Tracking Transportation

Keeping track of transportation

‘Alarming trend’ of firearms at Logan checkpoints

15 weapons, many loaded, found in carryon bags so far in 2021

By Chris Lisinski Transportation 0 Comments Oct 24, 2021

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(...)

MBTA has a bad plan for electrification

Agency needs to take advantage, not discard, electric trolleys

By Jarred Johnson MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Oct 24, 2021

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(...)

Baker commits to bridge linking Assembly Sq. and Encore casino

Source of $35m for project over Mystic River still not clear

By Bruce Mohl Casinos, Transportation 0 Comments Oct 22, 2021

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(...)

New T board likely to move at slower pace

Poftak says panel will meet once a month

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Oct 21, 2021

THE NEW PERMANENT MBTA board of directors seems poised to move at a much more leisurely pace than its predecessor, the Fiscal and Management Control Board. Under the statute that created the new board, the seven-member panel is required to meet at least once a month and not less than 12 times per year. In(...)

T delays Green Line extension a second time

Union Sq. branch now set to open 3 months later in March

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Oct 21, 2021

THE MBTA is once again delaying the initial opening of the Green Line extension into Somerville, this time because cramped quarters in a newly built facility for delivering electricity to the subway line is making it difficult to get enough workers inside to finish the job on time. The Green Line extension has two branches(...)

Wu says local-option tax could help fund fare-free MBTA service

Mayoral candidate says free bus service would be a first step

By Michael Jonas free-fare, MBTA, Michelle Wu 0 Comments Oct 20, 2021

WHEN IT COMES to fare-free MBTA service, is Michelle Wu willing to put her money – or that of Boston residents – where her mouth is? The frontrunner in the Boston mayor’s race has touted the idea of fare-free MBTA service, something she says is a matter of racial and economic justice as well as(...)

New work week: Tuesday through Thursday

MassDOT commuter planning tool finds new pattern

By Bruce Mohl Transportation 0 Comments Oct 20, 2021

A NEW DASHBOARD showing average travel times on roadways coming into and out of Boston indicates more people working hybrid schedules are driving in the middle part of the week rather than at the beginning or the end. “We’re seeing a pattern on a number of these roadways. The new work week seems to be(...)

Fare-free Worcester buses called bright spot in transit recovery

Business group backs discount fares for intermittent commuter rail riders

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Oct 19, 2021

THE BUS SYSTEM in Worcester, which went fare free in March 2020, has built back its ridership during COVID faster than any other transit system in Massachusetts, according to a new report. The Worcester Regional Transit Authority, which operates the bus system, is one of the few bright spots in terms of ridership among transit(...)

Wu’s fare-free T: Fanciful notion or strategic thinking?

Beacon Hill not interested; Aloisi calls it pushing the envelope

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Michelle Wu 0 Comments Oct 19, 2021

BEACON HILL LEADERS are showing little interest in one of Boston mayoral candidate Michelle Wu’s campaign priorities – making the MBTA fare free. At a State House press conference on Monday, Gov. Charlie Baker, House Speaker Ron Mariano, and Senate President Karen Spilka were asked whether they support Wu’s call for the elimination of fares(...)

Senator has shopping list for the T

Includes electrification, fare-free bus routes, infrastructure improvements

By Brendan Crighton MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Oct 14, 2021

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION is a public good, and all residents of the Commonwealth, especially low-income individuals and people of color, deserve equitable access to an affordable, reliable, and green transportation system. Massachusetts will soon have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform its transportation system as the federal government is on the verge of making a historic multi-billion-dollar(...)