Another lousy commute today. I’m starting to wonder if the MBTA is imploding before our eyes. Not to be melodramatic or anything. It just seems service has been functioning at blizzard/crisis levels of disarray an awful lot lately.
I’m dealing fine with the heat, it’s the seeming meltdown in civic functioning that’s getting to me today. Without warning or announcement this morning, the E line decided it didn’t want to run past Brigham Circle. Grrr. Someone explained to me that when the weather goes above 95, the steel in the tracks expands, making […]
I had a similar reaction that sco did to Eileen McNamara’s call for public transit. She writes,
Maybe now we could begin talking seriously again about mass transit in Massachusetts.
If nothing else, the problems with the Big Dig tunnels should put state transportation policy, or the lack of it, back on the public agenda.
Look, I’m as […]
For those eager to have their voices heard, the MBTA website has an online poll up right now asking you what your favorite thing about the new automated-fare Charlie Card is. Yes, you can answer “all of the above.”
I still dread the day they introduce the automatic fare card machines on the Green Line, but I will give credit to the T for using the Charlie Card as an occasion to open up and revamp entrances long since neglected. The Symphony and Prudential stops finally have a proper gate, as they were originally designed. […]
I got to yesterday’s meeting too late to get into the MBTA hearing on the proposed fare hike; the room was too small to hold more than 150 people and the rest (including me) were shut out and turned away.
Many heartfelt thanks to Deval Patrick for taking the time to come to yesterday’s rally and meeting […]
My workaday schedule may prevent me from getting to today’s 4PM rally in Copley Square on time, but I will be at the MBTA’s hearing. I urge all of you concerned about the future of adequate and affordable public transit in this city to come to the rally, attend the hearing or at least contact your legislators […]
T-Rage is leading the troops against the proposed MBTA fare hike. Check out his T Justice page for more info. If you need reasons why the forward funding needs fixing, Jason has the details. What can you do?
First, if you haven’t signed the petition, do so.
Second, contact your state legislators. And prod the mayor’s office […]
Returning from Logan last night, I took the Silver line bus for the first time. Verdict: nifty tunnels, but slow - for no good reason. I know it’s all the rage in urban planning circles to have revisionist takes on transit and argue that buses are superior to rail outside of New York. Those people […]
Doubts about its political sellability aside, I’ll actually get behind MassMarrier’s crazy socialistic scheme. Some time ago I made a similar suggestion before the recession seemed to push the inexorable swing of the pendulum of agency debt and political will the other way. It’s worth pointing out that only about a quarter of the T’s […]
On my morning commute in, a car hit a pedestrian at Brigham Circle. I was in the second car of the E line trolley, so I didn’t witness the incident (thank god), but I suspect that either a passenger was embarking or disembarking the trolley and the car didn’t stop or else a pedestian was crossing […]
At DFACambridge, Shai Sachs pronounces his support for a Central Sq.-Cambridgeport-Allston Rapid Bus line.
City Councillor Craig Kelley and Jeff Rosenblum, founder of Livable Streets, both agree that the term "Bus Rapid Transit" is misleading, since the new line would be more of a bus than a subway. But that discussion is itself a bit […]
Mike at T-Rage muses what’s going to happen once T fares go over to automated card machines. I’m similarly worried. I already fear that inbound Green Line commutes are going to be a disaster when the MBTA starts rolling out on-train Charley Card Machines. Already some T drivers act all huffy when you try to […]
The Modern American takes exception to my post on T expansion, accusing me of, variously, of not realizing the budgetary crisis of the MBTA, of being undemocratic in wanting to go against the popular will, and of quixotically wanting T expansion in a low-density city like Boston. Now, part of our differences are difference may […]
Andy at Mass Revolution Now!, riffing off a Fred Salvucci op-ed, makes a passionate call for more public transportation spending:
Massachusetts needs to get serious and now. Population declines are real in our state. People can’t afford to live in the city but can’t deal with wicked traffic and HOURS of daily commuting either, especially when […]