I AM THE PRESIDENT and business manager of OPEIU Local 453, a union representing over 400 middle-level administrative and professional employees in every department at the MBTA. When I watched […]
Transportation
Posted inTransportation
Chamber backs free bus service in Worcester
TUCKED INSIDE this week’s transportation funding proposal from the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce was an unusual request. In addition to offering support for a statewide tolling initiative, a hike […]
Posted inTransportation
DeLeo unsure about tax bill timeline
HOUSE SPEAKER Robert DeLeo expressed some uncertainty Wednesday afternoon about whether the House will be able to advance a tax package before the end of the year. “Right now we’re […]
Posted inTransportation
Biz group outlines roadway pricing proposal
THE BUSINESS GROUP A Better City estimates Massachusetts will need to raise a minimum of $50 billion over the next 20 years to meet transportation needs, and is proposing a […]
Posted inTransportation
T notes: GLX will be big money loser
THE MBTA IS FORECASTING that the cost of running the Green Line extension in its first full year of operation will far exceed the revenue gained. According to projections provided […]
Posted inTransportation
Text of resolutions approved by MBTA control board
The following is the text of the five resolutions unanimously adopted by the Fiscal and Management Control Board on Monday to deal with the overhaul of the MBTA’s commuter rail […]
Posted inTransportation
Spilka won’t commit to take up tax bill
WHILE HOUSE SPEAKER ROBERT DELEO plans to advance a transportation revenue bill within the next few weeks, Senate President Karen Spilka is taking a more cautious approach, and might not […]
Posted inTransportation
T board approves commuter rail vision
THE MBTA’S OVERSIGHT BOARD unanimously approved five resolutions on Monday designed to start transforming the state’s commuter rail network into more of a subway-like system with electrified trains arriving every […]
Posted inTransportation
Biz officials: New transportation funds needed
THE DERAILMENT on the Red Line in June may have been a turning point. After Gov. Charlie Baker visited the crash site, he decided it was time to accelerate repairs […]
Posted inTransportation
T control board leans toward new revenue
A MAJORITY OF THE FIVE members of the MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board, all appointees of Gov. Charlie Baker, support the idea that the T needs more revenue. They […]
Posted inOpinion
Charles R. advocates not on board with Soldier’s Field bypass
ON MONDAY, CommonWealth reported that although “[n]o one thought putting a structure out over the Charles would sit well with the river’s many enthusiasts, [ ] Mike O’Dowd, the project manager, […]
Posted inTransportation
Businesses weigh in on transpo taxes, fees
ON THE EVE of a long-anticipated legislative debate on transportation, most members of a coalition of Massachusetts businesses see a need for some form of new revenue, but there is […]
Posted inTransportation
House leaders talk transpo taxes
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE HOUSE LEADERS ARE INCHING toward a proposal to raise new revenue “sourced from transportation for transportation” to invest in infrastructure and public transit, keeping their eye […]
Posted inTransportation
T notes: Payroll finally getting back to 2015 levels
THE MBTA PAYROLL is slowly returning to the staffing level it was at in fiscal 2015, at the start of the Baker administration. According to figures presented to the Fiscal […]
Posted inTransportation
Commuter rail group backs big expansion
This story was updated at 6 p.m. A 25-MEMBER ADVISORY GROUP that has been studying the future of commuter rail for the last 18 months presented a fairly united front […]
Posted inOpinion
TransitMatters: Our plan for regional rail
MASSACHUSETTS BENEFITS GREATLY from a legacy passenger rail network mostly built out in the late 19th century. Thankfully, much of it was saved from the worst impulses of mid-20th century […]
Posted inTransportation
What’s the plan?
IT’S HAPPENED TWICE this year. It will certainly happen again. A major incident shuts down a critical section of the inner urban subway system. In June it was the Red […]
Posted inTransportation
T notes: Revenue discussion still percolating
THE LEGISLATURE AND THE PUBLIC have yet to hear from the T’s Fiscal and Management Control Board on whether new transportation revenues are needed, but two members who weighed in […]
Posted inTransportation
After Orange Line closure, more apologies from the T
MBTA GENERAL MANAGER STEVE POFTAK apologized repeatedly for a construction accident that prevented weekend work on the Orange Line from wrapping up as planned Sunday evening, snarling Monday morning commutes […]
Posted inGambling
To entice customers, Encore discounts trips to casino
SINCE ITS JUNE OPENING, Encore Boston Harbor has slashed the cost of travel to the Everett casino, first offering free parking and now adding free bus service to some and […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
House leaders opt for rainy day fund over tax cut
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER’S proposal to double the tax exemption for dependent children was left out of a $714 million spending bill being debated Wednesday because leadership […]
Posted inOpinion
New subway cars compromise our values
I RIDE THE MBTA ORANGE LINE every single day. I’ve done so for the past 15 years. While I do get frustrated every so often with its service, it is […]
Posted inTransportation
Lawmakers urged to try congestion pricing
CITING THE BAKER ADMINISTRATION’S WARNING that traffic is at a “tipping point,” lawmakers and advocates renewed calls Tuesday for Massachusetts to follow its peers and adjust roadway tolls at different […]
Posted inTransportation
Straus raises alarms on RMV probe
A correction has been added to this story. THE HOUSE CHAIR of the Legislature’s Transportation Committee raised concerns on Tuesday that the Baker administration was withholding documents sought as part […]