COULD BUSINESSES’ EXPERIENCE with social-distancing help relieve traffic congestion in cities like Boston? These days, employees of many companies are learning to use remote meeting software like Google Hangout, Zoom, and Skype to conduct business. When the COVID-19 emergency mercifully ends, some businesses may decide to put their newly-gained telecommuting experience to continued use. Working […]
traffic
Posted inNews Analysis
Employer policies add to roadway gridlock
“WE HAVE MET the enemy and he is us.” That well-worn 1960s line from the Pogo comic strip could easily be deployed to describe the situation of Boston-area employers who are reaching the end of their rope over the never-ending woes of regional traffic gridlock. For a bunch of brain-powered heavyweights, the leaders of the […]
Posted inTransportation
Poll: Most biotech workers angry about commutes
THE STATE’S BIOTECH workers are stressed out and strapped for time because of bad traffic and unreliable transit, and that is spurring some to consider changing how they get to work or even moving somewhere else. A survey conducted in July by the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council of 2,133 professionals in the industry found that 79 […]
Posted inUncategorized
Boston’s congestion can be hazardous to your health
WHEN TRAFFIC IS at a standstill – as it is all too often in metro Boston these days – there are big-picture economic and environmental impacts. But congestion can also affect the health of the drivers caught in its throes. Philip Levendusky, director of the psychology department for McLean Hospital, where he is also co-director […]
Posted inTransportation
Congestion: Worst, bad, Uber and Lyft
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION’S congestion study put some hard data behind the public’s sense – correct, as it turned out – that Greater Boston’s already bad traffic got worse in the past five years. In addition to making more general findings, the report also identified the top five severest occurrences of congestion, and the most consistently […]
Posted inTransportation
For complex traffic problem, Baker offers smorgasbord
LACKING A “SILVER BULLET” to deal with traffic congestion, Gov. Charlie Baker presented a scattershot plan Thursday to tinker with intersections, quickly clear road wrecks, and consider building special new lanes or raising ride-hailing fees to help commuters robbed of their time and patience on the way to work. Data compiled by the Baker administration […]
Posted inGambling
Boston reports moderate traffic from Encore opening
A BIG CROWD turned out for the opening of Encore Boston Harbor on Sunday, but there is no official word yet on how attendance matched up against the casino’s prediction of roughly 50,000 visitors. At noon Sunday, which was about two hours after the doors to the 24/7 gambling establishment opened to the public for […]
Posted inTransportation
Moderate Marty suddenly dials it up
TRYING TO PROTECT HIS left flank, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh jumped into the debate over the MBTA by calling for a local seat on the transit authority’s next oversight board and demanding that the July 1 fare increase be put off until the T is fully operational. Neither of his requests went very far. Transportation […]
Posted inThe Download
Moderate Marty suddenly dials it up
Trying to protect his left flank, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh jumped into the debate over the MBTA by calling for a local seat on the transit authority’s next oversight board and demanding that the July 1 fare increase be put off until the T is fully operational. Neither of his requests went very far. Transportation […]
Posted inTransportation
Are road rage and maddening traffic congestion linked?
TRAFFIC FATALITIES HAVE gone up in Massachusetts in recent years, but is anyone tracking road rage incidents? There have been a few notable ones in the last few months and weeks. In Danvers last month, a 33-year-old woman from Gloucester duked it out with a 64-year-old Beverly woman on the roadway of Route 128, leading […]