Saturday, May 11, 2013
Last year, the Friday before Mother's Day was the heaviest traffic day of the year on the Mass Pike.
Mother's Day Weekend (and warm-ish weather) is upon us — and so will be throngs of people trying to flee town, especially on the Mass Pike or heading to the Cape. Turnpike toll transactions statistics from 2012 ranked the Friday before Mother’s Day as the heaviest traffic day on the Pike with more than 363,000 transactions logged between Interstate 95/Route 128 and the New York border. Friday nights in warm weather months accounted for the rest of the top 20 heaviest travel days on the Pike last year: This weekend, heaviest traffic is expected Friday and Sunday afternoons and early evenings. So MassDOT (Massachusetts Department of Transportation) officials are encouraging drivers to make travel plans accordingly and, if possible, avoid …
Friday, April 12, 2013
State lawmakers have proposed four ways to fund transportation going forward.
Officials, legislators and members of the public have debated four plans unveiled during the course of the past two months all with one goal: Paying for transportation in Massachusetts for the foreseeable future. Writers of these plans are trying to find ways to pump as much money as possible into the system, while trying to avoid dramatic fare increases, tax hikes and fees. These are the plans in chronological order based on the time of their announcements: Writer: Gov. Deval Patrick, Mass. Department of Transportation Money: $1 billion Date of Announcement: Jan. 14, 2013 Gov. Deval Patrick unleashed “The Way Forward: A 21st Century Transportation Plan” in Januray. The plan is an ambitious, multi-billion dollar budgetary proposal for …
Monday, March 25, 2013
Despite the snow, the system should undergo a “full launch” the first or second week of April.
There’s still snow on the ground and it still feels like the dead of winter, but a staple of summer in Boston will be back online before you know it, and possibly in Brookline soon thereafter. Bicycles will be available throughout the Hubway bike sharing system the first or second week of April, according to Nicole Freedman, director of bicycle programs for the city of Boston and the surrounding area Thirty to 50 stations will be reopened throughout Boston leading up to the April full system launch, Freedman said. Brookline is getting a new Hubway Station on Harvard Street near Thorndike Street and the station at Town Hall will be moved to Washington Square. The Town received a contract from MassDOT on March 1, 2012 for $96,308 as …
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
The Board of Selectmen voted to extend a contract with the Mass. Department of Transportation for CMAQ funds to continue Hubway operation.
Brookline is getting a new Hubway Station on Harvard Street near Thorndike Street and the station at Town Hall will be moved to Washington Square. The Town received a contract from MassDOT on March 1, 2012 for $96,308 as Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) funds. These funds were used to implement the Brookline Bike Share program as part of the Hubway program. While the Town is not seeking any additional funds, Assistant Director for Community Planning Joe Viola asked the Board of Selectmen for an extension of the contract from March 31 2013 to March 31, 2014. “The CMAQ funds that we’re using through MassDOT pays for launch fees with the operator (Alta Bike Sharing), for putting the equipment on the street, and maintaining that …
Friday, March 15, 2013
At the hearing, State Transportation Secretary Richard Davey outlined some aspects of Gov. Deval Patrick’s 10-year transportation budget plan, and included the need for new revenues.
The state transportation secretary answered legislators' questions regarding the Green Line Extension, the South Coast Rail project, MBTA infrastructure, maintenance issues and how an ambitious 10-year budget plan will handle all of it. Massachusetts Department of Transportation Secretary and CEO Richard Davey testified before the Joint Committee on Transportation Tuesday morning. He was there to formally present Gov. Deval Patrick’s 21st Century Transportation Plan which calls for a $13 billion investment over the next decade. The hearing focused on finding new revenue that could be put toward ailing infrastructure and sought after rail projects. “People want more, not less, of our product,” Davey began, “but the current system we have is…
Friday, March 8, 2013
Fare hikes and service cuts are a few options T officials proposed in an effort to close the $130 million budget deficit in 2014.
MBTA officials have proposed service cuts and fare increases if there is no increase in funding, based on a $130 million projected budget deficit in fiscal year 2014. Director of Strategic Initiatives for the MBTA Charles Planck said at a MBTA finance committee meeting that in order to close the budget gap T fares will need to go up 33 percent, which means subway fares would move up from $2 to $2.60, The Boston Globe reported Wednesday. There was also talk at the meeting of a 15 percent fare increase coupled with the possible elimination of up to 30 bus routes, according to the Globe. Gov. Deval Patrick unveiled an ambitious transportation plan in February that would potentially raise $1.02 billion per year for the next 10 years, some of …
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
The board of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation released its 21st Century Transportation Plan, which outlines the state’s budgetary needs over the course of the next 10 years and beyond.
With infrastructure in need of repairs and the major city transit system steeped in billions of dollars of debt, the state may need to increase revenue from car registrations, license renewals, taxes and tolls. The Board of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation released its 21st Century Transportation Plan Monday, which calls for a $13 billion overall investment in state transportations systems over the next decade. The breakdown is as follows, according to a statement associated with the plan released by Transportation Secretary and CEO Richard A. Davey: To raise the necessary funds these recommendations will include an increase in the gas tax, payroll tax, sales tax or income tax; a new green fee on vehicle registrations; a …
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
The major highway through Boston will close due to work on the Zakim Bridge and the O’Neill tunnel.
A major Boston highway will close overnight to make way for work on the Zakim Bridge and O’Neill Tunnel. The Department of Transportation will shut down the southbound side of I-93 between 11 p.m. Tuesday night and 5 a.m. Wednesday morning, according to CBS Boston. MassDOT will divert traffic at the Route 38 Mystic Avenue exit and will be able to continue on I-93 at the exit near South Station, the site reports.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
A national organization of state transportation officials awarded the Massachusetts DOT with a high safety honor for highways, but does MBTA need to make the T safer?
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is now nationally recognized for higway safety leadership after receiving an award Tuesday. The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials has given MassDOT its 2012 Safety Leadership Award for “taking significant action” in reducing highway fatalities an injuries, according to a MassDOT statement. While the organization was recognized for highway safety, its public transportation sector experienced two negative incidents last week. A Green Line trolley collided with another trolley at Boylston Street Station last week sending passengers flying, and police are still searching for a man who struck a trolley operator at Fenway Station on Sunday. Do you feel MassDOT is …
James Lawton
10:01 am on Monday, April 1, 2013
Moving the Town Hall Station to Washington Square would put both the Village T Hubway station and the Washington Square Station more than a mile from any other station making them much less useful. If a station is full the user would have to ride a mile or more to park at another station and then walk back a mile or more to get to their destination. If the Village T station is empty (as it was … more ›