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Probably more accurately BANANAs (Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anyone) rather than NIMBYs.

This is exactly what should be happening. If these fees went towards an APM, we’d be making actual progress towards the stated modal shift goals.

BPD is operating as if they aren't aware that many of their tasks can be automated and lead to their department's budget becoming less justifiable. I, for one, would love to see bus lane enforcement become automated. Cheaper operationally, less biased, more consistent, and more reliable.

I wish transit advocates would instead point to the failure of allowing people to park vehicles in the bus lane, this severely curtailing its utility. There is a failure and it’s a lack of enforcement. In practice, it’s just a parking lane that’s painted red.

Love it. A note: Clarendon Hill and Alewife Brook Parkway are switched. In fact, you are probably better off doing away with the Alewife Brook Parkway stop altogether. It's less than 300 ft from the Clarendon Hill Busway, while the next two stops' spacing on the C-Branch are 1,900 ft and 4,000...

Do you have a way to quantify how much less flexible a turnback at the pinned point (1.8 miles past Reading Station) would be than the proposed location (0.5 miles past Reading Station)? Does it lower the ceiling of frequencies, for example? From 1.7 track miles to 2.0 track miles would be the...

I haven't been following this saga closely. Is there a good reason not to build the turnback track next to I-93 here?

I agree with your statement, but I’m also sympathetic to a city like Nashua not wanting to devote scarce municipal resources to a project that should not fall on the shoulders of a municipality. Expecting Nashua to shoulder the load and Nashua opting not to do so is much more a failure of the...

I envy the reality you guys are living in. I encounter ignorant Bostonians (yes, fellow residents of the City of Boston) blaming bike lanes for traffic regularly. These are not the “genteel” types, but rather almost exclusively working class without a college education.

From your keyboard to god’s ear (in case anyone thought my quip of his message playing well in West Roxbury was endorsement).

That’s a winning message in West Roxbury.

I love the planning, organization, and transparency. This level of communication and foreward planning is in stark contrast to previous administrations. Never forget. Maura Healey has been the best governor for the MBTA since at least Dukakis due in large part to appointing Eng as GM, the best...

I’m enjoying this discussion. On the crime front, none of the things mentioned have much to do with crime. Poverty does. The highest crime states, counties, cities, towns, etc, are the poorest. Some are urban, some are suburban, some are rural. Some have grids, some do not. Baltimore City and...

Absolutely! A lot of Jamaica Plain is like this and it makes it much more efficient for pedestrians to cut through neighborhoods than automobiles, as it should be. An example that shows room for improvement is when I was involved with the Boylston Street (JP) redesign and contradlow bike lane...

This is a great summary, but it’s important to also mention that the status quo of infrequent and crowded Commuter Rail trains on the Old Colomy Branches will inherently get even worse by the addition of South Coast Rail trains through there. In addition, this very low limit on Old Colomy trains...

I agree 100%. If I were to include Old Colony Double Track as its own “extension,” then I’d rank the priority of this category (intercity in-Massachusetts passenger rail extensions that are on a smaller magnitude than North-South Rail Link) as: Old Colony Double Track* Springfield - Boston...

It looks like you are considering only in-state extensions. I’m going to vote: Springfield, as I’d like to see the MBTA/MassDOT begin service ASAP. Cape Cod (with an Old Colony double track project being a crucial pre-requisite). SCR Phase II, for the aforementioned reasons, but also...

Of course. I actually considered putting an asterisk and saying: * I am referring to the excessive speeding that’s targeted in this bill, which is explicitly not in limited access highways and only for 11+ mph over the speed limit. I assumed that would be obvious given the context of the bill...

Speeding kills tens of thousands of Americans each year. The only metrics by which it’s less “serious” than trespass and vandalism is just how prevalent it is in society and how our justice system treats it. In practice, it’s a much more serious scourge on our society. But I know we won’t see...

Your assertion that “If being car-free is one, then not being car-free is also one,” is not at all true. The reason I don’t consider driving to be a “lifestyle” in the United States is because it is a deeply dominant institution for which our country is built, almost universally, to cater to...