AN MBTA means-tested fare seems to be getting on track on Beacon Hill with the Healey administration’s decision to include $5 million for the initiative in its budget proposal for fiscal 2024. The Legislature in 2019 approved a lower fare pilot for income-qualifying residents, but former governor Charlie Baker vetoed the measure because it didn’t […]
Tracking Transportation
Posted inOpinion
Congestion pricing – a tool that can solve many transportation problems
IN ADDITION to ranking among the worst cities for traffic, economic inequality, and housing costs, Boston holds another ignominious distinction: we’re the largest US metro area not using dynamic tolls to reduce congestion on our highways (Mass Pike tolls don’t count, since they don’t change throughout the day). Dynamic tolling is a form of congestion […]
Posted inTransportation
Gonneville grilled on Alewife damage
MBTA interim General Manager Jeffrey Gonneville said on Friday that the mezzanine ticket area of the Red Line’s Alewife Station could reopen by the end of March and hinted that T attorneys are looking at ways to recover some of the repair costs. The mezzanine was severely damaged and closed after a driver intending to […]
Posted inTransportation
State officials reduce closure of Sumner Tunnel this year
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A MEGAPROJECT to repair the 88-year-old Sumner Tunnel under Boston Harbor will take place on a newly divided timeline, trading a later end date and higher costs for reduced disruption to motorists. The state Department of Transportation announced Thursday that it will no longer close the key thoroughfare from May into […]
Posted inOpinion
Time to address equity in public transportation
THE MASSACHUSETTS public transportation system is broken, and now is the time to fix it – equitably. The public is demanding action, and Gov. Maura Healey is bringing fresh energy and a strong commitment to public transit. The tools are available, including $1 billion in additional revenue from the Fair Share transportation and education surtax, […]
Posted inTransportation
New Orange Line train breaks down – on I-495
AFTER A NEARLY seven-month hiatus, new Orange Line trains are once again being shipped from the assembly plant in Springfield to Wellington Station in Medford. But one new train took longer than expected to arrive at its destination after the flatbed on which it was riding disconnected from the truck pulling it on I-495 in Chelmsford. […]
Posted inOpinion
Hiring new GM at T shouldn’t be first priority
THERE IS A VIEW among many in and out of the transit advocacy world – a misguided view in my opinion – that it should be a top priority for the Healey administration to find a new general manager for the MBTA. While I understand the appeal of pushing a restart button on the T […]
Posted inTransportation
GLX rescuer Dalton set to leave MBTA at end of month
JOHN DALTON, the manager who got the Green Line extension into Medford and Somerville built, is leaving the MBTA at the end of the month for a new job. A T spokesman on Friday confirmed Dalton is leaving but provided no information on where he is headed. Dalton’s departure is a major loss for the […]
Posted inState Government, Transportation
T board grapples with how to gauge ‘new reality’ for system
TWO WEEKS AGO, the MBTA board of directors sat quietly and had no questions for interim General Manager Jeffrey Gonneville after he reported on crippling delays in the delivery of new Red and Orange line cars from the Chinese-owned company CRRC. On Thursday, during a set of monthly subcommittee meetings, board members referenced recent press […]
Posted inState Government, Transportation
Healey not rushing things at the MBTA
GOV. MAURA HEALEY is slowly – some would say too slowly – putting the pieces in place to take control of the MBTA. Back in August, when it was widely expected she would replace Charlie Baker as governor, Healey said she intended to hire a new MBTA general manager and a statewide transportation chief. She […]