FOR EVERY Uber and Lyft ride in Massachusetts, the state collects an extra 20 cents. Half of the 20-cent fee is split among municipalities based on where the rides originate, 5 cents goes to a state transportation fund, and 5 cents goes to MassDevelopment for a program to support taxi and livery services across the […]
Tracking Transportation
Posted inOpinion
Digging into safety oversight options for MBTA
WITH HIGH-PROFILE MISHAPS and equipment failures in recent months, the MBTA is under unprecedented scrutiny for its recent safety record. The Federal Transit Administration’s Safety Management Inspection (SMI) report released in August is just the latest independent assessment to determine that the MBTA is falling short on basic safety measures, putting riders at risk and […]
Posted inOpinion
Five steps for turning the MBTA around
IN THE WAKE of safety concerns, the unprecedented complete shutdown of the Orange Line, opaque and untimely communications, and service delivery obstacles, the MBTA continues to make quasi-daily headlines for all the wrong reasons. The performance of the MBTA directly impacts the quality of life and business climate in our region. No one disagrees that […]
Posted inTransportation
GLX manager Dalton gets 6-month contract extension
THE MBTA has extended until mid-2023 the contract of the manager overseeing the Green Line extension into Somerville and Medford. The move appears designed to keep John Dalton under contract during the upcoming change in administrations so that he can be redeployed on another project or assignment if that’s what Gov.-elect Maura Healey decides to […]
Posted inTransportation
Don’t break up the T, expand it statewide
FOR AT LEAST seven years, state Rep. William Straus has been shopping the idea that we should abolish the MBTA. Rep. Straus, who is chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation, told CommonWealth magazine (May 18, 2015) that “we should be talking about a third way: getting rid of the MBTA as a stand-alone authority.” Great […]
Posted inTransportation
Green Line to Medford opening Dec. 12
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ONE FINAL DELAY of a couple of weeks looms, and then the long-awaited second and final Green Line extension branch will open to riders on December 12, MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak announced Thursday. All five new stations along the new stretch will come online at the start of service that […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA board ends 2-year hiatus on fare enforcement
THE MBTA board of directors on Thursday voted unanimously to end a two-year hiatus on issuing fines for fare evasion, but most of the members were skeptical the T’s “non-punitive” approach to enforcement would actually stop riders from jumping turnstiles and sneaking on board buses and Green Line trains for free. The new fare evasion […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA says ridership won’t be back to normal in 5 years
THE MBTA is not expecting ridership to return to pre-COVID levels within the next five years, even with the addition of new services like the Green Line extension and South Coast Rail. Under the T’s most optimistic ridership scenario, fare revenue will only reach 93 percent of pre-COVID levels by the end of fiscal 2028. […]
Posted inTransportation
Are T fare evasion regs tough enough?
MBTA OFFICIALS on Wednesday pleaded with transit authority board members to quickly approve regulations dealing with fare evasion so the T will no longer be forced to turn a blind eye to passengers jumping turnstiles and boarding buses and trolleys without paying. Lynsey Heffernan, the MBTA’s assistant general manager for policy and transit planning, said the […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA fare enforcement in ‘legal vacuum’
TWO YEARS AGO, the Legislature amended the MBTA’s fare evasion statute, decriminalizing the offense and lowering the range of possible fines. The Legislature left the details to the T, but those details, in the form of new regulations, never got approved, leaving the MBTA with no legal authority to enforce any fare evasion penalties since […]