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This is fantastic analysis! I hadn't considered those power line ROWs, but they're an interesting idea, especially for shorter-distance lines where speed isn't as critical. They do have some steep grades, and certainly wouldn't be suitable for mainline rail, but light rail might be doable.

Does anyone know the purpose/history of this mystery bridge in Sullivan Square? It dates to the 1950s underpass construction; as you can see in the historic aerial, it was not part of the Orange Line or the Sullivan Square station footbridge, and I don't think it was part of the old overpass...

Yeah, this is not intended to be a particularly serious proposal, though there definitely is a need for additional suburban and circumferential services. Simply getting local bus service between suburbs would be a great start, and perhaps a good use case for the sort of smaller automated buses...

Don't tell me you've forgotten about the boom lift that lives in Courthouse station and never goes anywhere else!

So You Want To Build A Route 128 Transit Line A circumferential transit line using 128 is one of those ideas that pops up every so often. There's currently almost no circumferential service beyond ~5 miles from downtown Boston, even in the densest areas. There used to be - streetcar lines and...

Worth noting that's a construction manager at risk contract. it's not something the T has done much of before, but they seem to be trying it more - the Riverside and Innerbelt carhouse mods for Type 10s and North Quincy operations control center are both using that method as well.

I stand by what I said last time this came up - reusing the Fellsway Line ROW simply doesn't pencil out. It's a difficult and expensive proposition, to serve a relatively small suburb with little opportunity for major densification, with little if any speed difference versus vastly cheaper...

Muni Metro (not an acronym) runs fully automatic in the subway with a CBTC system. Operators only control the doors. On the surface, there is no train protection; like the B/C/E, it mostly follows traffic lights using dedicated signal heads. There are a few surface interlockings with signals...

Looks like the MBTA is working on plans for a turnback track in Reading to allow higher frequency on the line: https://www.readingrecap.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/MBTA-Turnback-SB.pdf It would allow 30-minute all-day headways to Reading - alternating Reading and Haverhill trains - which...

This looks like a revival of the light rail plans from the 90s. It's never going to get anywhere. Six miles of completely new ROW, including a substantial river crossing, and three miles of new construction along the Connector alignment. Replaces 10 pretty straight miles of route with 18 curvy...

The T apparently posted, and then immediately retracted, an opening date for the Wellesley Square mini-highs...

I assume they will operate NS - Fan Pier - Drydock - Fan Pier - NS. Despite the title of the article, this just sounds like an extension of the existing route to Drydock.

You didn't specify a neighborhood - are you talking about this line west of Lake Quinsigamond? If so, that's the Worcester and Shrewsbury Railroad, which was a narrow-gauge steam line from 1873 to 1900, and a streetcar line from 1896 to 1933. (Both were in use for 4 years.)

Of course they updated it just hours after I made the graph! I'll start updating my graph with that symbology.

Using compliant and noncompliant from here: https://www.wbur.org/news/2024/05/09/mbta-communities-act-zoning-map

Has anyone plotted compliance versus income and race yet? I suspect the results would be stark.

Do your calculations rely on per-axle load (i.e, accounting for different numbers of axles on vehicles)?

It's not - road wear increases as the fourth power (square of the square) of axle load - so a vehicle that's just 19% heavier will cause twice the road wear, despite having a much smaller gap in fuel efficiency.

You're probably thinking of the inclines at Northeastern and Blandford Street, which were originally hollow trestles to accommodate potential future subway extension. They were indeed filled in during the 1980s track work to accommodate the LRVs. As far as I know, the underpasses at Symphony...