General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

[fattony]

Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Does wind-chill factor actually mean anything of consequence for equipment? Engineers, does equipment function differently in these two scenarios - one 20 degrees with no wind, and one 20 degrees with a windchill of megaultracold?

Moving air (convection) can increase the rate at which heat is pulled out of something, but it cannot actually cool something below the ambient temperature. Humans perceive this as if the temp were lower (which also gives a higher rate of heat removal through our skin) which is why we assign an "equivalent lower temperature" to the feeling.

Trains create their own wind (again, convection) when they move at 30, 40, 50 mph. A headwind would add to that, a tail wind subtract. No matter what, the temperature of the train, the tracks, the wheels, etc cannot drop below ambient.

 

[The EGE]

Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

MechE here, and absolutely. The reason that wind feels cold to a human (hence windchill) is because it takes away heat faster. Heat transfer is generally a function of the temperature difference (i.e, surrounded by 0 degrees, an 80 degree object will cool twice as fast as a 40 degree object).

With no wind, you get an insulating boundary layer of warmed air right next to warm objects (like people or trains) that limits the rate of heat transfer. (still air is actually a very good insulator as human temperatures; thermal-driven convection is rather slow). With wind, this layer is continually disrupted and the lower temperature is always the real temperature.

So that means that everything cools faster (even on moving trains and buses, cooling now happens faster during stops and while waiting at terminals) and things are much more likely to get closer to the actual cold temperature. Water on road or rails or inside equipment turns to ice faster. Switch heaters have to work harder, bus/car heaters have to work harder, and heater failures have a more immediate effect. Components that can be harmed by internal stresses caused by temperature gradients with the material are more likely to fail.

Plus, wind is never good in general. It blows trees onto tracks and roads, blows sand and rocks and snow under and into trains...

Also, windchill affects employees who have to work in those temperatures. Their time outside fixing broken things is limited, and physical work is more painful.

 

[Arlington]

Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Willing to bet Uber and Lyft have more impact than all of the T service after midnight

Uber itself disagrees with you. http://blog.uber.com/mbtalovestory

Thanks millerm277. The Uber-MBTA synergies are reminder that transit is a networked, multi-modal, system. MBTA can treat most "shared" modes as allies-- Zipcar, Hubway, Uber, Taxi, walking--in its goal of maximizing mobility.

The Personal Auto is near-impossible to treat as an ally to transit, 'cause they need all that expensive land and infrastructure for parking. I look forward to cars that can drive themselves home after dropping folks at stations

 

[HenryAlan]

Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

The Personal Auto is near-impossible to treat as an ally to transit, 'cause they need all that expensive land and infrastructure for parking. I look forward to cars that can drive themselves home after dropping folks at stations

Solves one problem at the expense of another -- fuel consumption. Fundamentally, the biggest problem with cars is that they are just thoroughly inefficient in every way possible. Even if we solve the fuel consumption issue, we still have a storage problem. That car that returns home driverless then uses a parking space that is no longer available to people making daytime trips to that neighborhood. What we need is better data management, so that the driverless car goes from dropping you off at the station to bringing somebody else to the doctor, to then picking up somebody's groceries. And for periods of down time, we need dynamically allotted parking spaces, not multiple options proximate to all destinations. Really, cars just suck. /rant

 

[Matthew]

Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Driverless cars that run on batteries and can hook up to overhead wires and/or underground conduits. The software to schedule sharing between users is relatively easy, heck we almost already have it, and then it never needs to park.

But they still face the problem of geometry: cars are just an inefficient way to use up a transportation conduit, not to mention an actual street that is shared with human beings.

That's why I think the big win will be driverless battery/electric buses. They can run frequently, like every 2 minutes or better (really, as frequent as intersections can process them). The routes will be known so they can hook up to wires at stops or on predetermined sections, if needed. They can run 24/7.

It'll be like having TransLink SkyTrain, except you can have it everywhere, going everywhere. I would redesign the network into more of a "grid" (as much as Boston's street network can manage) to take advantage of the ease of making connections when every bus runs so frequently. Bus stops would be built up properly and raised slightly for level boarding. The bus would always be able to pull up cleanly to the extended curb because it is computer controlled. All-door boarding with large, easily accessible doors. It could be done very well, and comprehensively too.

 

[Arlington]

Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

[The car that returns home] solves one problem [transit parking space] at the expense of another -- fuel consumption.

Those aren't equal problems, and net-net, the car that returns home is a win because uses no net new space (it always parks in its "home" space) and uses much less fuel (so long as a station trip is less than half of a commuting trip, which is a pretty sure bet).

And "fuel consumption" is a problem for which the individual bears most of the price, as opposed to T-station parking and core congestion which are big social costs.

