Search results

Looking back over the Board meeting from last week, I don't think this is the case. Full quote below, but it sounds like the T requested the door heights get fixed even if it means needing additional FRA approvals. That also explains the jump in timelines (which make the argument for BEMUs even...

Just to be clear, it seems that these trains will be significantly less accessible than single level coaches with all high-level doors. The only "accessible" trip someone can make with the low-level doors would be Readville to Fairmount, which should be a vanishingly small portion of trips...

Some notes from the RFI: - Considerations: Not sure why the T would consider installing screen doors before moving the Red Line to a uniform fleet, and I doubt there will be any interest for Red Line stations until then. - Info requested: We'll see what happens, but I don't expect this to...

They don't mean California in the sense of how the development looks; it's California in the sense that no one can afford to live there. And this definitely seems like a step in the right direction

This is an awful thing to brag about. There's nothing inherently wrong about pursuing expensive projects, but they are done in spite of their cost, not because of it. Showcase the actual benefits, whether that's shorter commutes, better access to school/jobs, reduced pollution from traffic...

Everything here is well said, but I completely understand why the T would want to avoid working with municipal DPWs and, to a lesser extent, utility providers. These are mostly small departments subject to severe micro-management from local public officials. Regardless of how capable these city...

This has certainly been brought up before, but I always like to add in these conversations that modern trolleybusses with modest batteries can handle discontinuous electrification, with wires only strung for part of the route. This means (mostly) less infrastructure to maintain, less overhead...

Just ran across a new (?) page on the Boston city website on development costs and modular housing. The good news is that there is an acknowledgement the city is paying a premium for construction over the private sector, the bad news is that they only seem to identify off-site construction as a...

$176 million for 266 units, or $660,000 per unit. And if this source is to be believed, there is a total of 241,242 sq ft coming out to $730/ft^2. While I don't exactly expect BHA to match private sector costs, I'd hope for them to get a bit closer. BHA is doing a lot right, from explicitly...

I expect significant roadway changes as part of the the second "P0924" project. The city and BTD have been floating new designs for Comm Ave between Packard's Corner and BC for at least a year now and indicated that they plan on doing that roadway work concurrently with B Branch upgrades. This...

I completely agree that one of the main problems here is that we have no idea what is being scoped into these projects. But there is no world in which $280 million is a reasonable price tag for 1 mile of street-running light rail, regardless of scope. Feel free to correct me, but $50 million...

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/03/15/metro/boston-mayor-michelle-wu-streets-cabinet-project-pause/

I also doubt it will cost $200 million (it absolutely shouldn't), but it was more for a point of comparison. The E Branch improvements should be about 25% of the cost of the B branch ones, and even if there's other funding tucked in, that price tag is completely ridiculous.

This wasn't clear in my original post, but I was talking about acquiring brand-new fully diesel busses, with the only restriction being that they eventually move to biodiesel. The main point is allowing the Legislature/T to say they are de-carbonizing without the investments/reforms needed for...

My understanding was that any sort of platform screen doors require CBTC signalling so that trains can consistently stop in the exact same place. That should be true for the Green Line post GLTPS phase 2, but not any other lines. Are there ways around this limitation, or will this just be an RFP...

Maybe this is just cope, but there is no way that's correct. In the very next line item, the cost to upgrade (at least) 10 B Branch stations to fully support 2-car Type 10 vehicles is "only" $200 million. That also includes track and power improvements for ~4 miles, compared to less than 1 for...

How many of these problems could be resolved if the T was allowed to keep using diesel busses as long as they ran on biofuels? While it's not strictly carbon-neutral, it's a lot closer and should require significantly less capital costs. I can't find good data on what the cost premium would look...

That's a completely valid point, given how low property taxes are in much of the state. But again, what's wrong with eating into the taxes on market rate units? The city never faces a decline in revenue, just a postponement. And if a city wants that revenue faster, they can reduce their IZ...

Could you walk through these calculations some more? It seems like it's off by about an order magnitude. For context, here's the densities of two recent projects: Energizar (Chelsea) - 250 MW/1,000 MWh on 3.7 acres (68 MW/acre) Medway Grid BESS - 250 MW/500 MWh on 10.6 acres (24 MW/acre)...

The Globe does address this somewhat, but again with conjecture. The millionaires tax has kept increasing in revenue, but blockbuster (and unsustainable) market returns likely play a role. There are real questions about what would happen in a down market year, let alone correction/bear market...