Recent content by BeansTheCat

Apologies, I was not clear at all about what I meant. First, I was referring specifically to DEMUs where all power generation occurs on specialized cars, like the Stadler FLIRTs used for TEXRail. I'm sure this has been discussed before on the forum before, but this could expedite Regional...

Another note here: burning HVO appears to significantly reduce NOx and particulate matter emissions, which is almost certainly worth some premium for the community health benefits. I also wonder if the emissions here are "low enough" for the T to seriously consider using some DMUs. While it...

Listening to the meeting, it sounds like "standing in a bus lane" will be defined as broadly as legally possible. This was discussed in response to a question from the board at around 1:14:50 in the video.

For better or worse, the decision to keep Leo Birmingham but shrink it down to two lanes has been finalized. You can see the meeting info here, and construction is already under way on those plans. I do have to agree that the proposed plans are better than the current configuration, but not by...

Looking over this, the T does not seem convinced that boarding will become significantly faster if routes are made fare-free. Based on the data from the current pilot and the move to all door boarding systemwide, that seems reasonable at face value. The only cost savings come from less Fare...

I certainly agree that the MassDOT plans for Rutherford Ave and McGrath are better than what DCR has put forward here. However, MassDOT expects the Rutherford Ave redesign to save drivers time, and has admitted that McGrath is overbuilt for the traffic it serves. When MassDOT is worried about...

I would definitely rather see roads like this in DCR's hands than MassDOT's, and while the City of Boston would certainly do a better job with this redesign, there's only a handful of municipalities I can confidently say that about. DCR, at the very least, is willing to reduce roadway capacity...

I'd agree that operational impacts should be the first consideration when looking at fare collection, but there's nothing wrong with doing an equity analysis. If all of those routes ended up fare-free, you might as well remove fares for all local busses. Otherwise, there are effectively two...

https://www.eagletribune.com/news/boston/mbta-weighs-future-of-fare-free-bus-service/article_01375d37-3079-4330-bcb8-cda9bef3a8ea.html Some highlights: "A report by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority's Policy and Strategic Planning team, which looked at the feasibility of...

The plan is to place a rec facility on the land freed up by this project. That stub would be to provide access to the site. There's some more info here.

Also, maybe I am missing something here, but would turbo roundabouts (or something similar) work here? They don't have the poor safety record of multi-lane roundabouts and can operate just fine without signalization. And from my understanding, capacity on these is significantly higher than on...

This was pretty explicitly stated at the meeting. Queue lengths (primarily between Nonantum and SFR) seemed to be the driver of additional intersection lanes

The meeting tonight was essentially a variation on this design. The meeting presentation should get shared in the next day or two, but some main takeaways: 6-lane(!) cross section in between the two intersections Slip lanes in a number of locations, notably two lanes for the right turn off of...

It does make sense for a landmark building, but I'm not sure the lot will stay in its current configuration. One of the recommendations from the A-B mobility plan (from 2021) is to re-arrange the Union Square intersection to shrink its footprint and reduce crossing distances. Doing that in...

Looks like it got updated overnight. There wasn't anything in the "Fall 2024" season or a "stop_time" in 2024. Glad the data is there now and it will be interesting to dig into.