THE MBTA, with $5.01 billion in debt outstanding, is preparing to borrow another $574 million to raise funds for capital projects. “It’s an ambitious capital program and it needs to […]
Bruce Mohl
Bruce Mohl oversees the production of content and edits reports, along with carrying out his own reporting with a particular focus on transportation, energy, and climate issues.
He previously worked at the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper.
Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.
Posted inEconomy
Millennium promises shorter Winthrop Sq. tower
THE DEVELOPER MILLENNIUM PARTNERS agreed on Monday to cut the height of its proposed tower in Winthrop Square from 775 feet to at least 702 feet to ease concerns raised […]
Posted inTransportation
Reform before revenue debate rages on
DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE SETTI WARREN on Friday rode the Red Line into Boston with a Suffolk University student and afterwards told reporters the state needs to invest more in the […]
Posted inThe Back Story
MBTA rolls out new transit ambassadors
THE MBTA IS STARTING to ramp up its new transit ambassador program, its latest bid to improve service using private contractors. Transit ambassadors, wearing bright red shirts emblazoned with […]
Posted inTransportation
T cites $400m in Pacheco Law waiver savings
THE MBTA EXPECTS TO SAVE more than $400 million in operating and avoided capital expenses over the next 10 years because of privatization initiatives engineered under a waiver from the […]
Posted inEnvironment
Northern Pass dealt a regulatory blow
A NEW HAMPSHIRE REGULATORY AGENCY said on Thursday it won’t be able to meet its Sept. 30 deadline for making a go-no go decision on Eversource’s Northern Pass transmission project. […]
Posted inEnvironment
National Grid, Hydro-Quebec snipe over hydro power
NATIONAL GRID AND HYDRO-QUEBEC, two companies competing for Massachusetts clean energy contracts, are sniping at each other over the environmental benefits of hydroelectricity in dueling CommonWealth opinion pieces. The op-eds […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Rep joins unenrolled in-crowd
Rep. Susannah Whipps joined the political in-crowd this week, switching her party registration from Republican to unenrolled. Statewide, unenrolled voters – those not affiliated with any political party – are taking over. They […]
Posted inUncategorized
NE states propose 30% cut in power plant emissions
NINE NORTHEASTERN AND MID-ATLANTIC STATES, including Massachusetts, unveiled a proposal on Wednesday that would require power plants running on fossil fuels to cut their carbon dioxide emissions 30 percent between […]
Posted inTransportation
T gives contractors night tour of bus garages
THE MBTA RECENTLY GAVE several private contractors a midnight tour of three of the authority’s bus maintenance garages, which the head of the local machinists union cited as symbolic proof […]
Posted inTransportation
Capuano backs T workers, lays off Baker
US REP. MICHAEL CAPUANO lent his support on Wednesday to MBTA bus maintenance workers who are fighting efforts to privatize some of their jobs, but the congressman didn’t join union […]
Posted inPolitics
Was Boston Common rally really about white supremacy?
THE 40,000 PROTESTERS who showed up at Boston Common on Saturday had nothing to protest because the free speech rally was focused on free speech and not white supremacy or […]
Posted inPolitics
‘This ain’t Charlottesville’
This story was updated at 5:15 p.m. TENS OF THOUSANDS OF PROTESTERS converged on Boston Common Saturday to chant, wave signs, and boo about 50 people holding what they described […]
Posted inTransportation
Study prices out N-S Rail Link
A RAIL LINK BETWEEN North and South Stations would cost between $3.8 billion and $5.9 billion to build, according to a data analysis conducted by a group of students and […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA adopts corporate mindset with GM pick
THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION adopted a very clear corporate mindset at the MBTA on Tuesday, hiring a general manager and CEO with strong business and turnaround skills but no public sector […]
Posted inTransportation
T board member hits absenteeism data
A MEMBER OF THE MBTA’S Fiscal and Management Control Board criticized agency officials on Monday for presenting data on employee absenteeism in a way that made it appear union workers […]
Posted inTransportation
T approves 2 pilot service expansions
THE MBTA’S OVERSIGHT BOARD on Monday approved two, year-long pilot projects expanding the transit authority’s operations – one that adds limited, early morning buses to help workers start into work […]
Posted inTransportation
Uber, Lyft gain market share at Logan
A SIX-MONTH STUDY of traffic patterns at Logan International Airport generally confirms what earlier data suggested – that transportation network companies such as Uber, Lyft, and most recently Wingz are gaining market share but […]
Posted inEnvironment
Northern Pass clears federal hurdle
FEDERAL REGULATORS CLEARED THE WAY on Thursday for Eversource’s Northern Pass transmission project to receive one of the two permits necessary to begin construction of a line carrying hydroelectricity from […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA rejects WiFi commuter rail proposal
FACING PUSHBACK FROM LOCAL COMMUNITIES on the North Shore, the MBTA on Thursday abruptly rejected a commuter rail WiFi proposal that called for the installation of 320 poles each more […]
Posted inEnvironment
Pricing hints on Hydro-Quebec power
A LEAKED POWER CONTRACT between Hydro-Quebec and the province of Ontario may offer some insight into what kind of deal the utility is currently offering Massachusetts for hydro-electricity. The proposed […]
Posted inTransportation
Getting inside the T’s union talks
IN APRIL, THE MBTA’S Fiscal and Management Control Board passed a budget that called for $8 million in savings from the authority’s bus maintenance operations during the current fiscal year, […]
Posted inPolitics
Warren calls Baker detainer bill ‘un-American’
NEWTON MAYOR and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Setti Warren doubled-down on his criticism of Gov. Charlie Baker’s ICE detainer legislation on Friday, calling the governor’s proposal “un-American.” Baker’s bill seeks to […]
Posted inTransportation
Mapping the T’s monopoles
Below is an interactive map developed by the MBTA showing the proposed locations of the 74-foot monopoles scheduled to go up along commuter rail lines to improve WiFi service on […]