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Reduced fares have been in the works for years, and because its participants are expected to ride more often, the fiscal impact is pretty small – the T will get less revenue per ride among program participants, but it will also get a lot more transactions (a 2019 MIT study found that people...

Construction update on Washington Street in Somerville. This street went from having nothing but sharrows in 2019 to getting curb-protected bike lanes in 2024. A great case study on how to add bus and bike infrastructure in a typical, not-particularly-wide neighborhood street (about 40' from...

Progress on the Northern Strand Trail Extension in downtown Lynn: workers are placing new curbs in the westernmost lane of the Lynnway to create the new physically-protected bike path that will eventually extend all the way across the city from Western Ave. to the ocean: Several other...

A rider's guide to the MBTA's looming financial crisis, which could impose massive, unprecedented service cuts if state lawmakers don't take bold action in the next 8 months: https://mass.streetsblog.org/2024/08/23/a-riders-guide-to-the-mbtas-looming-financial-crisis

Some interesting points re: the park-and-ride that I learned while doing interviews for this story: Even though there's barely any TOD near Alewife now, and the station is designed for drive-up passengers almost to the exclusion of anyone else, MBTA data show that Alewife *still* gets more...

What happened was the local state rep. organized a "public forum" (except only opponents to the project were invited) that was set up to yell at the DCR commissioner and anyone else who dared support unpaving your parkland...

The Senate passed a bill that would let the T issue fines against drivers who block bus lanes and stops. But the legislation will die unless the House also approves it before the stroke of midnight tomorrow night...

Not only did the extent of the closure expand, but the ambition has shrunk: Wednesday's press release says "the extended outage during these weekends allows for the installation of over three and a half miles (19,200 feet) of new rail that will allow the MBTA to lift seven speed restrictions...

Somerville City Council votes unanimously to upstage Cambridge's Cycling Safety Ordinance: https://mass.streetsblog.org/2024/06/18/new-somerville-safe-streets-ordinance-mandates-30-mile-protected-bike-lane-network-by-2030

It's under contract, with early utilities/surveying work underway now. I recommend the monthly Bike to the Sea newsletter for updates: https://us17.campaign-archive.com/?u=f8c193009bd382d3ea7d456b0&id=4606829e5f

Meanwhile, the newly-approved 5-year capital budget is $100 million smaller than last year's, thanks to dwindling state funding: https://mass.streetsblog.org/2024/06/12/declining-infrastructure-funding-from-healey-admin-puts-ts-state-of-good-repair-further-out-of-reach

The new North Station drawbridge is shaping up to be another unfulfilled Big Dig promise: https://mass.streetsblog.org/2024/06/05/will-a-new-rail-bridge-across-the-charles-include-a-long-promised-walkway-to-north-station

Hammond Pond Parkway road diet progress: https://mass.streetsblog.org/2024/05/08/eyes-on-the-street-less-pavement-on-hammond-pond-parkway

Planning is underway for a new dedicated transitway for the E branch – which could be shared by the 66 and 39 buses as well. The project needs to be done by 2027 for the new Type 10 trains...

Posting here as well, because the project *might* build new protected bike lanes on South Huntington between Heath Street and the Riverway: https://mass.streetsblog.org/2024/05/02/huntington-ave-redesign-will-eliminate-last-mixed-traffic-segment-of-the-green-line-by-2027

We confirmed with the City that it will delay the Main Street safety improvement project, which had been slated for installation this year. Now, it's being pushed back 'til 2025...

30-minute headways coming to the Fairmount Line, 7 days a week, starting later this spring: https://mass.streetsblog.org/2024/04/25/mbta-regional-rail-schedule-changes-add-more-service-on-worcester-fairmount-lines

We confirmed that the "T" prefix is not going to be used, and we also mapped the route changes being proposed: https://mass.streetsblog.org/2024/04/11/bus-network-redesign-shows-signs-of-life

More details on the grant announcement. Key point: the feds only gave MassDOT 2/3rds of the money they requested. That means a large budget gap still remains – even moreso if (as is likely) project costs have gone up since the last estimate from a year ago...

More details: https://mass.streetsblog.org/2024/02/28/boston-officially-commits-to-building-dedicated-busway-on-blue-hill-ave