EARLIER THIS YEAR, the Global Traffic Scorecard ranked Boston’s traffic as the worst in the nation, outpacing famously congested cities such as Los Angeles and San Francisco. Traffic on I-93 […]
James Aloisi
Posted inOpinion
#FreeTheRamp all day long
OF MAJOR AIRPORTS in the United States, Boston’s is closer to the downtown than most. Yet despite the short distance, getting to Logan at rush hour can be challenging. Pick […]
Posted inOpinion
Finding a new way to make a difference
I KNEW I WOULD LIKE Rocketman, the Elton John biopic. I love his music, grew up with it, and I’m proud to say that I know the actual lyrics to Rocketman […]
Posted inOpinion
Opportunity moment in transportation
1/ The death of Lee Iacocca is a metaphor for the passing of an auto centric era. This great corporate titan of auto-mobility embodied much of the false optimism & […]
Posted inOpinion
Baker must step up on transportation crisis
LET ME TELL YOU a story about political leadership. The year is 1969, and Illinois has a new Republican governor, Richard B. Ogilvie. Ogilvie took office knowing that the state […]
Posted inOpinion
Kicking the tires on battery-electric buses
THERE IS GROWING CONSENSUS that our transportation system needs to move away from fossil fuels toward a cleaner electric-powered future. This is not only an environmental issue. It goes directly […]
Posted inOpinion
Closing HOV lanes is hard to understand
IMAGINE FOR A MOMENT that you are on a diet – not a New Year’s resolution diet that lasts for nine days, but a serious, honest-to-goodness effort to change your […]
Posted inOpinion
Time for me to say a few ‘thank yous’
I’VE BEEN AN ACTIVE and willing participant in the arena of politics, policy-making, and advocacy for most of my life. It’s what I like to do. It helps me understand […]
Posted inOpinion
On TNCs, Red-Blue connector, and tolls
IT’S BEEN A BUSY TIME for transportation policy making in Massachusetts, and a promising moment when there appears to be some alignment among legislative leaders that something bold and significant […]
Posted inOpinion
Inaction is not an option with TNCs
THERE’S BEEN A LOT OF TALK, and a good deal of concern, about the impacts of transportation network companies (TNCs) such as Uber and Lyft on traffic at Logan Airport […]
Posted inOpinion
A tribute to East Boston’s premier activist, advocate
A LIGHT WENT OUT in East Boston last week. More than a light, a beacon that guided more than one generation of local activists and civic leaders. Mary Ellen Welch […]
Posted inOpinion
How to start dealing with congestion
HERE’S WHAT we know. Traffic congestion in metro Boston has grown, is worsening, and is now measured as the worst in the nation – worse even than Los Angeles. There […]
Posted inOpinion
Weekday sports victory parades have to stop
LET THE DAY be encapsulated by this message posted from the MBTA Commuter Rail’s twitter account at 8:10 p.m. on Tuesday, February 5: Update: Worcester Train 522 (5:20 pm inbound) […]
Posted inOpinion
Boston’s port needs attention
IN A CITY AND REGION with a booming innovation economy, we run the risk of missing opportunities for growth and improvement that are hiding in plain sight. For example, most […]
Posted inTransportation
A Transit Holiday Season
JIM ALOISI likes to write a holiday verse every year for CommonWealth, and this year he went all out. This year’s ditty is a clever take on linking the Red […]
Posted inOpinion
Municipal input needed on next T oversight board
THE COMING NEW YEAR will present significant opportunities to advance the cause of sustainable mobility in Massachusetts. It’s not too early to begin to focus on seven specific areas that […]
Posted inPolitics
Bellotti going strong at 95
FRANK BELLOTTI IS 95, the kind of 95 you’d want to be if you live to be 95. Trim, tan, sharp of mind (but perhaps slower of gait), Bellotti joined […]
Posted inOpinion
Strapped to the status quo express
MASSACHUSETTS HAS A PROBLEM talking candidly about its transportation revenue needs. This is not a new problem. We have been in its grip for decades, and the result has been […]
Posted inOpinion
Blue Line needs urgent attention
THE MBTA’s BLUE LINE is on the brink. Generally known as the best of the system’s subway services (largely because of its relatively newer, reliable, Siemens subway cars), the Blue […]
Posted inOpinion
Transportation equity: Is it a good thing?
What do we think about when we think about transportation equity?   There is regional equity – the question whether every region in a state, or every neighborhood in a city, is equitably treated from […]
Posted inOpinion
Bustitutions aren’t the only option during shutdowns
THE MBTA RECENTLY ANNOUNCED that the Orange Line would be shut down on weekends between Ruggles and Forest Hills for much of this summer and into the fall. These shutdowns […]
Posted inOpinion
Regulatory reset needed on Uber, self-driving cars
Second of two parts (First part can be found here.)Â MASSACHUSETTS STATE AND MUNICIPAL DECISION MAKERS must push a reset button and develop a template for a more comprehensive and […]
Posted inOpinion
TNCs existential threat to public transportation
First of two parts ADVOCACY IS WHAT LIKE-MINDED people do, usually in an organized fashion, to effect change in the way government or public policy impacts their lives. Advocacy can […]
Posted inOpinion
What am I missing at Allston Landing?
THERE ARE OCCASIONS in the making of public policy when you are left scratching your head, because the decision-making just doesn’t make sense, and you wonder what you may be […]