Tracking Transportation

Keeping track of transportation

New temporary elevated highway may be needed with I-90 Allston project

Commissioner says it’s ‘one of the things we’re trying to eliminate’

By Bruce Mohl Transportation 0 Comments Jul 19, 2022

THE I-90 ALLSTON interchange has always been a challenge to design, particularly squeezing the Massachusetts Turnpike, Soldiers Field Road, and four railroad tracks at ground level into in the narrow area called the throat between Boston University and the Charles River. But as the state seeks federal funding for the nearly $2 billion project, the(...)

Straus asks whether the T is still needed

Suggests the agency could be rolled into MassDOT

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Jul 18, 2022

AT THE END of Monday’s legislative oversight hearing on safety practices at the MBTA, the House chair of the Transportation Committee said something was missing. The committee, in its questioning of MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak and Transportation Secretary Jamey Tesler, discussed the adequacy of funding, the safety culture of the transit authority, staffing difficulties,(...)

Blue Line wall of silence becomes focus of MBTA oversight hearing

‘They confirmed our worst fears,’ says Sen. Crighton

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Jul 18, 2022

ON MAY 8, the MBTA sent out a press release saying the planned reopening of the Blue Line set for that day needed to be extended until May 13 “to complete additional work and finish scheduled work.” The next day, on May 9, I contacted the MBTA asking for more information on the reason for(...)

MBTA turnaround taking longer than we want

Upcoming legislative hearings prompted largely by politics

By Ed Lyons Charlie Baker, MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Jul 17, 2022

THE INITIAL TURNAROUND of the MBTA in Gov. Charlie Baker’s first term had been such a good story that it is a whole chapter in his recent book. But pandemic-induced staffing shortages and a string of troubling safety incidents have written an unwelcome plot twist. Political support for the administration’s handling of the MBTA has(...)

Senate approves MBTA low-income fare proposal

Added to infrastructure bill with no apparent funding source

By Chris Lisinski MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Jul 14, 2022

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SENATORS WILL TRY to convince their House colleagues the time is right to make another pass at mandating a low-income fare program at the MBTA, reviving the specter of a gubernatorial veto during the coming late-session flurry. Along the way to unanimously approving a $10.84 billion infrastructure bond bill Thursday, the(...)

MBTA cites progress in dealing with FTA safety directives

Full subway service unlikely to resume before Labor Day, possibly later

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Jul 14, 2022

MBTA GENERAL MANAGER Steve Poftak said the agency is making solid progress in dealing with the four safety directives issued by the Federal Transit Administration, but he cautioned that reduced subway service levels are likely to remain in place until Labor Day and may even be extended depending on hiring at the operations control center.(...)

Harvard’s Allston campus takes big step forward

Deal with city shows enormous potential of project

By Bruce Mohl Economy, Transportation 0 Comments Jul 12, 2022

THE ENORMOUS POTENTIAL of Harvard University’s land-holdings in Allston began to take shape on Tuesday as the city and the school unveiled an agreement detailing plans for the initial 9.4 acres of what’s being called an enterprise research campus. The plan calls for 900,000 square feet of new development, with 49 percent of the space(...)

Déjà vu for Congressman Lynch

MBTA is once again cutting service, this time for safety reasons

By Bruce Mohl Congressman Stephen Lynch, MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Jul 5, 2022

IT’S A BIT of déjà vu for US Rep. Stephen Lynch. Last year, he was upset with the MBTA because it had received billions in federal aid but was nevertheless cutting service and laying off some employees in the face of a COVID-induced downturn in ridership. Lynch read the riot act to the T (Lynch(...)

Lynch optimistic about bringing back T retirees

Goal is to boost staffing in control center, restore full subway service

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Jun 29, 2022

US REP. STEPHEN LYNCH is optimistic the MBTA and its unions can find a way to bring retired subway dispatchers back on the job to help raise staffing levels in the operations control center to a point where full service on the Red, Orange, and Blue lines can be restored. Lynch said retirees are attractive(...)

Poftak gets nearly $80,000 in bonus payments

Officials say MBTA GM’s extra pay is for 2020, 2021

By Colman M. Herman MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Jun 29, 2022

MBTA GENERAL MANAGER Steve Poftak, who is steering the beleaguered transit authority through safety and budgetary challenges, received nearly $80,000 more in his paycheck earlier this year in the form of bonuses for 2020 and 2021. According to payroll records and state officials, Poftak received a bonus of $35,728 for 2020 and a bonus of(...)