TWO DAYS after announcing a month-long shutdown of service on the entire Orange Line, the MBTA said it plans to simultaneously close a section of the Green Line running between […]
Tracking Transportation
Posted inTransportation
MBTA bus catches fire in Jamaica Plain
AN OUT-OF-SERVICE bus returning to the Arborway facility in Jamaica Plain caught fire on Thursday and the Boston Fire Department had to be called in to extinguish the blaze. MBTA […]
Posted inState Government, Transportation
Baker announces 30-day Orange Line shutdown
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER announced Wednesday that the MBTA’s entire Orange Line will shut down for 30 days in order to accelerate repairs. It will be the longest shutdown of an […]
Posted inTransportation
Orange Line shutdown coming, perhaps for a month
THE MBTA is preparing to shut down the Orange Line later this month to do maintenance and repair work and there is speculation that the shutdown could last several weeks […]
Posted inOpinion
Bike stats contradict safety claims of Cambridge officials
AMID AN OUTCRY over how the implementation of Quick Build bike lanes will all but eliminate street parking in front of local businesses, the Cambridge City Council has smacked down […]
Posted inTransportation
FTA orders ‘safety standdown’ at T for disabled trains
THE FEDERAL Transit Administration ordered an “immediate safety standdown” at the MBTA, requiring all workers who operate or secure disabled transit vehicles to halt their work until they participate in […]
Posted inOpinion
Pass ebike legislation, reward car-lite living
THE STATE Legislature and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation need to keep their eye on the real transportation goal for the state – maintaining and increasing the number of people […]
Posted inOpinion
Merging MBTA with DOT is a bad idea
THE JOINT COMMITTEE on Transportation seems to want to have its proverbial cake and eat it too. At its recent oversight hearing, House Committee Co-Chairman William Strauss suggested that the […]
Posted inOpinion
MBTA service levels need to be restored asap
LET THIS SINK IN for a second: The MBTA this week announced that it won’t be able to return the subway system to regular service frequencies before Labor Day, and […]
Posted inTransportation
T called worse off now than during snowmageddon
THE LEAD CAR of an Orange Line train crossing the Mystic River caught fire early Thursday morning, prompting panic on board the train and the evacuation of close to 200 […]
Posted inTransportation
Is it time to shake up the MBTA board?
A correction has been added to this story. IN THE DEBATE over the future of the MBTA, very little attention has been paid to the relatively new board that oversees […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA board approves 2 land deals worth $100m
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE MBTA OVERSEERS stamped approval Tuesday on a pair of real estate projects together worth more than $100 million to boost the agency’s vehicle maintenance footprint. The […]
Posted inTransportation
Full Orange, Red, and Blue line service unlikely to resume soon
SERVICE ON the Orange, Red, and Blue Lines will probably continue at reduced levels beyond Labor Day and likely into next year because of hiring and training constraints for subway dispatchers. […]
Posted inTransportation
New temporary elevated highway may be needed with I-90 Allston project
THE I-90 ALLSTON interchange has always been a challenge to design, particularly squeezing the Massachusetts Turnpike, Soldiers Field Road, and four railroad tracks at ground level into in the narrow […]
Posted inTransportation
Straus asks whether the T is still needed
AT THE END of Monday’s legislative oversight hearing on safety practices at the MBTA, the House chair of the Transportation Committee said something was missing. The committee, in its questioning […]
Posted inTransportation
Blue Line wall of silence becomes focus of MBTA oversight hearing
ON MAY 8, the MBTA sent out a press release saying the planned reopening of the Blue Line set for that day needed to be extended until May 13 “to […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA turnaround taking longer than we want
THE INITIAL TURNAROUND of the MBTA in Gov. Charlie Baker’s first term had been such a good story that it is a whole chapter in his recent book. But pandemic-induced […]
Posted inTransportation
Senate approves MBTA low-income fare proposal
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE SENATORS WILL TRY to convince their House colleagues the time is right to make another pass at mandating a low-income fare program at the MBTA, reviving […]
Posted inTransportation
MBTA cites progress in dealing with FTA safety directives
MBTA GENERAL MANAGER Steve Poftak said the agency is making solid progress in dealing with the four safety directives issued by the Federal Transit Administration, but he cautioned that reduced […]
Posted inTransportation
Harvard’s Allston campus takes big step forward
THE ENORMOUS POTENTIAL of Harvard University’s land-holdings in Allston began to take shape on Tuesday as the city and the school unveiled an agreement detailing plans for the initial 9.4 […]
Posted inTransportation
Déjà vu for Congressman Lynch
IT’S A BIT of déjà vu for US Rep. Stephen Lynch. Last year, he was upset with the MBTA because it had received billions in federal aid but was nevertheless […]
Posted inTransportation
Lynch optimistic about bringing back T retirees
US REP. STEPHEN LYNCH is optimistic the MBTA and its unions can find a way to bring retired subway dispatchers back on the job to help raise staffing levels in […]
Posted inTransportation
Poftak gets nearly $80,000 in bonus payments
MBTA GENERAL MANAGER Steve Poftak, who is steering the beleaguered transit authority through safety and budgetary challenges, received nearly $80,000 more in his paycheck earlier this year in the form […]
Posted inTransportation
Another agency shares blame for MBTA safety issues
THE MBTA is taking a lot of hits for its safety shortcomings, but there’s another state agency that deserves a share of the blame. The Department of Public Utilities is […]
