Getting MBTA capital spending on track

Procurement reforms and new management capacity are key

By Ian Ollis MBTA capital spending, procurement 0 Comments Aug 13, 2019

THE MASSACHUSETTS LEGISLATURE must free the MBTA from overly restrictive procurement methods and the T must dramatically increase its project and contract management capacity if it is to reach aggressive capital spending targets aimed at upgrading the system and accommodating more riders. We lay out the case for these initiatives in a new Pioneer Institute(...)

T notes: Accelerated work means more closures on T

MBTA begins plans to replace North Station drawbridge

By Andy Metzger accelerated, automation, Charlie Baker, derailment, Green Line extension, Joseph Aiello, MBTA, metallurgy 0 Comments Aug 12, 2019

RESPONDING TO Gov. Charlie Baker’s urging to accelerate repairs even if that means more weekend and overnight closures, the MBTA announced a plan to step up work on the Red, Green and Orange lines. The track replacement, debris removal, and station washing will require new weekend closures on the Orange Line from Tufts Medical to(...)

Now arriving: First new Orange Line cars in almost 40 years

CRRC-built cars to enter service Wednesday

By Andy Metzger 0 Comments Aug 12, 2019

SIX NEW MBTA Orange Line cars will enter service Wednesday, the first new cars in what will eventually be a complete replacement of the fleet that entered service around 1980. Constructed by CRRC, a Chinese government-owned railcar manufacturer with an assembly plant in Springfield, the six new Orange Line cars have undergone about 3,800 miles(...)

T completes some Red Line signal improvements

Also adds more Red Line trains between 1 and 3 p.m.

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Aug 9, 2019

THE MBTA SAYS it has restored automated signal systems between the JFK/UMass and Broadway stations that were damaged in the June 11 derailment, eliminating the need for manual signaling on that portion of the Red Line and cutting about five minutes off travel times. The announcement came a few days earlier than expected. The focus(...)

Congestion: Worst, bad, Uber and Lyft

State report tracks where traffic slows to a crawl

By Andy Metzger and Bruce Mohl Congestion, study, TNCs, traffic 0 Comments Aug 8, 2019

THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION’S congestion study put some hard data behind the public’s sense – correct, as it turned out – that Greater Boston’s already bad traffic got worse in the past five years. In addition to making more general findings, the report also identified the top five severest occurrences of congestion, and the most consistently(...)

Baker likes managed (toll) lanes

Would likely require state to add a lane to existing highways

By Bruce Mohl Charlie Baker, Transportation 0 Comments Aug 8, 2019

GOV. CHARLIE BAKER has found a form of congestion pricing he likes, but it faces a number of legal and logistical hurdles if it is to take root in Massachusetts. Congestion pricing seeks to reduce congestion by shifting travel patterns using tolls or mileage charges. The general goal is to incentivize people to travel at(...)

For complex traffic problem, Baker offers smorgasbord

Congestion plan sees potential quick fixes at intersections

By Andy Metzger Charlie Baker, Congestion, congestion pricing, Lyft, Stephani Pollack, TNCs, traffic, Uber 0 Comments Aug 8, 2019

LACKING A “SILVER BULLET” to deal with traffic congestion, Gov. Charlie Baker presented a scattershot plan Thursday to tinker with intersections, quickly clear road wrecks, and consider building special new lanes or raising ride-hailing fees to help commuters robbed of their time and patience on the way to work. Data compiled by the Baker administration(...)

As T plugs into e-buses, new questions about garages

Electric buses would have costs and benefits

By Andy Metzger A Better City, Buses, e-bus, electric, MBTA 0 Comments Aug 7, 2019

THE MBTA HAS outgrown its decades-old bus maintenance garages, and T officials are considering adding around 500 buses to the fleet of roughly 1,000, which some think sets up an opportunity to make a dramatic switch towards using electric motors to haul passengers around. The MBTA has taken some important steps in that direction, but(...)

Green Line derailment 6th this year at MBTA

Preliminary investigation blames operator error

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Aug 7, 2019

A PRELIMINARY MBTA investigation is blaming operator error for Wednesday morning’s Green Line derailment, the transit authority’s sixth passenger-service derailment in 2019 and the third caused by human error. T officials said the second car of the two-car Green Line train derailed shortly after leaving Riverside Station on the D line at about 6 a.m.(...)

Red Line won’t be at full strength until Oct.

MBTA doesn't explain why target date pushed back from Labor Day

By Chris Lisinski MBTA 0 Comments Aug 5, 2019

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MBTA OFFICIALS pushed back the target completion date for full Red Line repairs from Labor Day to sometime in October, but declined to say what prompted the change. Some progress has been made to repair signal infrastructure damaged by a June 11 derailment, and the Red Line is now running as many(...)