Boston Transportation Thread

[jtown,man]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

My take away from that is what I've always believed - that there is WAY too much deference [literally] payed to keeping modes open and operating while undergoing transformational renovation/rebuilding projects. The bending over backwards for the Chamber of Commerce, community groups, advocacy groups, etc etc to the tune of adding hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars in logistic coordination of such accommodations is outrageous and nonsensical. Yes they should have just shut the whole thing down, people are adaptable, they would have adjusted and made do. More examples: pretty much any station renovation that takes 4 years and 25 million more dollars by not just asking people to make a sacrifice. Imagine how long your kitchen renovation would take if you insisted on not removing your fridge and sink and stove and just removing and replacing one cabinet at a time over a period of 18 months. Sounds ridiculous right?

Jesus Christ, YES!

[SFBruin]

Originally Posted by LineDrive

It would create long trips and a regional rail system - For instance trips from day Beverly to Foxboro on game days. Or Brockton to Lawrence for... whatever it is they do in Lawrence.

But this is my point. An NSRL would be useful only to people making a reverse commute.

Is there a large demand for reverse commutes in the Massachusetts Bay area?

[Randomguy34]

Originally Posted by SFBruin

But this is my point. An NSRL would be useful only to people making a reverse commute.

Is there a large demand for reverse commutes in the Massachusetts Bay area? These could be to jobs in a satellite area, visiting friends etc. Obviously Foxboro, but this alone is not enough.

This underscores how the current commuter rail system used to have high frequencies, had many stations in the city, and acted as extensions of the 'T'. If you show a map of Boston's rail system, the commuter rails fill in the gaps between 'T' lines. The same is true in many other legacy cities, where regional rail and elevated/subway lines complimented each other by filling in existing gaps. Regional rails lines were then converted to commuter lines to benefit suburban commuters working 9-5, while reducing their service in the city.

The NSRL would allow for increased frequencies along these lines and could bring them back to their original function. Reverse commuting would be an added benefit, but the main goal is to have subway-like frequencies in transit deserts without having to build new infrastructure.

Map of rail lines: https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer...893662845&z=12

[Citylover94]

Originally Posted by SFBruin

But this is my point. An NSRL would be useful only to people making a reverse commute.

Is there a large demand for reverse commutes in the Massachusetts Bay area? These could be to jobs in a satellite area, visiting friends etc. Obviously Foxboro, but this alone is not enough.

The statement that NSRL would only be useful for reverse commutes isn't true for people making a standard downtown commute from the northern suburbs because North Station is currently poorly positioned to access Downtown and Back Bay with the NSRL they could take a train on the Lowell Line for example directly to South Station or Back Bay Station which are located in the heart of the main employment areas. Also there is some demand for reverse commutes. Worcester and Providence both have relatively large employment centers near their train stations and many of the smaller cities that are served by commuter rail such as Salem, Plymouth, Providence, Newburyport, and others are popular tourist destinations that would see a lot more tourists arriving by train if the system were more convenient to use.

[SFBruin]

delete.

[SFBruin]

Originally Posted by Randomguy34

This underscores how the current commuter rail system ... acted as extensions of the 'T'. If you show a map of Boston's rail system, the commuter rails fill in the gaps between 'T' lines.

I noticed this. The Fairmount Line looks like it goes through some of the densest neighborhoods in southern Boston, the Needham line goes as far as some above-average density suburbs on the outskirts, and even other lines make several stops within the dense core of the metro (although this I believe is normal for commuter systems).

I think that the Needham line would work better as an extension of the Green Line and the Fairmount Line would work better as a subway line, though I undestand that these ideas are expensive, so probably why things are the way they are currently.

[Busy Bee]

Just a little bump, but as a lifelong fan of This Old House I was watching the first episode of the new project located in West Roxbury and was wondering if there is an advocacy for an extension of the Orange Line replacing the Needham Line from Forest. Hills to Needham? Its my understanding that this was the plan when the current Orange Line was constructed to replace the old elevated but funding never materialized for the full length and thus the current commuter service west of Forest Hills. Wikipedia doesnt really say if this is an MBTA goal. Just wondering if anyone with a local read knows if people have been asking for this or if there's appetite for it.

[M II A II R II K]

Are free buses a tool for social justice? Boston wants to find out.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/natio...ublic-transit/

.....

