T notes: Capital spending reaches $1b

Foxboro commuter rail pilot schedule set

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Jul 23, 2019

THE MBTA SPENT more than $1 billion on capital projects in fiscal 2019 – about $50 million more than the transit authority’s goal for the year. The good news was partially self-induced, as T General Manager Steve Poftak scaled back the agency’s capital spending plans in May, saying they were “infeasible to execute.” He lowered(...)

Walsh pitches ride-hailing fees as traffic solution

Mayor also met with top MBTA officials Tuesday

By Andy Metzger Lyft, Marty Walsh, MBTA, ride-hailing, Uber 0 Comments Jul 23, 2019

BOSTON MAYOR MARTY Walsh wants to reduce traffic choking city streets and enhance transit options in the city through a mixture of targeted taxes on ride-hailing services and investments by the MBTA. On Tuesday, Walsh advocated for both the revenue and the spending ideas during two separate meetings: a legislative hearing at the State House(...)

Red Line derailment hurts commuter rail performance

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Jul 22, 2019

THE MBTA WANTS TO INCREASE the size of its workforce by 10.5 percent this fiscal year. In a presentation to the T’s Fiscal and Management Control Board, Matt St. Hilaire, the agency’s chief human resources officer, said he wants to add a total of 834 workers – a net increase of 652 once the 182(...)

State calls off sale of East Boston easement rights

Bows to pressure from transportation advocates calling for comprehensive planning process

By Michael Jonas 0 Comments Jul 22, 2019

STATE TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS said on Monday they are canceling the planned sale of rights to a stretch of land in East Boston and instead committing to a study of the area to see if the parcel could better be used to alleviate congestion on busy Route 1A. Joseph Aiello, chairman of the MBTA’’s Fiscal and Management(...)

Frustrated lawmakers abruptly end RMV oversight hearing

Committee wants more cooperation from Baker administration

By Andy Metzger Jamey Tesler, Joseph Boncore, oversight, Paul Tucker, RMV, Stephanie Pollack, William Straus 0 Comments Jul 22, 2019

This story was updated. FRUSTRATED OVER THE lack of cooperation from the Baker administration on a legislative probe into extensive failures at the Registry of Motor Vehicles, lawmakers cut short their oversight hearing Monday morning, essentially telling Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack to come back when she had something to tell them. An “extremely disappointed” House(...)

T has extra $1.2b: How would you spend it?

Agency is holding off, saying it lacks organizational capacity

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Jul 21, 2019

IT HASN’T RECEIVED a lot of attention, but the MBTA has an extra $1.2 billion in untapped capital funds at its disposal. The agency’s five-year capital spending plan has $9.4 billion in funding sources but only $8.2 billion in planned spending. T General Manager Steve Poftak said in May that he would like to spend(...)

Fixing Kendall Square’s mobility challenges

New report offers great ideas; here’s some more

By Andy Monat MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Jul 20, 2019

TRANSPORT KENDALL, a partnership of the Kendall Square Association, the city of Cambridge, and the Cambridge Redevelopment Authority, recently issued a report that appropriately underscores that transit, bicycling, and walking are central to Kendall Square’s economic success. Its core argument is spot-on correct: “Kendall Square now needs to aggressively pursue transportation solutions to anticipate and(...)

MBTA releases video of Red Line derailment

Agency says service returning to normal on stretch of track

By Chris Lisinski MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Jul 19, 2019

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE MBTA RELEASED video Friday of a June 11 Red Line derailment that officials say will continue to cause delays through most of the summer, the same day T officials said service on a stretch of track will return to normal two weeks earlier than expected. After being instructed by the(...)

Baker bill seeks new rules for commercial drivers

Proposed crackdown follows NH crash, ensuing scandal

By Andy Metzger Charlie Baker, Erin Deveney, Jamey Tesler, RMV, Stephanie Pollack, Volodymyr Zhukovskyy 0 Comments Jul 19, 2019

JUST UNDER A MONTH after a truck crash that killed seven motorcyclists in New Hampshire, Gov. Charlie Baker filed legislation Friday that he says would enhance safety by keeping dangerous commercial drivers off the road. The bill aims to accomplish that goal by increasing penalties for repeat bad drivers and requiring trucking businesses to sign(...)

Charlie Baker/ Marty Walsh/ MBTA/ reliability/ satisfaction/ survey/ Tommy Vitolo

Riders give T worst marks yet in June performance review

Satisfaction took a big hit after Red Line derailment

By Andy Metzger 0 Comments Jul 17, 2019

RIDERS’ OPINIONS OF the MBTA plummeted in June, perhaps unsurprisingly, as more than half of the respondents to the T’s regular survey were at least somewhat dissatisfied with the service overall. The June rating of 2.5 out of 5 is the lowest since that survey began in February 2016, and a striking dip from ratings(...)