MUCH HAS BEEN MADE about who exactly is to blame for the failure of our rail system in Massachusetts last winter. The question is not whether or not there is […]
MBTA
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
T begins targeting absenteeism rate
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOPING TO REDUCE ABSENTEEISM at the MBTA, transit officials have begun looking at the roots of the problem and making human resources hires. They are also […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
Funding transportation beyond state taxation
The gas tax indexing defeat left Massachusetts cities and towns scrambling to figure out where new dollars to fund roads, bridges, and mass transit repairs would come from. With state […]
Posted inTransportation
Baker cautious on North-South rail link
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER told two of his predecessors on Wednesday that he and his staff would explore a proposed rail link between North and South Stations, but he appeared to […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Once again, MBTA maps out growing budget deficits
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE MBTA HAS sketched out a growing deficit within its transit system that would balloon to $427 million in four years, as expenses far outpace growth […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
T control board taking control
Joseph Aiello, the chair of the MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board, is understandably nervous.The estimated cost of bringing the T into a state of good repair just increased to […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
MBTA’s ‘good repair’ cost rises to $7.3b
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE COST OF BRINGING the MBTA’s trains, stations, tracks and other assets into good working condition has only grown larger with closer scrutiny, rising to $7.3 […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
T control board may hire Green Line consultant
THE MBTA FISCAL AND MANAGEMENT CONTROL BOARD’S lack of confidence in the transit agency’s ability to build the Green Line Extension to Somerville and West Medford plunged to new lows […]
Posted inThe Back Story, Transportation
T spin on the Green Line Ext.
I heard the cost of the Green Line Extension was spinning out of control in early June, but I had no proof and ended up not writing anything. That’s my […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
Green Line extension could take a lot more green
Nearly 11 months ago, the federal government promised Massachusetts almost $1 billion to help the state extend the MBTA’s Green Line into Somerville and Medford. At the time, nearly everyone […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Stay the course on Green Line Ext.
THE DISCLOSURE OF A BREATHTAKING potential billion-dollar cost overrun for the proposed Green Line Extension was unwelcome news. Not only did it take everyone by surprise, it undermined confidence in […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Green Line extension endangered
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE COST SET set by the Green Line Extension contractor for the first three stations is more than double the amount state and federal transit officials […]
Posted inState House News Service, The Download, Transportation
North-South Rail Link rides again
The dynamic duo of  Michael Dukakis and William Weld have teamed up to seize the headlines in the dog days of summer with a surefire conversation starter: building the North-South […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
It’s time for Boston 3.0
SO NOW WHAT? Our Olympic wrestling match is over. The international sports spectacle will move on to another venue, most likely in Europe, and most Bostonians (in our unerring spirit […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
MBTA has to up its game for control board
It has come to this: The fate of the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority lies with a fiscal and management control board tasked with rebuilding the legendarily feckless public transportation system […]
Posted inTransportation
What the T fiscal control board needs to do
NOW THAT THE MBTA’S fiscal control board is in place – a board that reflects a consensus approach to creating an additional power center at 10 Park Plaza – we […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, Transportation
MBTA to use fines to improve commuter rail customer service
MBTA OFFICIALS KNOW that commuter rail riders hate late trains. They also get an earful about conductors who fail to collect fares and the passengers who evade paying them. So […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
Pioneer, the Pacheco law, and the revenge of the Blue Mass Group nerds
The MBTA is an easy target for critics. The Greater Boston transit system seems to be the only state agency operating with a permanent bulls-eye on it. The Pioneer Institute […]
Posted inPolitics, State House News Service, The Download
With Pacheco law, it’s all about the narrative
Sen. Marc Pacheco, author of a 1993 law that became the focus of the behind-the-scenes wrangling over the 2016 state budget, says people forget the context in which the measure […]
Posted inThe Download, Transportation
Disrupting business as usual @ the MBTA
For MBTA riders, life on the T during the Wednesday morning rush was perfectly normal. There were “moderate” disabled-train delays on the Orange Line, signal problems on the Green Line, […]
Posted inPolitics, The Download
Defining the Pacheco law
The temperature is rising on Beacon Hill in the battle over reforms to the much maligned MBTA. The Globe’s David Scharfenberg reports today that both sides in the T debate […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Reaching an MBTA consensus
IN 1990, when John Silber became the Democratic Party’s nominee for governor, I supported Bill Weld and Paul Cellucci in their gubernatorial bid. I’ve been a lifelong Democrat (although lately […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
DeLeo vows more T reforms
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE SPEAKER ROBERT DELEO said the body will continue to fight for MBTA management reforms favored by Gov. Charlie Baker both in ongoing budget negotiations and […]
Posted inTransportation
Baker rules out new taxes for the T
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Thursday announced an $83 million winter resiliency plan for the MBTA, urged the Legislature to pass a separate package of management reforms, and ruled out new […]