GOV. CHARLIE BAKERÂ on Thursday reversed course and approved an $8 million funding increase for regional transit authorities but refused to support a pilot program to see if cutting tolls at […]
Transportation
Posted inTransportation
Uber, Lyft expanding to bikes, scooters
Uber and Lyft are expanding their vision of ride-sharing to include not just cars but bicycles, electric bicycles, and electric scooters. Uber jumped in first, adding the electric bikeshare company […]
Posted inOpinion
S. Coast Rail is headed in wrong direction
THE CURRENT PROCESS for South Coast Rail is on the wrong track. The current solution—an interim option which avoids sensitive environmental areas—doesn’t please the city it runs through (Middleboro), the […]
Posted inTransportation
T notes: Lawmakers hike funding for regional transit authorities
STATE LAWMAKERS ON WEDNESDAY set aside $88 million for the state’s 15 regional transit authorities, $8 million more than Gov. Charlie Baker had recommended for fiscal 2019. The legislative budget […]
Posted inTransportation
Pollack: West Station ridership forecast may be off
TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY STEPHANIE POLLACK believes the computer model the state uses to predict future transit ridership is unreliable, at least for projects like the proposed West Station in the Allston […]
Posted inTransportation
Pollack launches new reviews of Turnpike, West Station
TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY STEPHANIE POLLACK said on Thursday that the state will revisit many of the assumptions behind a massive highway and transit project planned for the Allston-Brighton area with the […]
Posted inOpinion
For walkers, the last six inches are important
WALKBOSTON HAS BEEN TALKING about transit as the middle leg of a walking trip for many years. We understand that even the most avid walker or walking advocate knows that […]
Posted inEnvironment
Putting a price on carbon gains momentum in Mass.
CLARIFICATION: The original version of this story twice likened putting a price on carbon to putting a tax on carbon, but a sponsor of the legislation said it is not […]
Posted inOpinion
Regulatory reset needed on Uber, self-driving cars
Second of two parts (First part can be found here.)Â MASSACHUSETTS STATE AND MUNICIPAL DECISION MAKERS must push a reset button and develop a template for a more comprehensive and […]
Posted inOpinion
TNCs existential threat to public transportation
First of two parts ADVOCACY IS WHAT LIKE-MINDED people do, usually in an organized fashion, to effect change in the way government or public policy impacts their lives. Advocacy can […]
Posted inThe Back Story
Some transportation decisions put off until after election
It may be just a coincidence, but decisions on divisive transportation issues big and small seem to be getting put off until later this year – after the election. The […]
Posted inOpinion
Hey mayors, focus on transportation
TODAY, GLOBAL AND NATIONAL MAYORS will convene in Boston to advance shared solutions around climate change. By 2030, more than 60 percent of the world’s population will live in cities. […]
Posted inTransportation
Salvucci traces decline of T to Weld administration
Fred Salvucci, one of the state’s most influential transportation officials, traces the decline of the MBTA to the early years of the administration of former governor William Weld. Salvucci, who […]
Posted inOpinion
For hire: CEO of housing and transit
EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS has a lot going for it. From the outside looking in, we’re thriving in the information economy. We can boast a talented workforce; world-class research and development; productive […]
Posted inTransportation
Bus renaissance underway?
Buses aren’t as sexy as new Orange Line cars or the extension of the Green Line into Somerville and Medford. But they are a lot cheaper to buy and much […]
Posted inThe Download
The Codcast: Bus renaissance underway?
Buses aren’t as sexy as new Orange Line cars or the extension of the Green Line into Somerville and Medford. But they are a lot cheaper to buy and much […]
Posted inOpinion
MBTA’s unfair rail fares need to change
EVERY DAY, more than 100,000 people ride the commuter rail in and around Boston, headed not just to work, but also to shop, spend time with family and friends, make […]
Posted inThe Download
Gas pains
After several years of relatively agreeable gas prices, the surge has begun again and where it stops, nobody knows. The cost of a gallon of gas nationally has risen to $2.90, […]
Posted inTransportation
Bikers don’t get everything they want on Longfellow
THE LONGFELLOW BRIDGE between Cambridge and Boston will open at the end of this month without a much wider bike lane sought by cyclists, but state officials said they would […]
Posted inTransportation
West Station wrangling
IT’S PLAYING OUT as a classic chicken and egg situation. State officials say calls for a commuter rail station in the area of Allston being developed by Harvard as a […]
Posted inTransportation
Mayor Walsh, don’t ticket home care aides
CHANCES ARE THAT SOMEONE YOU KNOW either needs in-home care now, or will in the future. As the older adult population in Massachusetts continues to grow, many of our relatives, […]
Posted inTransportation
Boston, Cambridge epicenter of ride-hailing
RIDE-HAILING APPS such as Uber and Lyft provided 64.8 million trips last year in Massachusetts, with the bulk of those trips starting in Boston and surrounding communities. More than half […]
Posted inOpinion
What am I missing at Allston Landing?
THERE ARE OCCASIONS in the making of public policy when you are left scratching your head, because the decision-making just doesn’t make sense, and you wonder what you may be […]
