WELL, THAT was the week that was. No, we aren’t referring to the 1960s irreverent TV satirical review of the news. We’re talking about the week when MBTA leaders decided to shut down there transit system’s second busiest subway line in order to undertake an accelerated 30-day repair program, the week when the T also […]
Transportation
Posted inTransportation
T closing big chunk of Green Line for a month
TWO DAYS after announcing a month-long shutdown of service on the entire Orange Line, the MBTA said it plans to simultaneously close a section of the Green Line running between Government Center and Union Square in Somerville. MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak also said the Green Line extension from Lechmere to Medford will miss its […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA bus catches fire in Jamaica Plain
AN OUT-OF-SERVICE bus returning to the Arborway facility in Jamaica Plain caught fire on Thursday and the Boston Fire Department had to be called in to extinguish the blaze. MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said the fire was in the vehicle’s “rear compartment.” He said MBTA personnel tried unsuccessfully to put out the fire and two […]
Posted inTransportation
Orange Line shutdown coming, perhaps for a month
THE MBTA is preparing to shut down the Orange Line later this month to do maintenance and repair work and there is speculation that the shutdown could last several weeks or perhaps a month. The T board of directors on Wednesday is taking up a proposed contract with A Yankee Line Inc. to provide replacement […]
Posted inOpinion
Bike stats contradict safety claims of Cambridge officials
AMID AN OUTCRY over how the implementation of Quick Build bike lanes will all but eliminate street parking in front of local businesses, the Cambridge City Council has smacked down residents’ concerns with false and outdated information. No matter which side of this debate you stand on, everybody should be able to deliberate based on […]
Posted inTransportation
FTA orders ‘safety standdown’ at T for disabled trains
THE FEDERAL Transit Administration ordered an “immediate safety standdown” at the MBTA, requiring all workers who operate or secure disabled transit vehicles to halt their work until they participate in a briefing where they review the causes of three runaway train incidents that occurred in May and July. The letter ordering the standdown was dated […]
Posted inOpinion
Pass ebike legislation, reward car-lite living
THE STATE Legislature and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation need to keep their eye on the real transportation goal for the state – maintaining and increasing the number of people and households that are living car-independent lives – as we sort through the T’s long-predicted crisis, The state’s economy, the people’s daily welfare, and the […]
Posted inOpinion
Merging MBTA with DOT is a bad idea
THE JOINT COMMITTEE on Transportation seems to want to have its proverbial cake and eat it too. At its recent oversight hearing, House Committee Co-Chairman William Strauss suggested that the MBTA be further folded into MassDOT; while Senate Committee Co-Chairman Brendan Creighton inquired if the governor’s office interfered in reporting of derailments. The Transportation Committee […]
Posted inOpinion
MBTA service levels need to be restored asap
LET THIS SINK IN for a second: The MBTA this week announced that it won’t be able to return the subway system to regular service frequencies before Labor Day, and probably not until sometime in 2023. This is because the Federal Transit Administration directed the T to solve the problem of understaffing and excessively long […]
Posted inTransportation
T called worse off now than during snowmageddon
THE LEAD CAR of an Orange Line train crossing the Mystic River caught fire early Thursday morning, prompting panic on board the train and the evacuation of close to 200 people, including one person who jumped from the bridge into the water. The image of flames leaping out from underneath the train car followed by […]