Will 2019 be a turning point for the T?

Report cites progress, but questions whether it will be visible to riders

By Bruce Mohl Charlie Baker, MBTA 0 Comments Mar 6, 2019

THE MBTA IS MAKING PROGRESS toward achieving its strategic goals, but it’s unclear whether 2019 will be the self-proclaimed “turning point” when customers start to see tangible benefits from that effort, according to an accountability report issued Wednesday by three outside organizations. Officials from the three groups – the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, the(...)

T notes: Falling behind on own-source revenues

Advertising, parking, real estate are under-performing

By Bruce Mohl MBTA 0 Comments Mar 4, 2019

THE MBTA, which is seeking a 6.3 percent average fare increase, is failing to meet its goals for generating own-source revenue from advertising, parking, and real estate. During a revenue presentation to the Fiscal and Management Control Board on Monday, Evan Rowe, the T’s director of revenue, portrayed the agency’s so-called own-source revenue in a(...)

T board wary of go-it-alone fare hike

Lang: Political leaders should ‘grow a little courage’ on transportation revenues

By Bruce Mohl Charlie Baker, Massachusetts Legislature, MBTA 0 Comments Mar 4, 2019

FACING PUSHBACK FROM THE PUBLIC and transportation advocates on a proposed 6.3 percent average MBTA fare increase, some members of the transit agency’s oversight board signaled on Monday that they may not rubber-stamp the increase. Brian Lang, a director of the Fiscal and Management Control Board, said the T shouldn’t be raising its fares in(...)

T notes: Blue Line an outlier on ridership

Board to discuss fare proposal next week

By Andy Metzger Aquarium, Blue Line, Fares, flooding, MBTA, ridership 0 Comments Feb 25, 2019

WHILE WEEKDAY RIDERSHIP has generally dropped on MBTA subway and bus routes, boardings on the Blue Line have been on an upswing, according to data presented by the T’s research director, Laurel Paget-Seekins, at Monday’s meeting of the agency’s Fiscal and Management Control Board. Joe Aiello, the board chairman, said it would be “interesting to(...)

MBTA management and union square off over pension fund

With $1.5B in the balance, lots at stake for workers and riders

By Andy Metzger Boston Carmen's Union, Brian Shortsleeve, James O'Brien, Joe Aiello, MBTA, Pension 0 Comments Feb 25, 2019

THERE IS A chasm between how MBTA management views the agency’s pension fund and how the union that represents the biggest share of T workers sees the retirement account. The Fiscal and Management Control Board on Monday spoke with one voice, raising the alarm about a pension system that board members said is worryingly underfunded.(...)

Report: Transportation funding shortfall $8.4b

Highway system finances worse off than MBTA

By Bruce Mohl MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Feb 21, 2019

A REPORT DEVELOPED by the business group A Better City estimates Massachusetts is facing an $8.4 billion shortfall over the next 10 years in bringing state transportation assets into a state of good repair. The state highway system needs $6.5 billion more than its budgeted revenue over the next 10 years to maintain roads, bridges,(...)

Lyft incorporates MBTA service into its app

New service gives users information on transit options

By Andy Metzger MBTA, Transportation 0 Comments Feb 20, 2019

LYFT IS TAKING ANOTHER DETOUR from its bread-and-butter service of offering people rides in cars with a new option to link its customers to Boston’s existing transit network. The Nearby Transit service that started rolling out to Boston-area customers Wednesday shows customers public transit schedules of the MBTA as well as the app’s existing car-hailing(...)

Lawmakers file bills to address Sumner Tunnel congestion

Back congestion pricing and highest fees on ride-hailing usage in the country

By Chris Lisinski Transportation 0 Comments Feb 20, 2019

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE VEHICLES ARE ENTERING the Sumner Tunnel at “unprecedented levels,” thousands of rides on services such as Uber and Lyft head to and from Logan Airport each day, and on residential streets, traffic backs up for hours on end. Residents, lawmakers, and transit officials agree: thanks to several compounding factors, the congestion(...)

A rural take on climate change

We travel long distances but we care about reducing emissions

By Stephen Kulik Climate change, Transportation 0 Comments Feb 19, 2019

AS A STATE REPRESENTATIVE, I routinely drove 125 miles between my home in the Western Massachusetts Hilltown of Worthington and Beacon Hill. This makes it all the more remarkable that during my 25 years in the Legislature, I probably logged the majority of my driving miles within my far-flung rural district, serving my constituency in(...)

Five transportation assignments for Legislature

Now is the time to start planning for a very different future

By Eileen McAnneny Transportation 0 Comments Feb 19, 2019

MASSACHUSETTS IS IN THE MIDDLE of a transportation revolution. Uber and Lyft vehicles are as ubiquitous as Dunkins; connected and autonomous vehicles no longer seem futuristic; and Boeing is testing air taxis for deployment within the next five years. All of these developments are fundamentally changing transportation as we know and consume it. Transportation’s transformation(...)