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When I was in college, I took the lakeshore limited to/from Springfield or Pittsfield from/to Boston all the time. So, people from Western MA who have reason to be in Boston. Anyway, you could say that it shaves an equivalent amount of time off the overall CHI-BOS route, but the savings is...

As someone born and raised out there, I agree wholeheartedly. On the other hand… getting, say, a State Street to relocate from Boston to a city inside 495 seems to be a much easier lift than to Springfield.

I agree they’re being too aggressive, but maybe they’ll offer a less enticing program with a longer window afterward. Say, 50% tax break, no affordability requirements, and another few years to get started. That said, getting the older, smaller buildings converted first is probably much easier...

Yup, exactly what I was thinking about. I just picked SMR’s because they seem like an easier tech to reach. Its too bad there’s no MA cities of appreciable size on the Northeast Corridor until Boston itself. My idea of relocating some finance companies to Brockton would work so much better if...

Graphene production sounds good to me. Maybe nuclear-related tech, too. SMR’s could use some large factories.

Perhaps. But maybe there just needs to be a kickstart of something new in these outlying cities.

So true. Almost all the c-suite at my wife’s company live around Back Bay, so they think nothing of RTO - for them, its all plus. Now, granted, my wife makes more than the workers at Dunkin, but its still obnoxious. And I do think that we have a great opportunity to stimulate growth in our...

I agree that congestion pricing or analogues could scare people away. I’d toss that under the bus in a heartbeat, myself. I’m not sure about regional rail as a solution to this particular issue, however.

Wouldn’t really change anything. A large chunk of the white collar workers in Boston decamped to the suburbs in the past 3 years, and the city wants them back. If its a toll, or being told they have to drive hybrids, its still going to piss off a bunch of people. Boston has to decide: do they...

Not going to happen while Boston is trying to coerce companies into forcing remote employees into the office. They introduce congestion pricing, and the laptop class that just got forced back into the city, kicking and screaming, will throw a fit.

How much utility is there in having the inland route as a backup for the shoreline route, to ease issues with maintenance? For example, simply having the option to route a few trains per day along there, when work is to be done on the tracks?

Wish I had an idea what revamping looks like.

Allow me to phrase the question this way: Take your typical stretch of highway. Which is easier/cheaper, elevated or tunnels to smooth of the grade? Does the answer change if the highway is windy enough that track would have to cross over/under the road?

Why tunneling and not elevating?

Question: why does the rail have to follow the highway grade? It could go at a more gentle grade easily enough.

Its only a crisis if we think the transit agencies exist for their own sake. They exist either to get people from their homes to their jobs or to reduce road congestion. Either way, the goal has been achieved. This is a good thing. The agencies should take stock of the situation and revamp...

Amusingly enough, I specifically was inspired by the projected commute times for the SCR. Still, I think 60 min would probably be enough.

Is an “office car” a reasonable idea for the commuter rail? I’m thinking something with seats with desks, with partitions between them to offer a moderate amount of privacy, top tier wifi, and all the most common outlets (including usb and usb-c). It could even require a premium ticket...

Not to let the MBTA off the hook for shoddy station design, but there is (was?) and app that provides that info.

I’ve heard from people at a major back bay company that Boston is offering a tax credit to businesses to entice them to get people back into the office, instead of WFH. Anyone have any good info on that?