Tracking Transportation

Keeping track of transportation

Groups slam temporary Charles River bridge

Fewer Turnpike lanes, closing Soldiers Field Rd called better options

By Bruce Mohl Transportation 0 Comments Dec 19, 2019

This story was updated at 2 p.m. TO MAKE ROOM for a massive reconstruction of the Massachusetts Turnpike near Boston University, the Charles River Watershed Association said it would opt for shutting down Soldiers Field Road or merging it with I-90 instead of the state’s proposal to build a temporary bridge out into the Charles(...)

Baker’s walk on the wild side

Leads the charge for TCI and higher gas prices

By Bruce Mohl Charlie Baker, Energy, Transportation 0 Comments Dec 17, 2019

GOV. CHARLIE BAKER’S all-in embrace of the transportation climate initiative is another step away from his shrinking Republican base and a tacit admission that the state needs more transit funding. The transportation climate initiative, or TCI, places a price on the carbon contained in gasoline and diesel fuels and requires wholesale distributors to pay allowances(...)

TCI could up gas prices 5 to 17 cents a gallon in 2022

Modeling shows costs and benefits of carbon pricing

By Andy Metzger carbon pricing, Charlie Baker, Chris Sununu, New Hampshire, TCI, transportation and carbon initiative 0 Comments Dec 17, 2019

OFFICIALS DEVELOPING A new regional approach to reducing tailpipe emissions on the East Coast are considering policies that would add between 5 cents and 17 cents to the cost of a gallon of gasoline, generating over $1 billion in the first year spread among all the participating states. No price is set in stone yet,(...)

T notes: Machinists hit deplorable conditions

‘Revolutionary' Red and Orange Line commitment

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Dec 17, 2019

THE HEAD of the MBTA’s machinists local said on Monday that the union is living up to the promises it made as part of a labor contract signed in 2018 but the T is failing to address the deplorable conditions at its maintenance facilities. Michael Vartabedian, business agent for Local 264 of the International Association(...)

Surging sales tax helping T balance budget

Spending rising on safety, bus, commuter rail initiatives

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Dec 16, 2019

THE MBTA IS FACING intense pressure to increase operations spending on safety and other initiatives, but some of the higher expenditures are being offset by an unexpected surge in sales tax revenues. The growth in sales tax revenues is coming at a time when policymakers on Beacon Hill have been bickering about T funding. Lawmakers(...)

Pollack, control board at odds on income-based fares

Testy exchanges illustrate panel’s growing independence

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Dec 16, 2019

REJECTING CONCERNS raised by state Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack, members of the MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board on Monday insisted on moving faster to embrace lower fares for low-income riders. In a somewhat testy series of exchanges, control board members, who are all appointed by Gov. Charlie Baker, rejected efforts by the governor’s point(...)

Baker talks up his transportation-funding approach

Presses cap-and-invest program with 12 states, DC

By Bruce Mohl Charlie Baker, MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Dec 11, 2019

GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Wednesday outlined for the business community a proposal to address climate change and raise money for transportation in a way that he believes is far superior to other tax and fee measures circulating on Beacon Hill. His plan is called TCI, which is short for transportation climate initiative. It’s a plan(...)

Smoke, sparks at Park Street

Incident occurred day after report on lax safety culture

By Andy Metzger fire, Green Line, MBTA, Park Street, smoke 0 Comments Dec 10, 2019

JUST A DAY after a devastating safety report that excoriated the culture at the MBTA, passengers documented dramatic sparks and smoke on the Green Line at Park Street. No one was injured in the incident that occurred just before noon Tuesday, according to MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo, but northbound service was shuttered and an acrid(...)

T notes: Fairmount pilot likely to make cut

Four demonstration bus projects proposed

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

THE MBTA IS WINNOWING down the number of pilot projects it plans to launch next year, and a proposal for the Fairmount commuter rail line appears to have made the cut. The proposal from the city of Boston would add four additional inbound and outbound trips at a total cost of $1.2 million. Officials estimate(...)

T changes course on fare system upgrade

New phased-in approach has costs and benefits

By Andy Metzger AFC 2.0, Charlie card, Charlie ticket, fare, MBTA 0 Comments Dec 9, 2019

HAVING MISCALCULATED THE needs of its riders and the capabilities of its vendor, the MBTA has adopted a new approach to overhauling its fare collection system that will take longer to complete, cost more, but result in a better and more reliable product, officials say. Rather than the all-at-once, make-or-break transition dubbed a “big bang”(...)