Tracking Transportation

Keeping track of transportation

RMV: Rhode Island to hand over thousands of infraction notices

Ocean State notices date back to 2017

By Andy Metzger Jamey Tesler, New Hampshire, out-of-state, Rhode Island, RMV 0 Comments Oct 3, 2019

MAKING AMENDS FOR past inaction, Rhode Island regulators plan to send the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles roughly 22,500 notices about infractions committed by Bay State drivers in the Ocean State dating back two years. The massive data transfer will cover a range of violations including some triggering immediate suspensions, according to an update distributed(...)

T notes: Big Orange Line shutdown starts Friday

Ferry customers now get airport security perk

By Bruce Mohl Charlie Baker, MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Oct 3, 2019

FOR THE NEXT SIX WEEKENDS, the MBTA is shutting down seven downtown stations on the Orange Line to replace track and complete cosmetic and signage improvements at four of the stations. Between Sullivan Station and Tufts Medical Center, the Orange Line will shut down starting at 8:45 p.m. Friday night and reopen in time for(...)

State trying to rein in RTAs

Memos suggest MassDOT is taking gentle approach

By Bruce Mohl State Government, Transportation 0 Comments Oct 2, 2019

THE MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION is trying to rein in the state’s 15 regional transit authorities, the agencies that run buses outside the MBTA service area. MassDOT recently signed a memorandum of understanding with each authority, laying out baseline figures for a variety of performance and financial metrics, and setting targets in each category for(...)

cap-and-invest/ carbon pricing/ climate change/ emissions/ fuel/ global warming/ RGGI/ TCI

East Coast states outline carbon pricing plan

Plan would use tax-like structure on fuel

By Andy Metzger 0 Comments Oct 1, 2019

OFFICIALS FROM MASSACHUSETTS and Maryland on Tuesday laid out in broad strokes their plans for a forthcoming program across the East Coast to reduce harmful tailpipe emissions and fund greener transportation alternatives by pricing the carbon contained in gas and diesel fuels. The proposal would mimic a gasoline tax from the perspective of consumers, but(...)

What casino traffic?

The feared congestion at Encore hasn’t materialized

By Bruce Mohl Casinos, Transportation 0 Comments Oct 1, 2019

FIVE YEARS AGO, when the Massachusetts Gaming Commission awarded a license to a proposed casino on the banks of the Mystic River in Everett, traffic was one of the most pressing concerns. The area was already heavily congested, and the conventional wisdom was that plunking a huge casino down near Sullivan Square would make matters(...)

#FreeTheRamp all day long

Rush hour is good, all the time is better

By Ari Ofsevit and James Aloisi MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Sep 26, 2019

OF MAJOR AIRPORTS in the United States, Boston’s is closer to the downtown than most. Yet despite the short distance, getting to Logan at rush hour can be challenging. Pick your poison: a taxicab or ride-hail in traffic? A similarly-congested ride on the Silver Line bus? A traffic-avoiding multi-seat ride on the Blue Line? A(...)

Poll: Voters back subway-like commuter rail

As usual, Mass. residents reluctant to pay for improvements

By Andy Metzger MassINC, poll, regional rail 0 Comments Sep 26, 2019

RESIDENTS AROUND THE state want more frequent, reliable, and electrified commuter rail service, but they are more divided over how to pay for such improvements. A majority of the 1,430 voters surveyed online in August strongly support switching from diesel to electric power on the commuter rail system, prioritizing running the trains more frequently throughout(...)

4 municipalities pitching T on ferry service

Lynn mayor says MBTA's rules for pilots don’t make it easy

By Sarah Betancourt MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Sep 25, 2019

FERRIES, OFTEN TREATED like the forgotten middle child of the MBTA, are about to get a chance to shine. After years of discussion and several years of study, the T is taking applications for ferry service pilot projects and four communities – Quincy, Hull, Winthrop, and Lynn – are tossing their hats in the ring.(...)

RMV board asks for watchdog’s help

Invites inspector general to keep an eye on things

By Andy Metzger inspector general, Merit Rating Board, RMV 0 Comments Sep 25, 2019

THE QUASI-INDEPENDENT board tasked with overseeing the state’s driver’s license database asked for a little help from the inspector general on Wednesday, and took some steps towards hiring a new permanent director. It was only the second meeting of the Merit Rating Board in several years and the first since the organization publicly fired(...)

At last: Red Line back to normal

Fixing track, signal damaged caused by June derailment cost $5.4m

By Andy Metzger derailment, MBTA, Red line, signals 0 Comments Sep 25, 2019

ONE HUNDRED AND SIX days after a Red Line train derailed and smashed into signal equipment, the MBTA announced Wednesday afternoon that it has finally restored service to normal on the transit authority’s busiest subway line. The crash forced the T to shift to a manual signal system, where workers located at each station using(...)