Tracking Transportation

Keeping track of transportation

A guide for getting through the MBTA shutdowns

How did we get here, and how do we survive it?

By James Aloisi and Jarred Johnson MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Aug 9, 2022

WELL, THAT was the week that was. No, we aren’t referring to the 1960s irreverent TV satirical review of the news. We’re talking about the week when MBTA leaders decided to shut down there transit system’s second busiest subway line in order to undertake an accelerated 30-day repair program, the week when the T also(...)

T closing big chunk of Green Line for a month

Buses will shuttle passengers between Govt. Ctr. and Somerville

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Aug 5, 2022

TWO DAYS after announcing a month-long shutdown of service on the entire Orange Line, the MBTA said it plans to simultaneously close a section of the Green Line running between Government Center and Union Square in Somerville. MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak also said the Green Line extension from Lechmere to Medford will miss its(...)

MBTA bus catches fire in Jamaica Plain

Fire extinguished by Fire Department at Arborway facility

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Aug 4, 2022

AN OUT-OF-SERVICE bus returning to the Arborway facility in Jamaica Plain caught fire on Thursday and the Boston Fire Department had to be called in to extinguish the blaze. MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said the fire was in the vehicle’s “rear compartment.” He said MBTA personnel tried unsuccessfully to put out the fire and two(...)

Baker announces 30-day Orange Line shutdown

Officials say painful service interruption will accelerate safety, maintenance work

By Shira Schoenberg Orange Line 0 Comments Aug 3, 2022

GOV. CHARLIE BAKER announced Wednesday that the MBTA’s entire Orange Line will shut down for 30 days in order to accelerate repairs. It will be the longest shutdown of an entire line in MBTA history, and Baker said it will let the T do the amount of work in 30 days that would have taken(...)

Orange Line shutdown coming, perhaps for a month

MBTA facing federal directives to speed up maintenance work

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Aug 2, 2022

THE MBTA is preparing to shut down the Orange Line later this month to do maintenance and repair work and there is speculation that the shutdown could last several weeks or perhaps a month. The T board of directors on Wednesday is taking up a proposed contract with A Yankee Line Inc. to provide replacement(...)

Bike stats contradict safety claims of Cambridge officials

Porter Square is safe intersection, not the most dangerous one

By John Hanratty Municipal Government, Transportation 0 Comments Jul 30, 2022

AMID AN OUTCRY over how the implementation of Quick Build bike lanes will all but eliminate street parking in front of local businesses, the Cambridge City Council has smacked down residents’ concerns with false and outdated information. No matter which side of this debate you stand on, everybody should be able to deliberate based on(...)

FTA orders ‘safety standdown’ at T for disabled trains

Work halted until employees review 3 recent incidents

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Jul 29, 2022

THE FEDERAL Transit Administration ordered an “immediate safety standdown” at the MBTA, requiring all workers who operate or secure disabled transit vehicles to halt their work until they participate in a briefing where they review the causes of three runaway train incidents that occurred in May and July. The letter ordering the standdown was dated(...)

Pass ebike legislation, reward car-lite living

Once a person buys a vehicle, it's very hard to convince them to give it up

By Robin Chase Transportation 0 Comments Jul 28, 2022

THE STATE Legislature and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation need to keep their eye on the real transportation goal for the state – maintaining and increasing the number of people and households that are living car-independent lives – as we sort through the T’s long-predicted crisis, The state’s economy, the people’s daily welfare, and the(...)

Merging MBTA with DOT is a bad idea

Independence, with more checks and balances, is best route

By Brian Kane Massachusetts Legislature, MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Jul 24, 2022

THE JOINT COMMITTEE on Transportation seems to want to have its proverbial cake and eat it too. At its recent oversight hearing, House Committee Co-Chairman William Strauss suggested that the MBTA be further folded into MassDOT; while Senate Committee Co-Chairman Brendan Creighton inquired if the governor’s office interfered in reporting of derailments. The Transportation Committee(...)

MBTA service levels need to be restored asap

Lack of training space in OCC cannot be excuse for lack of hiring

By James Aloisi MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Jul 23, 2022

LET THIS SINK IN for a second: The MBTA this week announced that it won’t be able to return the subway system to regular service frequencies before Labor Day, and probably not until sometime in 2023. This is because the Federal Transit Administration directed the T to solve the problem of understaffing and excessively long(...)