General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

#bancars said:
Rode the Orange Line for the first time in a while from Chinatown to Oak Grove and was actually pleasantly surprised? Seems like only a few very small slow zones left northbound based on the MBTA's dashboard, and overall slow zone delays on the OL have dropped significantly in the last few weeks.
Click to expand...

Related to this, over the weekend I took a Worcester Line train in from Southborough and the Orange Line both directions Sullivan-Oak Grove and have a small update on track speeds based on GPS data:

On the Worcester Line speeds hovered between 40-45mph between Southborough and Ashland likely due to the curvature of tracks and short distance between stops then remained at that speed after Ashland until clearing the grade crossing on Main. From Framingham to Auburndale the train did not greatly exceed 60mph (62 according to GPS) though on my trip we slowed to 25 through the Framingham Yard to coordinate our stop with the outbound train. I have been on trains prior that have been at speed through the yard but to what extent I do not know. From Auburndale to Boston Landing speeds topped out at 70 when going express through the Newton stops and otherwise only reaches 70 between Newtonville and BL.

On the Orange Line it was 40 Northbound from Wellington through Malden Center and the same Southbound from Wellington to Assembly which should be the normal full operational speed. The speed restriction at Sullivan NB
480FAF65-5129-4C06-B2AF-086C7FC3D55E.jpeg

was very apparent. Right at the beginning of the eastern platform on Track 2 there’s a significant misalignment that causes the train to have a large amount of body roll when entering the station. It appears as though proceeding any quicker over the bump might cause the train to strike the platform. If I’m up there again I’ll try to get a video.
 
Is the T leadership waiting for riders to take the issue into their own hands and organize a gandy dancing crew to move the tracks?
 
This genius went around a fence to climb a closed stair which already had several missing treads, and the MBTA is the party who isn’t being safe.
 
www.boston.com

Second round of train tickets to Taylor Swift concerts sell out in minutes

Taylor Swift fans flocked to the MBTA Commuter Rail’s mTicket app Friday morning in the hope of buying train tickets to the star’s upcoming concerts at Gillette Stadium, but only a lucky few were able to snag a ride. MBTA Commuter Rail and Keolis announced Tuesday that they would release a...
www.boston.com

Regardless of what you think about Taylor Swift and her music, it's pretty nice to see more than 3,000 train tickets bought in less than 10 minutes. Good to see a good amount of people eager to take transit to the concert vs. drive or rideshare.
 
mass88 said:
www.boston.com

Second round of train tickets to Taylor Swift concerts sell out in minutes

Taylor Swift fans flocked to the MBTA Commuter Rail’s mTicket app Friday morning in the hope of buying train tickets to the star’s upcoming concerts at Gillette Stadium, but only a lucky few were able to snag a ride. MBTA Commuter Rail and Keolis announced Tuesday that they would release a...
www.boston.com

Regardless of what you think about Taylor Swift and her music, it's pretty nice to see more than 3,000 train tickets bought in less than 10 minutes. Good to see a good amount of people eager to take transit to the concert vs. drive or rideshare.
Click to expand...

Help me to understand this:

If they keep selling out, what's stopping the MBTA from adding more trains? The stadium holds 65000 people, and certainly 6000 tickets sold will make a dent, but if they really want to keep traffic down, why not run more?
 
MrDee12345 said:
If they keep selling out, what's stopping the MBTA from adding more trains? The stadium holds 65000 people, and certainly 6000 tickets sold will make a dent, but if they really want to keep traffic down, why not run more?
Click to expand...

Staffing, possibly? I also don't know how much capacity the line to Gillette has in terms of adding to the schedule, but it's not as though they have the equipment (on weekdays) or employees (on weekends) to add a bunch of trains.
 
Brattle Loop said:
Staffing, possibly? I also don't know how much capacity the line to Gillette has in terms of adding to the schedule, but it's not as though they have the equipment (on weekdays) or employees (on weekends) to add a bunch of trains.
Click to expand...

If they're going to fill up several more trains, wouldn't that more than pay the overtime for the staff that has to work that weekend?
 
There is single track on the Foxboro spur except for right near the Foxboro station, so the logistics of multiple trains can get complex, especially if you were also running them from Providence. Not sure the minimum frequency you could get, but that limits the utility of extra trains somewhat.

That said, concert-goers could wait half an hour or more for the next train and still probably beat the traffic out of the stadium. I am guessing the T simply didn't expect this level of demand and it was too late to change plans. It is certainly much more demand than any other concert, which makes sense considering the makeup of the Swift fanbase, but it's not like this has been a major issue before.

The Kraft group doesn't really have incentive to promote train service very much either, given the money they make on parking, and it's not like the shows aren't going to sell out if people have to drive or carpool. They only funded weekday service because the parking is sitting there unused and they want to get people going to Patriot Place etc. It would be nice if they could be cajoled into funding a study or even extra service for weekend events at least.
 
Mother Brook said:
The Kraft group doesn't really have incentive to promote train service very much either, given the money they make on parking, and it's not like the shows aren't going to sell out if people have to drive or carpool. They only funded weekday service because the parking is sitting there unused and they want to get people going to Patriot Place etc. It would be nice if they could be cajoled into funding a study or even extra service for weekend events at least.
Click to expand...

On r/boston, one of the upvoted comments claims that Kraft wants to but the NIMBYs of Foxboro and Walpole push back anytime it was proposed. I do not know which is correct, I'm just pointing this contraction and curious if anyone knows an answer. A cursory Google search find various article that seems to show a narrative of a slow expansion of service from purchasing tracks to pilot programs (with a speed bump from the Pioneer Institute accusing the purchase as a sweetheart deal for Kraft). It might be in there somewhere, but it doesn't seem to really reveal the state of the residents and it's not exactly a fast expansion of service even choosing the best light on viewing Kraft's efforts.
 
Last edited:
Red Flags in budget worry T Advisory Board.

commonwealthmagazine.org

Transportation

From the MBTA to road and highway projects and policy, CommonWealth Beacon delves into current public and private transportation challenges and proposed solutions to keep the Bay State moving.
commonwealthmagazine.org commonwealthmagazine.org
 
ant8904 said:
On r/boston, one of the upvoted comments claims that Kraft wants to but the NIMBYs of Foxboro and Walpole push back anytime it was proposed. I do not know which is correct, I'm just pointing this contraction and curious if anyone knows an answer. A cursory Google search find various article that seems to show a narrative of a slow expansion of service from purchasing tracks to pilot programs (with a speed bump from the Pioneer Institute accusing the purchase as a sweetheart deal for Kraft). It might be in there somewhere, but it doesn't seem to really reveal the state of the residents and it's not exactly a fast expansion of service even choosing the best light on viewing Kraft's efforts.
Click to expand...

This is bonkers. Having direct CR service to SS would certainly raise property values.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top