TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY Stephanie Pollack got a big assist from one of her colleagues in Gov. Charlie Baker’s cabinet on Monday in making the case for a status quo solution to the rebuild of a deteriorating elevated section of the Massachusetts Turnpike on a narrow strip of land sandwiched between Boston University and the Charles River. […]
Transportation
Posted inTransportation
Rideshares become ubiquitous in Mass.
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE GROWTH OF RIDESHARE trips taken in Massachusetts decelerated in 2019, but the roughly 91.1 million trips taken with services like Lyft and Uber generated more than $18.2 million in assessment fees for the state and local governments. The 91.1 million trips taken with app-based ride-for-hire services represented a 12 percent […]
Posted inTransportation
T notes: Control board says goodbye, offers advice
THE FUTURE OF MBTA oversight entered an uncertain period on Monday, as the Fiscal and Management Control Board held the last meeting of its five-year life with no clarity from the Legislature yet on whether a new board will be created to pick up where the old one left off. Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack said […]
Posted inTransportation
Pollack outlines yet another ‘throat’ option
TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY STEPHANIE POLLACK on Monday proposed a modified rebuild of the existing Massachusetts Turnpike and other transportation infrastructure in the narrow 204-foot space between Boston University and the Charles River as a way of avoiding any incursion into the Charles River and speeding up construction of a new I-90 Allston interchange. Pollack’s proposal calls […]
Posted inTransportation
Demolition dust one more Chelsea burden
TONY HERNANDEZ was sound asleep when his wife woke him up at around 1 a.m. on May 30 and told him to come outside. He got out of bed, went out the door, and saw dust drifting down from the sky and settling across his County Avenue neighborhood. The source of the dust was demolition […]
Posted inOpinion
Avoiding a return to carmageddon
AS WE BEGIN THE JOURNEY to the “new normal,” post-COVID work environment, there is the strong likelihood that traffic congestion will be worse than before. With COVID leaving many with lingering doubts about the safety and health risks associated with public anything, including public transportation, many will turn to the private automobile as their transport […]
Posted inTransportation
T notes: Riders returning slowly to buses, subways
RIDERS ARE SLOWLY RETURNING to the MBTA’s buses and subways, and the transit authority is preparing to add more service starting next weekend to allow social distancing at the higher passenger levels. Steve Poftak, the T’s general manager, said bus passenger levels have risen 15 percent each week since the middle of May and subway […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA approves 4-year Keolis extension
TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY Stephanie Pollack vowed in early 2017 that the MBTA’s $2.6 billion contract with Keolis Commuter Services would not be renewed when it expires in 2022, but on Monday the T oversight board unanimously approved a four-year extension along with some tweaks to the remaining two years on the existing deal. The contract extension […]
Posted inTransportation
Taxpayers Foundation: T facing existential crisis
BATTERED BY A CORONAVIRUS pandemic that has slashed fare revenue and soured Beacon Hill on providing additional funding for new initiatives, the MBTA is facing a financial crisis worse than the one it encountered during the snowmageddon of 2015, according to a report released by the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. The business-backed financial watchdog said $827 […]
Posted inOpinion
Let’s move on to flattening commute into Boston
THE COMMONWEALTH of Massachusetts and the city of Boston have come together in impressive fashion to address the COVID-19 crisis and flatten the curve. As a lifelong resident of the state, I am reassured that the governor and mayor have prioritized our health and created an environment in which many residents are doing the same. […]