Tracking Transportation

Keeping track of transportation

MBTA dumps Green Line contractors

Agency plans shakeup of its own project team

By Bruce Mohl MBTA 0 Comments Dec 10, 2015

THE MBTA ON THURSDAY CANCELED THE CONTRACTS of the four major firms working on the Green Line extension and announced it was also going to shake up its own internal project management team. The decision was made after the MassDOT board and the T’s Fiscal Management and Control Board went into executive session on Wednesday(...)

Red Line train goes 4 stops without operator

Pollack: 'We failed our passengers today'

By Andy Metzger MBTA 0 Comments Dec 10, 2015

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A 51-year-old Red Line motorman who saw his train exiting Braintree Station without anyone at the controls early Thursday morning quickly alerted MBTA personnel at the station, officials told reporters. Operating in what’s known as “bypass mode” to move beyond a faulty signal, the train did not have its collision avoidance(...)

State begins pruning Green Line extension

Project described as most expensive in country on per-mile basis

By Bruce Mohl MBTA 2 Comments Dec 9, 2015

STATE OFFICIALS TURNED TO OUTSIDE CONSULTANTS on Wednesday for help in deciding whether they should build the Green Line extension to Somerville and also ordered the MBTA not to approve any more spending on the project over the next three months without their approval. One of the consultants characterized the Green Line extension in a(...)

Means-tested T fares could be disastrous

By James Aloisi MBTA 14 Comments Dec 7, 2015

OUR FUTURE, ROBERT KENNEDY ONCE SAID, lies beyond our vision, but it is not completely beyond our control. This was an optimistic view of our ability to anticipate (rather than predict) the future, and act decisively upon it. Anticipating the future – understanding trends, changing paradigms and preferences, shifting demographics – is easier to do(...)

T refuses to release Green Line report

Says document is ‘attorney-client privileged’

By Jack Sullivan and Bruce Mohl MBTA, State Government 1 Comment Dec 1, 2015

STATE TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS are refusing to release a consultant’s report on what went wrong with a contract for the Green Line extension to Somerville, saying the document “was prepared under direction of counsel and is attorney-client privileged.” The consultant, Berkeley Research Group, concluded the MBTA’s contractor “worked the system” to its advantage and the state(...)

Consultant: T got snookered on Green Line

Transit agency allowed contractor ‘to work the system’

By Andy Metzger MBTA 1 Comment Nov 30, 2015

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE STATE ENABLED a major contracting group to take advantage of it, leading to ballooning Green Line Extension costs, according to a consultant brought in to assess what went wrong. “We allowed them to work the system,” said Brian Lang, a member of the MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board, summarizing the(...)

Rosenberg warns T on fare hike

Says legislative OK needed for more than 5% increase

By Katie Lannan MBTA 0 Comments Nov 30, 2015

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE WITH MBTA FARE HIKES on the table to address a budget gap and repair backlog at the public transit system, Senate President Stanley Rosenberg said Monday that any increases above 5 percent would have to win legislative approval. The MBTA’s Fiscal Management and Control Board is exploring the possibility of raising(...)

Keolis GM knows winter is coming

Francis talks about MBTA commuter rail

By Gabrielle Gurley MBTA, Transportation 2 Comments Nov 24, 2015

GERALD FRANCIS, the general manager of Keolis, the French company that operates the MBTA’s commuter rail system, is a man with an ambitious plan. He wants to make Eastern Massachusetts home to the number one commuter rail system in the US. That seems like a tall order for a system that basically fell apart last(...)

T bans political, e-cigarette ads

Pro-Israeli activists shout down supporter of ad

By Andy Metzger and Colin A. Young MBTA 0 Comments Nov 23, 2015

STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN CONFLICT surfaced Monday as a central theme in two protests: one speaking out against an ad on the MBTA that some say is designed “to demonize Israelis and Jews,” and another urging senators to forgo a planned trip to Israel next month. After opposing viewpoints on one of the(...)

Valet for the common man

New app offers cut-rate parking, but can it survive?

By Jack Sullivan Technology, Transportation 0 Comments Nov 23, 2015

IT SOUNDS TOO GOOD to be true: A new app offering valet parking in Boston for less than what it costs to park in most garages. A San Francisco-based technology company called Luxe Valet charges $5 an hour for valet service and parking with a maximum charge of $25 for all day in Boston. Like(...)