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A Twitter thread about a very interesting example of tram running in a short section of mixed traffic:

I intend to share my thoughts on this great ongoing discussion over the weekend, but I want to throw the questions out first for thoughts and opinions, as these are things I'm genuinely unsure about. 1. Suppose you want to build an underground subway line immediately beneath an active mainline...

TransitMatters released their analysis of the slowest and most bunched buses: https://transitmatters.org/blog/reveal-mbtas-slowest-most-bunched-bus

New signs are live at Haymarket for the 111: https://www.reddit.com/r/mbta/s/3kTCgwxh1G

A few quick comments: I think the curvature of tracks only plays a rather small part of travel speed, especially if the curve is also relatively gentle like those on the 57 (which can be done theoretically with TBMs). If anything, the number of stops matters a lot more for travel speed. In many...

That may indeed a concern. Based on Google Earth Pro, it looks like the B&A at Market St is 22 ft above ground, and rises to a whopping 93 ft at Brighton Center. The climb starts near Faneuil St, with an average grade of 3.1% in 2100 ft; the grade for the last 2/3 of the slope is 3.4%. However...

I like that idea in principle (and indeed, my analysis was virtually leaning towards that idea), but my concerns are: Cost, obviously. I think there may be an intermediate between your two possibilities: The ridership is enough to justify a surface or elevated rapid transit extension along B&A...

Personal opinion: Any media coverage complaining about the CRRC delivery, without sheding light on the internal politics that resulted in CRRC being handed the bid in the first place, is insufficient. That's also a problem that Eng himself or even the MBTA as a whole can't solve.

I see - I missed two important details of their routing, which I will spell out even more explicitly for others who may have also been confused: Westbound 109 does not enter the busway, unlike other bus routes terminating at Harvard from the north. As you mentioned, this appears to be because...

(continued) With all these said, now I can come back to this: While I'm not married to the idea of :30 to Fall River and New Bedford, there are two things to consider here. One is what I said earlier about Canton: While ( :30 PVD, :60 FR, :60 NB) already gives Canton Junction 15-min SUAW...

That's interesting and unexpected data. I don't think it's worth extrapolating the 2018 numbers onto a future Fairmount Line with <=10 min headways, though. The main reason is that with the exception of Fairmount station, the alternative of bus+subway is simply too strong given the 45-min...

This point actually reminded me: How is this supposed to work under NSRL, where the 3 atypical tracks are supposed to merge into two? Although I do see the setup will be complicated regardless with Worcester Line involved. Fair enough, at least pre-NSRL. Similar to above, NSRL may bring issues...

(continued) Now, my comments on the individual stations, from most to least crucial in my opinion. [Commuter rail territory IMO] 1. West Station: Already happening. 2. Newton Corner: This is the one station that's most universally agreed upon, with strong bus connections, decent walk-up...

A first high-level principle that I would propose: Anything beyond just West Station and Newton Corner necessitates rapid transit, not regional rail. Unlike all my other "pseudo rapid transit" corridors like Fairmount, the B&A experiences strong demand from both urban (in-128) and suburban...

Sorry that I didn't see this earlier. I think this is a pretty interesting and innovative idea; but one thing to clarify is whether you intend Providence and Stoughton/SCR trains to run on local or express tracks. It appears that local is more likely, even if SCR trains were to skip Hyde Park...

I think most of the concerns with 12 tph are with Franklin Line's flat junction, though. Those inbound Franklin trains will have a well-outsized impact on capacity in both directions. (I've already written about why I feel a flying junction may be unrealistic or at least have significant...

To be pedantic, are you saying "low ridership per distance between the Quincy/Braintree stations", or "low ridership per distance from these stations to Boston"? I think the latter is largely due to geographical factors, as Quincy is a bit far detached from the rest of the metropolitan area due...

To clarify, my earlier comments did not intend to suggest your proposal was trolling or in bad faith; if that was the impression, I sincerely apologize. The part about vibe was mostly a feeling of awkwardness regarding the proposal, which I initially couldn't pin down explicitly (though I did...

For one thing, somewhat amusingly, the 64 already made the detour back in 1998, way before Boston Landing was even proposed: (Source: NETransit history page) The "new supermarket" in the red box was apparently the predecessor of Boston Landing and its developments. Note that the green segment...

So, yes, I do agree with this in principle, and I think it's probably one of the best responses towards answering @kdmc's questions so far. There are definitely cases where Regional Rail can be a solution to urban transit needs (say within 128), though. Most of these are cases where running...