Tracking Transportation

Keeping track of transportation

T notes: Protected bike lane sought on Longfellow

Massport not interested in airport access fee

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Apr 23, 2018

WITH THE LONGFELLOW BRIDGE set to reopen next month, bicycle advocates presented a petition with more than 3,000 signatures asking state transportation officials to reconfigure the planned traffic design to provide protected bike lanes. A number of bicyclists testified before a joint meeting of the boards overseeing the MBTA and the Department of Transportation that(...)

No sign of consensus on West Station

Transit advocates want facility asap; Pollack not convinced

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Apr 23, 2018

DESPITE GROWING PRESSURE from transit advocates, state transportation officials aren’t budging on their view that a new transit station isn’t needed until 2040 to serve an emerging mixed-use neighborhood being developed by Harvard University in Allston. At a joint meeting of the two boards overseeing the MBTA and the Department of Transportation on Monday, transit(...)

We need a RGGI for transportation

Cap emissions, sell credits, and invest to reduce congestion

By Jody Rose, Tim Brennan and Chris Dempsey Environment, MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Apr 23, 2018

AS WE CELEBRATE EARTH DAY and the worldwide movement to protect our environment, it’s heartening that sustainability and an appreciation for clean air, water, and land have become mainstream values. We have come a long way from the first Earth Day in 1970, when, too often, environmental consequences were an afterthought. And while many hurdles(...)

Time to reconsider S. Coast Rail phased plan

Current approach is too slow and offers too little bang for the buck

By James Aloisi MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Apr 21, 2018

THE PATRICK AND BAKER ADMINISTRATIONS have been aligned in their support for South Coast Rail as the best approach to providing improved regional mobility to and from the South Coast region of Masssachusetts. Linking the great cities of New Bedford, Fall River, and Taunton by rail to Boston would provide those and neighboring communities with(...)

T notes: Baker confusion on Silver Line ramp access

Update should improve subway arrival prediction times

By Bruce Mohl Charlie Baker, MBTA 0 Comments Apr 21, 2018

THE PUSH FOR SILVER LINE ACCESS to a Seaport District ramp into the Ted Williams Tunnel took an odd turn this week when Gov. Charlie Baker was asked about the situation and appeared to have his facts wrong. The ramp in question is located in the Seaport District off the Massport haul road next to(...)

Sanchez ups T appropriation by $27m

But doesn’t back paying workers with capital funds

By Bruce Mohl Massachusetts Legislature, MBTA 0 Comments Apr 11, 2018

THE HOUSE’S BUDGET CHIEF on Wednesday rejected a provision sought by the MBTA and Gov. Charlie Baker that would have spared the transit authority from taking a $27 million hit on its operating budget, but he made up for it by increasing the T’s legislative appropriation by a corresponding amount. Rep. Jeffrey Sanchez, the chair(...)

Spring 2018

Three officials part of attempt to change the T’s culture

Agency trying to shed its 'insular and slow-moving bureaucracy'

By Bruce Mohl MBTA 0 Comments Apr 10, 2018

Photographs by Frank Curran WHEN BRIAN SHORTSLEEVE took over as chief administrator of the MBTA in August 2015, he wanted to shake things up. The former managing director at the Cambridge venture capital firm General Catalyst saw the T as “a very insular and slow-moving bureaucracy,” so over about 18 months he replaced about half(...)

Spring 2018

MBTA expansion means new maps

Stickers make some changes cheaper and easier

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transit, Transportation 0 Comments Apr 10, 2018

THE MBTA IS starting to expand again, and that means the maps of the system need to change—which is not as simple as it sounds. There are more than 500 maps in stations across the system and another 5,000 or so on rail cars and buses. The ones on rail cars and buses are fairly(...)

Debate over new T revenues coming

Advisory board urges land transfer tax, shifting ferry operations to Massport

By Bruce Mohl MBTA 0 Comments Apr 9, 2018

THE MBTA OVERSIGHT BOARD on Monday unanimously approved a $2 billion budget for the coming fiscal year and indicated it would tackle the issue of whether the T needs a new source of revenue later this year, probably after the election. The issue of new revenues has been simmering for several years, but it appears(...)

T, Keolis launch first-of-its kind ad campaign

Trying to entice leisure travelers, reverse commuters on to trains

By Bruce Mohl MBTA 0 Comments Apr 8, 2018

THE MBTA IS TRYING SOMETHING NEW, launching an advertising campaign to convince leisure travelers and people who live in Boston and work elsewhere to give commuter rail a try. Officials at the T and its commuter rail operator, Keolis, want to attract passengers to already existing train routes that currently have few riders. They say(...)


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