MBTA OFFICIALS SAY they want to overhaul the process and change the culture at the agency to ramp up spending on capital projects after once again finishing the year without […]
Transportation
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
T deficit cut to $86M
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE MBTA FINISHED fiscal year 2016 with a structural deficit of $86 million, a roughly 28 percent decrease from the previous year in the difference between […]
Posted inTransportation
Union protests T privatizing
HUNDREDS OF ORANGE-CLAD MBTA union workers and supporters crammed the Fiscal and Management Control Board meeting Monday to loudly — and, in some cases, profanely – protest the administration’s efforts […]
Posted inTransportation
Get Mass. transponder or face higher Turnpike charges
This story was updated at 5:30 p.m. At 3 p.m., because of incorrect information supplied by state officials, it was corrected to say that drivers without transponders will be charged […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Baker shortsighted on VMT
THERE ARE MOMENTS IN GOVERNMENT when a small, often little-noticed, decision has large long-term consequences. Unfortunately, Gov. Charlie Baker made such a decision last week when he vetoed a provision […]
Posted inThe Download
A report from T captivity
BROADWAY MBTA STATION — We hoped, as usual, to bring loyal Download readers pithy thoughts on an important news story of the day. We understand Donald Trump said he wouldn’t […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Boneheaded transportation moves
AUGUST IS THAT MONTH when there isn’t an official federal or state holiday because so many people are assumed to be on vacation. This makes August a time when people […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, State House News Service, Transportation
Baker hails Uber bill
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE GOV. CHARLIE BAKER on Friday afternoon signed into law what he described as the strongest regulatory framework in the country for app-based ride-for-hire services like Uber […]
Posted inThe Download
When it comes to the T, follow the money
Nothing happens with the cash-strapped MBTA without a reference to money — absolutely nothing. Monday’s meeting of the Fiscal & Management Control Board was a case in point. Outside of […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Driverless car revolution is coming
This is the second in a series entitled The Future of Mobility, a joint project of CommonWealth and Meeting of the Minds, a San Francisco-based organization that seeks to build alliances around […]
Posted inTransportation
T to pay $400 million for mandated safety system
MBTA OFFICIALS SAY a mandatory $460 million system to ensure rail safety is on track to be installed by 2020 but though they claim it’s an 80-20 split with the […]
Posted inTransportation
T union claims cash uncollected
THE HEAD OF the MBTA’s Carmen’s Union ramped up his assault on the agency’s move to privatize money collection, claiming the first week of a new system resulted in untold […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Uber, Lyft regulations approved
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE A LATE-NIGHT DEAL struck between House and Senate lawmakers to regulate app-based ride-hailing services like Uber and Lyft would not ban those services from operating at […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
VMT is the way to go
THE COMMONWEALTH IS ABOUT TO TAKE an important step toward making our state’s approach to transportation funding more stable, fair, and transparent. The Legislature has included language in its recent transportation bond bill that directs the […]
Posted inThe Download
New Turnpike tolls are coming
All-electronic tolling launches on the Massachusetts Turnpike in October. Are you ready? The folks at Masslive are all over this story. They’ve created a catalogue of stories on the new […]
Posted inThe Download
Baker reaffirms no new taxes
Gov. Charlie Baker reaffirmed his support for no new taxes on Monday, disavowing statements last week and making clear he is not as progressive as many in Massachusetts seem to […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Lawmakers send fare cap plan back to Baker
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE UNPERSUADED BY HIS arguments for greater flexibility in setting fares, lawmakers on Tuesday sent back to Gov. Charlie Baker legislation strictly capping MBTA fare increases at […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
MBTA police plan to privatize dispatch services
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE THE MBTA PLANS to move its Transit Police dispatching function to the private vendor IXP Corporation, freeing up 15 officers to move to patrol as […]
Posted inThe Download
T control board’s one-year assessment
On the eve of their one-year anniversary, the five members of the MBTA’s Fiscal Management and Control Board report that the “long-term rebuilding of the MBTA is underway.” That’s not […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Guiding principles for transportation
This is the first in a series entitled The Future of Mobility, a joint project of CommonWealth and Meeting of the Minds, a San Francisco-based organization that seeks to build […]
Posted inEconomy, Politics, Transportation
Fingerprints fail in Senate Uber bill
AFTER AN EXHAUSTIVE debate that dragged on for nearly five hours, the state Senate passed Uber-friendly regulations for the runaway ride-hailing industry but not before beating back an impassioned plea […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
Build the Middleboro line now
THE FALL RIVER Area Chamber of Commerce and Industry recently testified before the Fiscal and Management Control Board at MassDOT in support of a Middleboro rail extension to Fall River […]
Posted inOpinion, Transportation
There’s no getting around
THE TERM “HIDING in plain sight” has meaning beyond the obvious. Sometimes facts and realities that are part of our daily routine get overlooked, taken for granted, accepted as part […]
Posted inState House News Service, Transportation
Senate bill more Uber friendly
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE More than three months after the House passed legislation regulating ride-for-hire companies like Uber and Lyft, Senate leaders on Thursday will release a new version of […]
