrote about the ramp in Commonwealth and he points out—much like I have—that using the ramp would actually save the T money in […]
Posted inOpinion
Dear Gov. Raimondo: Express trains wrong ask
DEAR GOVERNOR GINA RAIMONDO: We read with interest your call for express rail service from Providence to Boston. You are spot-on in thinking that improved rail connections regionally will be beneficial to the people, the economies, and the environments of our respective states. But rather than single express trains serving a few commuters, we respectfully […]
Posted inOpinion
Take long view, build N-S Rail Link
DESPITE THE SORRY STATE of Greater Boston’s commuter rail system, it manages to function well enough to carry nearly half of the city’s suburban commuters to jobs and other destinations. This is less a testament to the efficiency of the rail network and more a reflection of the hours-long gridlock on the highway network every […]