THE MBTA says that it is committed to an emission-free future bus system, but its plans suggest otherwise. Recently, the T published a document justifying its decision to abandon its existing electrification network and replace it with battery-electric buses (with diesel heaters). This decision is supported by the assertions that lifecycle costs for these battery […]
Jarred Johnson
Posted inOpinion
Don’t replace electric trolley buses in N. Cambridge
THE MBTA’S BUS electrification plans, which set a misplaced priority on replacing existing zero-emissions electric trolleybuses in North Cambridge, fail to respond to the urgent need to begin reducing emissions in environmental justice communities. Rather than make any bang for its investment buck by reducing emissions in communities like Chelsea, East Boston, Roxbury, Mattapan, and […]
Posted inOpinion
MBTA needs to get on decarbonization train
MASSACHUSETTS IS ADVANCING its efforts to decarbonize by 2050, and the general consensus around the need to address climate change and the negative public health impacts of carbon emissions is something worth celebrating. Since December, the secretary of energy and environmental affairs has submitted a draft clean energy climate plan for 2030 for public comment, […]
Posted inTransportation
Extend the Keolis contract another 4 years
KEOLIS’S CONTRACT to operate commuter rail for the MBTA expires in 2022, with two options to extend it for two years. It takes about two years to solicit bids and decide among them, so the Fiscal Management and Control Board must decide now whether to renew or rebid. We believe that the contract should be […]
Posted inOpinion
Add homes at train stops, reduce traffic
HIGH HOME PRICES and soaring rents. Countless hours spent sitting in traffic. This is all par for the course for Massachusetts residents, but it doesn’t have to be. Allowing modest increases in how many homes we create near train and commuter rail stops could have a big impact. Currently, we’re not creating the number of […]
Posted inOpinion
Time to step it up on bus rapid transit
NEW DATA RELEASED recently by the MassINC Polling Group demonstrates the toll that traffic congestion and long commutes are taking on Massachusetts residents. Sixty-six percent of poll respondents believe that urgent action is needed to address transportation issues, with many respondents indicating they have considered changing jobs or leaving the area altogether as a result […]
Posted inOpinion
Transportation equity: Is it a good thing?
What do we think about when we think about transportation equity? There is regional equity – the question whether every region in a state, or every neighborhood in a city, is equitably treated from a funding perspective. There is modal funding equity, which goes to whether public sector decision makers treat each mode fairly when it comes to the allocation […]