But the autonomous Station Car, as Matthew points out, is ever more likely to be short range all-electric, or a plug-in hybrid running in battery-only mode, or a low speed electric (any of which can easily "do" a 5mile commuter-rail or heavy-rail station round trip twice a day, particularly if they plug themselves in). If they end up being shared across households, better still (saving a net space and, when in gasoline mode, running "warmed up" with better fuel economy and lower emissions)

That car that returns home driverless then uses a parking space that is no longer available to people making daytime trips to that neighborhood.

Its key to picture the park-and-ride 'burbs, in which most cars are domiciled off-street in private driveways or garages, but which demand expensive (subsidized) T-provided parking at rail stations.

I'm assuming these car-to-station trips will be most popular in the sprawly 'burbs served by commuter rail or the more far flung heavy rail stops (and where T ridership growth is often capped by the availability of daily parking at stations). All such 'burbs (picture Attleboro or Quincy or Malden or Littleton or Reading) can be assumed to already have devoted ample "home base" garage or driveway space to their cars.

 

[cden4]

Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Have you guys seen this tool that Matthew Danish created to analyze the on-time performance of MBTA bus routes? It's quite impressive.

http://willbrownsberger.com/mbta-bus-performance-data/

 

[393b40]

Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

MBTA set to decide the fate of the late-night service pilot soon: http://www.bostonmagazine.com/news/blog/2015/01/02/mbta-late-night-service-pilot-program/

$5 they shitcan it because let's face it, the MBTA loves to make bad decisions every once and awhile.

No news, just speculation: http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2015/...-reveals-765-million-budget-deficit-estimate/

If Baker is to be believed about the deficit then I really believe this service is toast. See you all in ten years.

 

[Arlington]

Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Is the MBTA deploying new buses?
I saw what appeared to be a shiny new bus running on the 80 Route.
(it was dark, but seemed to be very clean and have a more modern style)

 

[datadyne007]

Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Is the MBTA deploying new buses?
I saw what appeared to be a shiny new bus running on the 80 Route.
(it was dark, but seemed to be very clean and have a more modern style)

Yes, happened a few months ago.

 

[The EGE]

Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Yes, there are 60 new New Flyer XDE40 buses on order, some of which have entered service. Largely similar to the existing fleet of 40-foot low-floor buses; they have single seats on the low floor section which I've heard is coming in handy when there are strollers on board.

 

[Arlington]

Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Yes, happened a few months ago.

Yes, there are 60 new New Flyer XDE40 buses on order, some of which have entered service. Largely similar to the existing fleet of 40-foot low-floor buses; they have single seats on the low floor section which I've heard is coming in handy when there are strollers on board.

How are they fueled (Diesel? CNG?) and are they being spread around all garages? I'm kind of surprised that I haven't seen one until now (but I guess I mostly see 1 buses and they all look dowdy compared the Longwood Medical buses that ply Mass Ave Cambridge)

 

[datadyne007]

Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

How are they fueled (Diesel? CNG?) and are they being spread around all garages? I'm kind of surprised that I haven't seen one until now (but I guess I mostly see 1 buses and they all look dowdy compared the Longwood Medical buses that ply Mass Ave Cambridge)

I think Charlestown depot only right now, which includes the 111 but not the 116/117 (which still often uses the awful RTS buses). =(

 

[George_Apley]

Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

They're hybrid I think. I've ridden one on the 87 and it's engine goes on and off like a hybrid.

 

[swtat]

Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

How are they fueled (Diesel? CNG?) and are they being spread around all garages? I'm kind of surprised that I haven't seen one until now (but I guess I mostly see 1 buses and they all look dowdy compared the Longwood Medical buses that ply Mass Ave Cambridge)

They are diesel-electric hybrids in a series configuration. The diesel engine isn't mechanically connected to the wheels; it spins a generator which charges the batteries and/or sends electricity to the traction motors. Sixty were ordered and they are all being assigned to Charlestown garage to replace the RTS fleet there. The LMA buses are the same model but are straight diesel.

 

[datadyne007]

Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

What does it mean when the yellow light is illuminated on the outside of a Blue Line car?

2 cars on my Blue Line train this morning had it illuminated.

The Blue Line died in spectacular fashion this morning:

https://mbta.meteor.com/

 

[winstonoboogie]

Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

What does it mean when the yellow light is illuminated on the outside of a Blue Line car?

It means the snow brakes are on, a small amount of pressure is maintained on the brake shoes even while trains is moving, to keep them free of snow/ice

 

[datadyne007]

Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

It means the snow brakes are on, a small amount of pressure is maintained on the brake shoes even while trains is moving, to keep them free of snow/ice

Thanks! What do the other lights mean if you don't mind sharing?

 

[swtat]

Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

The green light is a propulsion fault indicator. I'm not sure what the red light indicates.

 

[winstonoboogie]

Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Thanks! What do the other lights mean if you don't mind sharing?

Besides the already mentioned propulsion fault greenish/blue lights, there is a red "no motion by-pass" activated light (means a train could be moved with doors open)