ONE NIGHT LAST week, Gov. Charlie Baker saw for himself the damage dealt to the Red Line’s signal system when a train went off the rails at the JFK/UMass Station and smashed into three sheds containing electrical equipment along the tracks. Baker said the visit, which he recalls happened at around 9 p.m. last Thursday, […]
Transportation
Posted inTransportation
T notes: Aiello tells T bus staff to think much bigger
THE CHAIR OF THE MBTA’S oversight board strongly encouraged T staff to think much bigger in trying to improve bus service, suggesting one possibility might be a $50 million challenge grant that would cover 90 percent of the cost of a bus rapid transit buildout in municipalities that sign on quickly. The suggestion by Joseph […]
Posted inTransportation
Panel named to review MBTA safety practices
FORMER US TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY Ray LaHood and two other transit veterans agreed to review the MBTA’s past derailments and safety practices in a bid “to inculcate safety into every facet of the T’s culture.” An MBTA press release on Monday said the three transportation experts – LaHood and former acting Federal Transportation Administration administrator Carolyn […]
Posted inTransportation
T’s commuter rail on a roll
THE RED LINE continues to plod along in the wake of the June 11 derailment, but the MBTA’s commuter rail system is on something of a roll. From December through May, the system’s 14 train lines as a group had their best on-time performance since Keolis Commuter Services began running the system five years ago. […]
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 was in a fiscal crisis, and he recruited a group of talented people to help him figure out how to keep the state from going […]
Posted inTransportation
Red Line delays to last through summer
IT WILL BE a summer of frustratingly long commutes for Red Line riders. Ten days after a Red Line train derailed and crashed into three bungalows of signal equipment, MBTA officials announced it would take at least another 10 weeks of work until subway service returns to normal. Workers removed the 50-year-old train from the […]
Posted inPolitics
Wu plans to press fare issue in July 1 system-wide canvass
LEANING INTO THE political potential of MBTA rider outrage, Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu plans to organize volunteers to canvass straphangers on July 1, the day a roughly 6 percent fare hike takes effect. The at-large councilor, who opposes the upcoming fare hike and has suggested making the whole T free to ride, hopes to […]
Posted inTransportation
Massport narrows CEO field to 2
This story has been updated. THE MASSACHUSETTS PORT AUTHORITY will decide between finalists Brian Golden and Lisa Wieland as the next chief executive of the quasi-public agency that oversees three airports, Boston seaports, and a substantial real estate portfolio. A former state representative from Boston, Golden has been chief executive of the Boston Planning and […]
Posted inTransportation
Moderate Marty suddenly dials it up
TRYING TO PROTECT HIS left flank, Boston Mayor Marty Walsh jumped into the debate over the MBTA by calling for a local seat on the transit authority’s next oversight board and demanding that the July 1 fare increase be put off until the T is fully operational. Neither of his requests went very far. Transportation […]
Posted inTransportation
T notes: State preps for 100,000 visitors to casino on Sunday
A correction has been added to this story. THE STATE’S HIGHWAY ADMINISTRATOR says he is preparing for 100,000 people to show up for this Sunday’s opening of the Encore Boston Harbor casino, although officials at Wynn Resorts say they are expecting far fewer guests. A spokesman for the Las Vegas-based casino company said in an […]