We need a long-term plan to fix transportation in all 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth. And it’s going to cost money.
Commuter rail
Posted inState Government, Transportation
2 lawmakers urge Healey to focus now on next commuter rail contract
TWO KEY state lawmakers are urging Gov. Maura Healey to set in motion now the process for selecting the next operator of the state’s commuter rail system even though the contract with the current operator has another three years to run. In a letter sent to Healey on Monday, the House and Senate chairs of the […]
Posted inOpinion
Rider survey data should inform commuter rail planning
COMMONWEALTH’S RECENT STORY, “Pollack floats idea of slowing commuter rail makeover,” cited the precipitous drop in commuter rail mTicket revenue, from $331,341 collected on March 4 to $1,192 collected on April 15. When Gov. Baker ordered all non-essential businesses to close effective March 24 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home became a necessity, […]
Posted inTransportation
Baker admin. looks to lease electric trains from Amtrak
MASSACHUSETTS AND RHODE ISLAND might lease electric locomotives to provide quicker, cleaner service along the MBTA commuter rail line connecting the two states. The potential small step towards electrification, for which there is no timetable, came up during a discussion at the National Governors Association in Boston on Tuesday, where Gov. Charlie Baker played host […]
Posted inTransportation
Boston to boom, west and Cape shrink by 2040
THE STATE IS to grow by more than 13 percent by the year 2040 but much of that increase will balloon in and around Boston, with households shrinking and the overall population aging, according to data presented to state transportation officials Monday. The data was part of new models researchers are using to gauge where […]
Posted inTransportation
Dukakis, Weld make last push for rail link
FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNORS Michael Dukakis and William Weld made one more push for state officials to revisit their $12 billion cost estimates for a connector tunnel between South and North stations and reassess the feasibility of digging under Boston streets once again without the fear of repeating Big Dig history. “This study is preposterous,” Dukakis […]
Posted inEconomy
Pot board high on Worcester
THE STATE BOARD regulating the legal marijuana industry will set up permanent shop in Worcester as its headquarters with a satellite office in Boston. The five-member Cannabis Control Commission on Tuesday voted unanimously to seek a 13,000-square foot office space in the state’s second largest city and find a smaller, 5,000-square foot office in the […]
Posted inTransportation
DOT notes: Big rail projects and small bridges
SOUTH COAST RAIL project officials said phasing in the new line by running it through Middleboro not only gets the service operating years ahead of time, it gives the line a head start on the full build-out without adding to the projected $3.2 billion cost. In a presentation Monday to a joint meeting of the […]
Posted inPolitics, The Back Story, Transportation
Free bump on the Fairmount
Even two weeks of free rides on the Fairmount Line didn’t boost traffic that much, but they did expose more people to the least-used line on the MBTA’s commuter rail system. The Fairmount Line, which connects South Station and Readville via Dorchester, Hyde Park, and Mattapan, has by far the worst ridership of any of […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
Penn Station debate offers lessons for Boston
New York City is having its own North-South Rail Link debate, just on a much bigger scale. State and federal agencies in New York are pushing for a $20 billion Gateway Tunnel project that would add more tunnels under the Hudson River and new tracks at Penn Station. But a Manhattan think tank called ReThink […]