- Earlier this month, Boston took a small step toward what Wu hopes will be a far larger goal. Three heavily used bus lines that run through the heart of predominantly Black neighborhoods will be fare free for the next two years in a pilot program the city is closely studying. --- Art Guzzetti, a vice president at the APTA, said the current pilots should be closely watched and what works for one city might not be right for another. Transit is the “great social equalizer,” he said. “The question is, should the rider pay nothing, regardless of their means?”

.....

[M II A II R II K]

MBTA is missing big opportunity with commuter rail

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opi...commuter-rail/

.....

- A FEW WEEKS AGO I, along with hundreds of others gathered at the opening of the first phase of the Green Line extension, felt a huge sense of pride seeing the first major expansion to the rapid transit network since the 1980s. There were loud cheers as Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Ayanna Pressley both called on the region and the MBTA to invest in expanding transit with a boldness suited for the times. The GLX opening is an important step forward, but it represents only a fraction of what we ought to be doing to improve our regional transportation system.

- Boston rivals New York as one of the most expensive cities in the country for housing and, according to the Brookings Institution, Boston bests the Big Apple in income inequality. Despite these factors, TransitMatters is bullish on the ability of public transit to lower greenhouse gas emissions, reduce gridlock, spur the creation of denser and more affordable housing, and connect low-income residents to jobs. The MBTA is, and ought to be, at the center of efforts to achieve these goals. Unfortunately, the MBTA continues to drag its feet in critical transit and rail investments.

- This was recently underscored by the release of the MBTA’s first real capital investment plan in three years. The five-year plan included no real money to electrify the existing commuter rail system, no new funding to connect the Red and Blue Lines, no provisions to extend the Green Line to Route 16, no funding for any major project not already under construction. --- The T has spent the better part of three years failing to fulfill the clear direction and vote of the previous board to advance electrification of our regional rail system. Instead of advancing this important initiative, the T has ducked questions, missed deadlines, and deprioritized this transformative investment.

- Transforming the commuter rail network into a regional rail system presents perhaps the biggest opportunity in the T’s history. Stretching from the middle of the Commonwealth to deep in Rhode Island out to the far reaches of the North Shore and the Merrimack Valley at the New Hampshire state line, the size and scale of the MBTA’s network is the envy of many Sun Belt cities that have to build new systems from scratch or claw back access from private freight companies who own the track. It’s noteworthy that “electrification” doesn’t appear once in the entire 134-page capital investment plan document in relation to commuter rail.

.....

[Busy Bee]

No shit

[scalziand]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Just a little bump, but as a lifelong fan of This Old House I was watching the first episode of the new project located in West Roxbury and was wondering if there is an advocacy for an extension of the Orange Line replacing the Needham Line from Forest. Hills to Needham? Its my understanding that this was the plan when the current Orange Line was constructed to replace the old elevated but funding never materialized for the full length and thus the current commuter service west of Forest Hills. Wikipedia doesn't really say if this is an MBTA goal. Just wondering if anyone with a local read knows if people have been asking for this or if there's appetite for it.

The original plan for an orange line extension was indeed to send it through Roxbury replacing the Needham line and then south to Dedham. Dedham allowed their portion of the ROW to be built over though, so any contemporary Orange line extension would probably terminate around VFW parkway. The grade crossings in Needham would make it much more expensive to have the orange line completely replace the CR line in Needham. Needham would have to be served by branching the greenline.

As I understand, Needham is indifferent to rapid transit conversion because the CR line meets their existing primarily commuting needs. The bus line paralleling the Needham line in West Roxbury to the Forrest Hills transfer are very busy, so logically there strong local demand for a conversion, but I not aware of any local advocacy outside of transit enthusiasts, certainly not like there was for GLX in Somerville.


https://www.vanshnookenraggen.com/_i...c-t-track-map/

Large version of the full map:
https://bostonraremaps.com/wp-conten...-3000x1994.jpg

[Busy Bee]

^^^ Thanks for the info. And great map! Boston area rail has so much potential. I don't know what it's going to take to dramatically transform the system. If that article that just came out about the agencies culture of foot-dragging about electrification is any indication, I would say a generational change-of-guard is probably what is necessary to push through significant progress. Same can be said of other major city transit agencies... NY...Chicago... here's looking at you...

