STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MBTA OFFICIALS Â gave the green light Thursday to begin the work of acquiring a 24-acre plot of land in Boston, where they hope to build a commuter rail layover facility that will be “foundational” to future expansions and service improvements. The MBTA board voted unanimously in favor of launching negotiations to […]
Tracking Transportation
Posted inTransportation
The long GLX wait is over
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HUNDREDS OF EXCITED riders crowded into trains going north of Lechmere Station for the first time Monday morning, eagerly chattering to other passengers about their experiences waiting for the train and where they were headed first on a new MBTA line. Of the riders, Gov. Charlie Baker stepped off the T […]
Posted inOpinion
An MBTA to-do list for Gov. Healey
THE HEALEY/DRISCOLL administration will take office at a time when rider confidence in the MBTA and T employee morale have reached unprecedented lows. The necessary task of restoring confidence and morale will be a challenging one, but it cannot be avoided or deferred. In a recent article, I observed that while it is unlikely (and, […]
Posted inTransportation
Biotech workers driving more, using the T less
SURVEYS OF LIFE science employees by MassBio in July 2019 and November 2022 indicate workers are now driving more and using public transportation less. The survey results mirror what the MBTA itself is finding, that many riders who stopped taking the T during the pandemic are not returning. The T is currently projecting that its […]
Posted inTransportation
Buried rail car turned up in GLX excavation
THE TEAM that constructed the Green Line extension to Medford and Somerville encountered all sorts of obstacles over the last four years, including unexpected bedrock, contaminated soil, ground water, and, perhaps the most challenging of all, COVID. But the most unusual surprise was buried under tons of dirt near what is now the new East […]
Posted inTransportation
REAL ID deadline pushed back to 2025
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SAYING IT WANTED to alert the public, the Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles late Monday announced that the US Department of Homeland Security has extended the REAL ID enforcement date from May 3, 2023 to May 7, 2025. The extension means that beginning on May 7, 2025, air travelers 18 years […]
Posted inTransportation
Baker, Polito call South Coast Rail a matter of fairness
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito said the $1 billion South Coast Rail project scheduled to open late next year is about fairness to southeastern Massachusetts. At the opening of a new train station in Freetown on Monday, the governor and lieutenant governor did not focus on ridership or economic strategy; instead, they […]
Posted inTransportation
Riders scarce at the T in first quarter
THE MBTA’S first quarter financial report for the fiscal year wasn’t very good, so the transit authority tossed in some potentially promising news from the next quarter. The T has been struggling to convince riders to return to its subways, buses, and commuter rail lines, and results from the first quarter (July, August, and September) […]
Posted inTransportation
North Station commuter rail gates show promise
PASSENGERS SEEM to be adapting to new commuter rail fare gates at North Station, and early data indicate the tap-in, tap-out gates may be having a positive impact on fare collection. Officials with Keolis Commuter Services, which operates the commuter rail system, said they are unable to draw a direct link between increasing fare revenues […]
Posted inTransportation
Sargent and Dukakis offer lessons for Healey
AS THE DAYS dwindle down toward another Boston winter, a new gubernatorial administration prepares to occupy the rabbit warren of office space dedicated to the executive branch in the Bulfinch State House. Speculation abounds as office seekers, would-be influencers, and self-imagined power brokers vie for attention by the Great Mentioners of the local media. It […]