COMMONWEALTH’S RECENT STORY, “Pollack floats idea of slowing commuter rail makeover,” cited the precipitous drop in commuter rail mTicket revenue, from $331,341 collected on March 4 to $1,192 collected on April 15. When Gov. Baker ordered all non-essential businesses to close effective March 24 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home became a necessity, […]
Stephanie Pollack
Posted inTransportation
Why didn’t Deveney sound the alarm?
IN MID-MAY, Erin Deveney was at a regional conference of registrars when she bumped into Elizabeth Bielecki, her counterpart in New Hampshire. The two registrars started talking about information-sharing, and Deveney urged Bielecki to resume sending notifications to her office about Massachusetts drivers who commit violations in New Hampshire electronically rather than by mail. “I […]
Posted inPolitics
Lawmakers call Pollack back next week on RMV
SETTING THE STAGE for another confrontation with the Baker administration, leaders of the Transportation Committee on Wednesday scheduled a hearing next week in their ongoing probe of the massive procedural failure connected to a fatal crash in New Hampshire last month. Unless something has changed since Monday, that schedule doesn’t mesh with Transportation Secretary Stephanie […]
Posted inPolitics
Frustrated lawmakers abruptly end RMV oversight hearing
This story was updated. FRUSTRATED OVER THE lack of cooperation from the Baker administration on a legislative probe into extensive failures at the Registry of Motor Vehicles, lawmakers cut short their oversight hearing Monday morning, essentially telling Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack to come back when she had something to tell them. An “extremely disappointed” House […]
Posted inPolitics
Baker bill seeks new rules for commercial drivers
JUST UNDER A MONTH after a truck crash that killed seven motorcyclists in New Hampshire, Gov. Charlie Baker filed legislation Friday that he says would enhance safety by keeping dangerous commercial drivers off the road. The bill aims to accomplish that goal by increasing penalties for repeat bad drivers and requiring trucking businesses to sign […]
Posted inTransportation
Wieland gets nod for Massport CEO post
LISA WIELAND WAS selected to be the next chief executive of the Massachusetts Port Authority, taking over from the longtime stewardship of Tom Glynn, who retired last year. A divided Massport board of directors, which is almost entirely made up of Gov. Charlie Baker’s appointees, chose Wieland over the only other finalist, Brian Golden. John […]
Posted inTransportation
News you knew: Boston traffic stinks
JUST AS BOB DYLAN said you don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows, there was probably no need for another study to tell Boston drivers that traffic here is worse than bad. But that’s what we got, and whether it ends up being a helpful prod or just cause for more teeth-grinding, […]
Posted inThe Download
News you knew: Boston traffic stinks
Just as Bob Dylan said you don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows, there was probably no need for another study to tell Boston drivers that traffic here is worse than bad. But that’s what we got, and whether it ends up being a helpful prod or just cause for more […]
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: Salvucci, Aloisi liken Pollack to Sargent
Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack is being likened by two of her predecessors to former governor Frank Sargent for her decision to replace the elevated section of the Massachusetts Turnpike between Boston University and Allston with an at-grade version. Sargent 50 years ago called a halt to the proposed inner belt highway that would have continued […]
Posted inPolitics, Transportation
The evolution of Stephanie Pollack
Photographs by Frank Curran STEPHANIE POLLACK AND Charlie Baker are the odd couple of Massachusetts politics. Pollack is short and Baker is tall. She’s a lifelong Democrat and he’s a lifelong Republican. She supported Deval Patrick in 2010; Baker was running against Patrick during that race. She’s a progressive with a history of pushing higher […]