[Smuttynose1]

Last month, the Green Line extension to Union Square featuring the re-constructed Lechmere and newly constructed Union Square stations opened. The other five stations on the extension will open later this year. The new service to East Cambridge, Somerville, and Medford has been promised for decades but was chronically pushed back and delayed.

Decades later, Green Line opens in Somerville
https://dailyfreepress.com/2022/03/25/187363/

[scalziand]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

^^^ Thanks for the info. And great map! Boston area rail has so much potential. I don't know what it's going to take to dramatically transform the system. If that article that just came out about the agencies culture of foot-dragging about electrification is any indication, I would say a generational change-of-guard is probably what is necessary to push through significant progress. Same can be said of other major city transit agencies... NY...Chicago... here's looking at you...

I will say that having strong local advocacy helps, as I doubt the GLX would have happened were it not for STEP. Now that GLX phase I is wrapping up, hopefully Lynn and West Roxbury can amp up local advocacy efforts.

[LineDrive]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

^^^ Thanks for the info. And great map! Boston area rail has so much potential. I don't know what it's going to take to dramatically transform the system. If that article that just came out about the agencies culture of foot-dragging about electrification is any indication, I would say a generational change-of-guard is probably what is necessary to push through significant progress. Same can be said of other major city transit agencies... NY...Chicago... here's looking at you...

aside from Los Angeles - Boston has the most growth potential via rapid transit then anywhere in North America. There are SO many projects that are long overdue. You would think Massachusetts being such a blue state - investment in this area (transit) would be a forgone conclusion

Bostons northern suburbs are some of the densest suburbs in the nation that aren’t served by rapid transit (Southern Beverly, DT Peabody, all of Salem are SWARMED with traffic sometimes 6 days a week) - yet some of the southern suburbs that are far less dense are served. Then you have the Seaport district which is practically in the city’s core that isn’t served AT ALL (please don’t give me the Silver Bus). There’s just so many areas that would transform Boston in a way that I think would see rapid growth similar to some of the much younger/newer Southern cities (IE Austin)

With a major rapid transit investment program - something like $3-$4B a year for a decade that would pay for many of these projects or something similar - I think Boston would have a greater percentage of its population take the rapid transit rail than any city in North America.


• Blue/Red connector
• Blue Line North Extension (Lynn minimally but Salem should be the goal)
• Seaport Rail (via Silver becoming LRT? ; via new GL branch? via RL spur?)
• Orange Line Southern Extension (Needham; West Roxbury)
• Green Line modernization (grade seperate West of Kenmore, faster stock)
• Red Line Northern Extension (Arlington minimally)
• Orange Line Northern Extension (to Reading)
• Eliminate Ashmont/Mattapan line into Red Line extension


Low hanging fruit…
• Green Line to Porter Sq
• Convert Fairmount Line CR into Rapid transit & connect it to a subway line

Pipe Dreams but that are necessary
• North South Rail Link
• Circular Line to ease congestion in the city’s core (Mass Ave, Seaport, Logan, Chelsea, Everett, Cambridge, Brighton)

[Busy Bee]

You've got that right.

[SFBruin]

Originally Posted by LineDrive

Boston has the most growth potential via rapid transit then anywhere in North America.

I agree.

Not because Boston doesn't have transit, but because Boston's provincial design is kind of like a grandfathered-in TOD.

[Smuttynose1]

The big news in Boston this week -- some television stations interrupted regular programming to cover the announcement -- is that New Yorker Phillip Eng, who helped turn around the Long Island Railroad, has been appointed the next general manager of Boston's MBTA public transit system.

The MBTA is arguably a Top Five public transit system in the United States and recently opened its Green Line light rail extension project under budget and with relatively few kinks. But apart from that the system has been captured in a death spiral of negative headlines the last two years, including trains derailing or catching on fire, disturbing deaths on the system, a damning federal safety report, hiring challenges and service delays and cutbacks, and other challenges. Mass. Governor Maura Healey noted that Eng was probably her most important appointment "knowing how desperate the public is for leadership and a turnaround here."

Eng will earn approximately $500K a year, making him one of the best compensate public transit agency heads in the country.



Crisis-Hit MBTA to Be Led by Man Who Turned Around Long Island Railroad
https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local...eport/3006525/

[Busy Bee]

https://commonwealthmagazine.org/opi...ectrification/

[SFBruin]

Delete.