IMAGINE STORROW DRIVE transformed: quiet, soot-free, no longer a wall between the Charles River and the Back Bay and Boston University. Imagine streams of e-bikes, trikes, adaptive bikes, roller-bladers, scooters, e-pod cars, and non-“Storrow-able” electric shuttle buses, using half of the former automobile lanes as an e-mobility corridor. Alongside them are pedestrians and joggers on […]
Transportation
Posted inTransportation
Could infrastructure bill put East-West rail on track?
“IT’S A REALLY big deal,” said Eric Lesser. The Longmeadow state senator seemed to be channeling Joe Biden’s famous line whispered to Barack Obama at the signing of the Affordable Care Act – minus the salty exclamation point Scranton Joe put on it. This time, it’s Biden at centerstage and the big deal is the […]
Posted inTransportation
Strange bedfellows on fed infrastructure bill
THEY SAY politics can make strange bedfellows, and the vote over the weekend on President Biden’s $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill was no exception. The bill passed 228-206 with the help of 13 Republicans who chose infrastructure over ideology. Six far-left Democrats joined with Republicans in opposing the bill, uniting Rep. Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts with […]
Posted inTransportation
Nonunion T employees get $1,000 pandemic bonuses
THE MBTA gave $1,000 bonuses in September to 400 nonunion employees in recognition of their service during the pandemic. The bonuses were approved by MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak and handed out with no public fanfare. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation board, which at the time was directly overseeing the T, did not vote on the bonuses. […]
Posted inTransportation
GLX manager Dalton wants to stay on
JOHN DALTON, the manager brought in from Chicago to oversee the construction of the $2.3 billion Green Line extension into Somerville and Medford, is looking to stick around after the project is done next year. He signed a five-year contract when he was hired in 2016 that made him the MBTA’s highest-paid employee. At the […]
Posted inOpinion
Making gig economy look like mainstream economy would be big mistake
IN NOVEMBER 2022, voters will determine the future of the gig economy in Massachusetts, deciding two ballot measures related to temporary or contract workers who seek to remain independent freelancers. The first petition recently certified by the attorney general aims to “define and regulate the contract-based relationship between network companies and app-based drivers as independent […]
Posted inTransportation
New MBTA board holds first meeting
A correction has been added to this story. THE NEW PERMANENT MBTA board of directors met for the first time on Wednesday, and adopted a more decentralized approach to overseeing the transit authority. Under chair Betsy Taylor, the board intends to meet once a month and turn over some of the nitty gritty work to […]
Posted inTransportation
‘Alarming trend’ of firearms at Logan checkpoints
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SECURITY WORKERS have caught firearms at Logan Airport checkpoints this year at more than twice the rate they did in 2019, part of what Massachusetts Port Authority CEO Lisa Wieland called a “pretty alarming trend” across the country. Wieland told Massport’s board that the rate of firearms seized at airport security […]
Posted inOpinion
MBTA has a bad plan for electrification
THE MBTA says that it is committed to an emission-free future bus system, but its plans suggest otherwise. Recently, the T published a document justifying its decision to abandon its existing electrification network and replace it with battery-electric buses (with diesel heaters). This decision is supported by the assertions that lifecycle costs for these battery […]
Posted inTransportation
Baker commits to bridge linking Assembly Sq. and Encore casino
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION committed on Friday to build a bicycle and pedestrian bridge crossing the Mystic River and connecting Assembly Station on the Orange Line in Somerville to the grounds of the Encore Boston Harbor casino in Everett. The new bridge will connect the two municipalities and link a number of regional bike paths. It […]