THE MBTA IS offering signing bonuses and other perks to fill the many job openings at the agency. Now the transit authority is tweaking its retirement benefits to better retain […]
Tracking Transportation
Keeping track of transportation
Posted inState House News Service, Uncategorized
T says low-income fare ramp-up would be year
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MBTA OFFICIALS estimated Thursday they would need at least a year and about $5 million to get a widespread low-income fare option off the ground, plus […]
Posted inTransportation
Survey indicates dramatic demographic shift among T riders
THE NUMBER of riders taking the MBTA declined significantly during COVID, but their demographic makeup also changed, shifting far more toward minorities and people with lower incomes. A new passenger […]
Posted inTransportation
Slow zones across 27% of MBTA subway system
INTERIM MBTA General Manager Jeffrey Gonneville on Thursday offered no timeline on when slow zones covering 27 percent of the subway system will be lifted, and said repair work will take […]
Posted inTransportation
T lifts last of universal go-slow speed restrictions
THE MBTA announced Sunday night that the universal speed restriction on the Green Line has been lifted, which means the precautionary go-slow policy the transit authority put in place across […]
Posted inOpinion
‘Outside the box’ thoughts on MBTA electrification
IN THE TRANSPORTATION SECTOR, there is an urgent need to cut emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants, and to reduce inequities in access to clean, reliable and affordable transportation. To […]
Posted inTransportation
For now, slow zones on the T the new normal
ONE-QUARTER OF the entire MBTA subway system will still be subject to more-sluggish-than-usual travel once the agency lifts end-to-end speed restrictions on the Green Line. More than a week after […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA moving slowly in lifting universal speed restrictions
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE MBTA lifted an end-to-end speed restriction on the Mattapan Line trolley early Thursday morning, but there’s still no official timeline for ending mandatory slowdowns across […]
Posted inTransportation
More second-guessing of state’s I-90 Allston work
A correction has been added to this story. STATE TRANSPORTATION officials on Wednesday moved forward with a plan to spend nearly $86 million shoring up a crumbling elevated section of […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA not susceptible to magical solutions
LAST WEEK’S NEWS regarding T safety conditions and slowdowns took most people by surprise, as the hope associated with a new gubernatorial administration and the feeling that perhaps the absolute […]
Posted inTransportation
Documentation breakdown blamed in T subway slowdown
MBTA INTERIM General Manager Jeffrey Gonneville said a failure to properly document whether or not track defects identified last month had been addressed prompted him to order a slowdown of […]
Posted inTransportation
Healey’s competitiveness mantra collides with T reality
LIKE A WELL-OILED messaging machine, Maura Healey has had a one-word mantra to frame her early days as governor: competitiveness. It’s become her version of the stern advice given in […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA imposes speed restrictions across entire subway system
THE MBTA announced late Thursday night that it was immediately imposing speed restrictions on all of its subway lines following a recent state safety inspection of the Red Line between […]
Posted inTransportation
Biden includes partial funding for new Cape bridges in budget
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MASSACHUSETTS ELECTED officials who for years have been seeking federal funding to help replace the aging bridges across the Cape Cod Canal got a major ally […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA checks off one item on FTA safety list
MBTA OFFICIALS said they have successfully checked off one item on the Federal Transit Administration’s safety checklist by getting two ancient work trains on the Green Line back in operation. […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA leaning toward ‘new normal’ of lower ridership
MBTA OFFICIALS are beginning to assume that ridership will not rise much above current levels, an assumption sharply criticized by the head of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce who […]
Posted inTransportation
State toll revenue getting back to pre-COVID levels
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE STATE HIGHWAY system is bringing in nearly as much money from tolls as it did before the COVID-19 pandemic hit three years ago. The Department […]
Posted inTransportation
Campbell joins lawsuit opposing JetBlue purchase of Spirit
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE ATTORNEY GENERAL Andrea Campbell is jumping into the effort to halt JetBlue’s proposed acquisition of Spirit Airlines, calling it an “anticompetitive deal” and predicting it will […]
Posted inTransportation
Chamber chief to T: You get what you pay for
A correction has been added to this story. JIM ROONEY, the president of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, is encouraging the MBTA to pay top dollar for its next […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA to remove some panels at Harvard Station
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MBTA STAFF will remove ceiling panels at Harvard Station after a corroded panel fell about 10 feet and landed “very close to a customer,” interim General Manager […]
Posted inTransportation
Healey budget moves means-tested fares off back burner
AN MBTA means-tested fare seems to be getting on track on Beacon Hill with the Healey administration’s decision to include $5 million for the initiative in its budget proposal for […]
Posted inOpinion
Congestion pricing – a tool that can solve many transportation problems
IN ADDITION to ranking among the worst cities for traffic, economic inequality, and housing costs, Boston holds another ignominious distinction: we’re the largest US metro area not using dynamic tolls […]
Posted inTransportation
Gonneville grilled on Alewife damage
MBTA interim General Manager Jeffrey Gonneville said on Friday that the mezzanine ticket area of the Red Line’s Alewife Station could reopen by the end of March and hinted that […]
Posted inTransportation
State officials reduce closure of Sumner Tunnel this year
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A MEGAPROJECT to repair the 88-year-old Sumner Tunnel under Boston Harbor will take place on a newly divided timeline, trading a later end date and higher […]