MASSACHUSETTS RESIDENTS overwhelmingly support a discount for low-income riders of the MBTA, according to a new poll. The poll indicates 56 percent of residents strongly support and 27 percent somewhat support a low-income fare, which means more than 4 of every five residents in the state are on board. The new numbers are up five […]
Tracking Transportation
Posted inOpinion
Legislature should fund low-income fares for MBTA, RTAs
IN OUR COMMUNITY of Chelsea, transit is a lifeline to thousands of people who rely on it to get to school, work, and other critical appointments. Often these are essential workers, taking the system every day to reach jobs cleaning offices, preparing food, or caretaking in cities and neighborhoods far from where they live – […]
Posted inTransportation
Biden, Baker aligned on gas tax holiday
PRESIDENT BIDEN’S call for gas tax suspensions at the federal and state level is changing the rhetoric around tax relief in Massachusetts, but not Democratic opposition on Beacon Hill. Initially, Democrats dismissed Republican calls for a state gas tax suspension as a gimmick and a stunt, but now they are saying they are opposed to […]
Posted inTransportation
Lawmakers eye $250m for East-West rail
A TRANSPORTATION BOND BILL headed for a vote this week in the House includes language authorizing $250 million in spending on East-West rail, but nothing about the creation of a new authority to oversee the project’s development. The bill, if it is approved by the Legislature, would steer the $250 million to planning, design, land […]
Posted inTransportation
Lawmakers plan T safety hearings, call for $400m in extra aid
LEGISLATIVE LEADERS jumped into the fray over MBTA safety on Tuesday, announcing plans to hold oversight hearings on the transit authority in the coming weeks and to pass legislation appropriating $400 million in bond funds to help the T address concerns raised by the Federal Transit Administration. In a joint statement, House Speaker Ron Mariano […]
Posted inTransportation
Getting a handle on FTA’s to-do list for MBTA
THE FEDERAL TRANSIT Administration gave the MBTA a safety to-do list last week, with each task assigned its own timetable. The MBTA had 48 hours to come up with a way to ease time demands on dispatchers in the subway system’s understaffed operations control center. Unable to hire more dispatchers and supervisors in two days, […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA cutting back service on subway lines
THE MBTA said on Friday that it intends to comply with a Federal Transit Administration directive on inadequate staffing levels in its operations center not by adding dispatchers but by cutting back service on most subway lines through the end of the summer. The T said it intends to aggressively recruit new dispatchers who could […]
Posted inTransportation
Federal directives raise management, budget, oversight questions at MBTA
THE FEDERAL TRANSIT ADMINISTRATION’S crackdown on safety issues at the MBTA is raising questions about the transit agency’s management, its budget, and its oversight going forward. On Wednesday, the FTA ordered the MBTA to address a series of safety issues that couldn’t wait until the federal agency’s formal review is completed later this summer. The […]
Posted inEconomy
Help for Boston taxi owners?
TAXI OWNERS HAVE been hit with a one-two punch in recent years. First, the explosion of the Uber and Lyft rideshare apps proved devastating to their business. The pandemic added insult to that injury, turning downtown Boston into a ghost town as the bustle of the city that is a cabbie’s lifeblood ground to a […]
Posted inEconomy
Help for Boston taxi owners?
TAXI OWNERS HAVE been hit with a one-two punch in recent years. First, the explosion of the Uber and Lyft rideshare apps proved devastating to their business. The pandemic added insult to that injury, turning downtown Boston into a ghost town as the bustle of the city that is a cabbie’s lifeblood ground to a […]