Tracking Transportation

Keeping track of transportation

More near-miss incidents reported at the T

Worker who failed to get clearance for subway work seriously injured

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Apr 19, 2023

NEAR-MISS incidents at the MBTA between maintenance staff and vehicles keep on coming. At a meeting of a safety subcommittee of the MBTA board last Thursday, T staff disclosed there had been four near misses between March 13 and April 7. Most were caused by poor communication between maintenance workers, train operators, and staffers in the(...)

Addressing T slow zones will take much of this year

7 p.m. shutdowns planned to address Blue Line track defects

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Apr 19, 2023

THE MBTA’S new general manager on Wednesday outlined initial plans for removing slow zones on the Blue Line that suggest track defects went unaddressed for a long time and that fixing them will inconvenience riders through the end of the year. T officials in March imposed slow zones across much of the system when it(...)

Moulton’s ambitious, expensive, and enthralling transportation vision

Congressman’s primary focus is on commuter rail

By Bruce Mohl 0 Comments Apr 18, 2023

AT A TIME when roughly a quarter of the MBTA subway system is crawling along at a safety-induced snail’s pace, US Rep. Seth Moulton is pushing an ambitious expansion of the T’s commuter rail network. He acknowledges the first priority is getting the T’s subway system back in working order. “The reality is that the(...)

Is transit a public good?

It may not satisfy the economic definition, but it clearly is

By James Aloisi MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Apr 17, 2023

A RECENT Bloomberg City Lab article by the highly regarded transportation thought leader David Zipper used recent statements by proponents of free public bus transit in Boston and Washington, DC, to assert, quite provocatively, that transit is not a public good. His assertion relies on adherence to the economic definition of “public good,” a definition that(...)

T officials disclose 4 ‘near misses’ in subway

All of incidents described as ‘human capital errors’

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Apr 13, 2023

MBTA OFFICIALS on Thursday disclosed a series of safety incidents over the last month, including four “near misses” involving subway trains and track repair workers and a commuter rail train that suffered wheel damage when a hand brake remained engaged for most of a run. The near misses were all described as “human capital errors,”(...)

Ex-Keolis official accused in $8m commuter rail fraud

Allegedly made $4.5m by purchasing and reselling copper wire

By Chris Lisinski criminal justice, MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Apr 5, 2023

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A FORMER TOP OFFICIAL at Keolis Commuter Services pleaded not guilty to a slew of federal charges Wednesday after prosecutors alleged that he and another man working for a Keolis vendor stole more than $8 million from the company that operates the MBTA’s commuter rail system. Prosecutors accused John Pigsley, 58,(...)

Is there a finance plan for the I-90 Allston project?

Lot of talk about design, very little about how to pay for it

By Bruce Mohl I-90 0 Comments Apr 4, 2023

THERE’S BEEN A lot of talk over the last five years about how to design the I-90 Allston project, but very little discussion about how to pay for it. The project, which has ballooned in cost well beyond $1 billion, involves replacing a badly deteriorated elevated section of the Massachusetts Turnpike on a narrow slip(...)

MBTA ups sign-on bonuses by $3,000

Extends cash lure to many more job categories

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Apr 3, 2023

THE MBTA said on Monday that it is increasing its sign-on bonus for new employees and expanding its reach beyond bus operators. The T said the previous sign-on bonus of $4,500 for bus operators has been increased to $7,500 and expanded to include rail repairers, track laborers, streetcar operators, subway train operators, service technicians, and(...)

Hiring may be the MBTA’s biggest challenge

Agency faces uphill struggle with retirements, departures

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Apr 3, 2023

THE MBTA’S subway operations control center is a microcosm of the challenges facing the transit authority. Last June, the Federal Transit Administration issued an initial safety report that said the control center was understaffed, leading to dangerously long work days . To deal with the situation, the T scaled back subway service to weekend levels(...)

The dirty secret about ‘clean’ electric vehicles

They still emit dangerous particulate matter

By James Aloisi Climate change, Transportation 0 Comments Apr 1, 2023

AUTOMOBILES EMIT tailpipe carbon emissions, we all know that, and these emissions in the aggregate are now the largest single source of carbon emissions in Massachusetts and many other states, surpassing the energy and building sectors. Efforts to reduce transportation sector emissions have rightly taken center stage as a matter of public policy, but the(...)