STATE TRANSPORTATION officials said the elevated section of the Massachusetts Turnpike between Boston University and the Charles River is deteriorating at an exponential rate. Michael O’Dowd, the Department of Transportation’s […]
Tracking Transportation
Keeping track of transportation
Posted inTransportation
On Allston project, tone changes but challenges remain
STATE TRANSPORTATION officials sounded a more optimistic tone Thursday night about reaching a consensus on a design for the Allston I-90 interchange project, but they continued to insist on options […]
Posted inTransportation
T contract at odds with earlier statements by Pollack, Poftak
ON MONDAY, at the tail end of a four-hour meeting, the MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board quickly approved a nearly $9 million contract to begin initial design work on […]
Posted inTransportation
As T board nears its end, consensus proving elusive
AFTER NEARLY six years, the MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board is coming to an end. Two meetings are scheduled for June, and then the board will shut down. Some […]
Posted inTransportation
A remarkable turnaround for Green Line extension
CONFIDENCE APPEARS to be mounting at the MBTA that the nearly $2.3 billion Green Line extension project will come in under budget, allowing Somerville and Cambridge to recover the combined […]
Posted inTransportation
T notes: Impasse over fare evasion fines
FOR THE SECOND STRAIGHT meeting, the MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board and T staff couldn’t reach consensus on what the fines should be for fare evasion. The current fines […]
Posted inTransportation
Janey announces free service on Route 28 bus
WHEN THE QUESTIONING at a forum on Monday for Boston mayoral candidates turned to the idea of free fares on the MBTA for low-income residents, Acting Mayor Kim Janey didn’t […]
Posted inTransportation
T board divided on means-tested fares
MBTA OFFICIALS on Monday offered up a potential timetable and an estimate of costs for offering discounted fares to low-income riders, but the T’s oversight board appeared split on the […]
Posted inTransportation
WRTA votes to continue fare-free operations
THE ADVISORY BOARD of the Worcester Regional Transit Authority voted on Thursday to extend fare-free operations at least another six months until early next year. The vote was unanimous, although […]
Posted inTransportation
What’s next for controversial Northampton roundabout?
THE MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT of Transportation has terminated a construction contract for a controversial roundabout in Northampton, after neighbors and some Native American tribal representatives raised concerns that the project would […]
Posted inTransportation
MassDOT to spend $75m shoring up elevated Turnpike
THE MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT of Transportation issued an unusual press release Tuesday evening indicating the agency is preparing to spend $75 million shoring up the crumbling elevated section of the Turnpike […]
Posted inTransportation
Advocates: Tap fed infrastructure funds for Allston I-90 project
A GROUP OF TRANSPORTATION advocates sent a letter on Wednesday to all members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation urging them to press for federal funding for an all-at-grade I-90 Allston […]
Posted inTransportation
T notes: Bus network redesign coming next year
THE MBTA plans to begin phasing in a redesign of its entire bus network starting a year from now. T officials, who not long ago overhauled many of the system’s […]
Posted inTransportation
T board calls for $10 fine for fare evasion
THE MBTA oversight board called for making fines for fare evasion among the lowest in the country – at least until fares based on the income level of the passenger […]
Posted inTransportation
Newton cut off from all-day rail
NEWTON HAS FOUND itself on the outside looking in as the MBTA’s commuter rail system transitions from service geared around morning and afternoon peak periods to more frequent service at […]
Posted inTransportation
An ex-staffer’s perspective on T governance
LAUREL PAGET-SEEKINS spent six years at the MBTA, rising through the ranks to assistant general manager for policy before she left at the end of last year to become a […]
Posted inTransportation
T lays out bus electrification plan
MBTA OFFICIALS on Monday laid out a multi-billion-dollar plan for reducing the bus fleet’s carbon emissions to zero by annually rolling out a steady stream of hybrid electric-diesel and battery-electric […]
Posted inTransportation
Four questions for the MBTA’s Steve Poftak
MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak came on the Codcast this week and we asked him about four issues: returning to full service levels, means-tested vs. free fares, fare verification efforts, […]
Posted inTransportation
T notes: Scrambling for electric trains
THE MBTA’S Fiscal and Management Control Board pressed agency officials on Monday to accelerate the rollout of commuter rail trains that run on electricity instead of diesel fuel, but it […]
Posted inTransportation
T board gives boost to means-tested fares
SEVERAL MEMBERS of the MBTA’s oversight board called for a major overhaul of the transit system’s fare structure, including a much more serious look at the implementation of charging customers […]
Posted inOpinion
MBTA needs to get on decarbonization train
MASSACHUSETTS IS ADVANCING its efforts to decarbonize by 2050, and the general consensus around the need to address climate change and the negative public health impacts of carbon emissions is […]
Posted inTransportation
T proposes $50 fine for fare evasion
THE MBTA’S proposed new fare evasion policy calls for sharply lower fines with the possibility that the offender’s driver’s license will not be renewed if two or more penalties are […]
Posted inOpinion
Biden infrastructure plan and ‘fix it right’
THE BIDEN INFRASTRUCTURE initiative, branded as The American Jobs Plan, may be the most important transportation investment program since the Eisenhower Interstate Highway Act. The Interstate Highway Act kicked off […]
Posted inTransportation
T notes: Train derailed while using 46-year-old switch
MBTA OFFICIALS said the new Orange Line train that derailed on March 16 did so in a work zone near Wellington Station while moving slowly from one track to another […]