General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

Equilibria said:
The frustrating part is that no one will note the benefits of the work - they'll just find something else to complain about.
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That actually depends. They are selling this as a "rip the bandaid" type of thing. That should mean the payoff should be something noticeable. We should see less slow zones, service disruptions from power outages, service disruptions from trash fires, and service disruptions from signal issues. We've already been living a constant drip of weekend and evening shutdowns. Hopefully this should pay back with having less of that too.

If "Rip the bandaid" really means ripping the bandaid, then it should like Government Center. 2 Years of pain for a now pretty cleaning looking station versus 3 years (probably more) of constant construction that makes a new normal.

I'm worried this becomes like that Orange Line signal upgrades. Somehow I see that excuse so many times, yet even after years of it, it is still the same issue. And pretty sure it just got worse (though a lot are the trains - maybe)
 
ant8904 said:
That actually depends. They are selling this as a "rip the bandaid" type of thing. That should mean the payoff should be something noticeable. We should see less slow zones, service disruptions from power outages, service disruptions from trash fires, and service disruptions from signal issues. We've already been living a constant drip of weekend and evening shutdowns. Hopefully this should pay back with having less of that too.
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We at TM are trying to get the T to market it this way. Marketing it as "track work" is useless, but marketing it as "your trip will be 20 seconds faster" is something riders care about and can feel.
 
jass said:
No it's not.
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What’s not? It’s not good news? If you want to debate that point then debate it, but it’s super frustrating when someone responds with contradiction and no explanation.
 
datadyne007 said:
We at TM are trying to get the T to market it this way. Marketing it as "track work" is useless, but marketing it as "your trip will be 20 seconds faster" is something riders care about and can feel.
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Completely true, and to the layperson saying that you're replacing "900 feet of track" sounds like a very small portion of track for such significant disruption.
 
datadyne007 said:
We at TM are trying to get the T to market it this way. Marketing it as "track work" is useless, but marketing it as "your trip will be 20 seconds faster" is something riders care about and can feel.
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The fact that TM needs to lobby the T to be smart about marketing shows how inept the MBTA is at public relations.
 
George_Apley said:
What’s not? It’s not good news? If you want to debate that point then debate it, but it’s super frustrating when someone responds with contradiction and no explanation.
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Most likely, MBTA will do what WMATA did, where "rip off the bandaid" became "business as usual".

After a decade of "getting serious about maintenance," WMATA customers continue to enjoy weekend closures, month long closures, early night closures, etc etc

PATH did something similar. They did weekend closure on the 33rd street line for an entire year (12 whole months).

Check their twitter. Every single day there are delays due to "signal malfunctions"

A whole year of weekend closures to fix the dam signals and 6 months later the signals fail every rush hour. Every day!
 
jass said:
Most likely, MBTA will do what WMATA did, where "rip off the bandaid" became "business as usual".

After a decade of "getting serious about maintenance," WMATA customers continue to enjoy weekend closures, month long closures, early night closures, etc etc

PATH did something similar. They did weekend closure on the 33rd street line for an entire year (12 whole months).

Check their twitter. Every single day there are delays due to "signal malfunctions"

A whole year of weekend closures to fix the dam signals and 6 months later the signals fail every rush hour. Every day!
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That’s kind of what happens when state of repair gets as bad as it’s gotten on many systems. You think they’re purposefully sabotaging it? Do you think it’s corrupt? Or is it actually just that fucking bad?
 
George_Apley said:
That’s kind of what happens when state of repair gets as bad as it’s gotten on many systems. You think they’re purposefully sabotaging it? Do you think it’s corrupt? Or is it actually just that fucking bad?
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Beyond that - part of the reason we have such a backlog is because people flip out at the idea of shutdowns. Rather than bite the bullet when its necessary, the can keeps getting kicked down the road.

Some repairs simply can't be made without shutting down a two-track subway. That will always be true.
 
George_Apley said:
That’s kind of what happens when state of repair gets as bad as it’s gotten on many systems. You think they’re purposefully sabotaging it? Do you think it’s corrupt? Or is it actually just that fucking bad?
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I think its easy to hide stealth service cuts with this kind of thing. Obviously, the MBTA is infamous for "temporary suspensions" of the A and E branches.

Ripping the band-aid would mean doing something like this in Japan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2QsCyyjE6U

Or this in the Netherlands

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btOE0rcKDC0



Instead, we get this kind of project done in 2-3 years.

I don't see how the MBTA, or really any US transit system, deserves the benefit of the doubt.
 
So you’re in the “we’re hopelessly corrupt and will continue to be” mindset? Assuming you’re right, what should happen to change course? Or is it all doom and gloom?

Keeping in mind also comparing Japanese and US systems is apples to oranges. And building new infrastructure is almost always easier than making massive upgrades to existing infrastructure.
 
How feasible is it, operationally and politically, to "pilot" some bus-only lanes for the Silver Line on Washington St, and make it more like true BRT? Probably a non-starter, but even a losing campaign would potentially be beneficial for future efforts...?
 
Coyote137 said:
How feasible is it, operationally and politically, to "pilot" some bus-only lanes for the Silver Line on Washington St, and make it more like true BRT? Probably a non-starter, but even a losing campaign would potentially be beneficial for future efforts...?
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I’m confused. There are already bus only lanes on Washington Street. They’re just horribly enforced.
 
Coyote137 said:
From DTX to Dudley? The only issue is enforcement?
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The whole SL run on Washington and Essex. Not on Tremont. They’ve been colored RED and labeled Bus Only for years. Essex St needs to be repainted. Whole corridor needs to be enforced more.
 
You can see the bus lanes in that pic. Turn around and look up the block. They're faded to nothing on the west side that the link is looking towards but you can see it in the distance.

EDIT: The SL bus in the pic is going around a car that was illegally in the bus lane and is trying to merge back in.

I don't know why the other SL heading in the other direction is using the general traffic lane, because it appears to be clear. My guess is that many drivers stay in the travel lane if there's no traffic because the bus lane is so frequently blocked by right-turners and illegally stopped cars/deliveries/etc.
 
George_Apley said:
...EDIT: The SL bus in the pic is going around a car that was illegally in the bus lane and is trying to merge back in.

I don't know why the other SL heading in the other direction is using the general traffic lane, because it appears to be clear.
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e.g., the whole operation is a cluster___ and needs to be taken substantially more seriously from both an infrastructure maintenance and enforcement standpoint.
 
Keeping the live-posting in one place, the FMCB just approved design advancement for three one-platform Newton CR stations. Aiello asked about maybe putting a second platform on one of them to start, and I think that might have been added to the pot (looking at it, not building it). Second platforms could still come later to all three stations.
 
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