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  1. M

    MBTA Commuter Rail (Operations, Keolis, & Short Term)

    This doesn't sound like anything "AI". This sounds like an automated testing machine + the most basic data analysis there is. All they're doing is setting threshold values to trigger alerts. This is all fine and good and I'm glad they're doing it, no criticism of that. It just has no more...
  2. M

    New England Electrical Grid

    This is still one of the lowest load times of year for our region, and it's been much windier and (I think) sunnier than usual which doesn't hurt either. On that site, go change to the "last 12 months" view at the bottom left and then look at the monthly electricity net flow for New...
  3. M

    MBTA "Transformation" (Green Line, Red Line, & Orange Line Transformation Projects)

    It's been listed as far back as at least 2010 as a project necessary for achieving a "state of good repair" - https://www.ctps.org/mbta-pmt (Appendix H, page H-2). So while I entirely agree that I've never seen a word mentioned about it before (nor can I find anything about the bidding) it has...
  4. M

    Logan Airport Capital Projects

    Correct, yes. Especially after the one curb cut that is planned to continue to exist. Equilibria's right on the history - I know why it existed, I just can't fathom why we're keeping it in place for decades into the future and letting it influence the design/layout going forward. (The stub of...
  5. M

    Logan Airport Capital Projects

    Slides 76-78 of Sept are are a little humorous. We're rebuilding the whole North Service Area, but we're going to keep that totally useless stub end of Neptune Rd forever. Is it really that impossible to get whatever land transfers need to happen to make it go away and stop complicating...
  6. M

    MBTA Construction Projects

    That infill seems like it could be pretty transformative for making that corridor feel more connected, hope it's not cut down. (And hope there's a bit of ground floor activation - more than the developments across the street have managed so far, although I recognize it looks like there may be a...
  7. M

    Other People's Rail: Amtrak, commuter rail, rapid transit news & views outside New England

    Well written, although I mostly come away from it with about what I'd guessed for causes: A bit of everything and as such - no simple or cheap solution that's going to just fix it, and a good chunk of it is probably intractable short of major grade crossing eliminations + sealing off more of the...
  8. M

    MassDOT News Updates

    The secretary specifically advocated for border tolls. Which was from my perspective, a much more disastrous statement than even the press cycle suggested. That set of comments might well become an actual piece of evidence in a court case that damages the state's case for a future toll...
  9. M

    MBTA Buses & Infrastructure

    So, I've taken a look over the original documents for this pilot. Slide 19 says they were hoping for a 150-291 second improvement to transit trip times on the corridor. https://www.brooklinema.gov/DocumentCenter/View/47920/Select-Board-Presentation-Bus-Prioirty-Lanes-Pilot_EEC_FINAL ------...
  10. M

    Cape Cod Rail, Bridges and Highways

    Trees and front yard configurations in general. It's easy to shove a sidewalk into your average modern subdivision even after the fact - with an average recent subdivision, front yards are mostly a sea of empty lawn. If you didn't build sidewalks up front, not such a big deal to add them later...
  11. M

    MBTA Commuter Rail (Operations, Keolis, & Short Term)

    The train moves at what, 10mph or less? And they seem to use a flagger at busier times. Assuming they're fine with that model of operations, I don't see a whole lot in terms of safety that would be gained by the addition of gates? If there's something in the way I'm pretty sure the train's...
  12. M

    Other People's Rail: Amtrak, commuter rail, rapid transit news & views outside New England

    I'm not saying this instead of the gondola, just that it seems absurd to be building the gondola without also doing or having done much more basic pedestrian improvements. We're talking $500m for a gondola with a peak hour capacity of 5,000 people. So, $1m per 10 people of peak hour capacity...
  13. M

    Other People's Rail: Amtrak, commuter rail, rapid transit news & views outside New England

    Remarkable in a certain sense that if you have $500m to spend on a gondola, that you can't spend 1/100th of that or less on making the walk more tolerable and clearly marked/easy to follow.
  14. M

    Cape Cod Rail, Bridges and Highways

    I've always assumed a decent portion of them are probably either: - Getting picked up by friends/family already on Cape - Heading out to the Islands via ferry, especially since there is an advertised connection...
  15. M

    Cape Cod Rail, Bridges and Highways

    Agreed with Charlie, but also worth pointing out that the bridge itself arguably isn't even the biggest issue with that idea. You'd have a very difficult time linking either bridge into the existing rail infrastructure. There's nothing on the mainland side to link into at all. The one line...
  16. M

    Bill Russell Bridge | North Washington St.

    If that's the case it does sound like a problem. That's not what's shown in the pics in previous posts, which is what I was going off of. The irrigation system will likely not be on in the winter, but still, I can agree you shouldn't be having large puddles result from it daily.
  17. M

    Bill Russell Bridge | North Washington St.

    Pictures appear to all be from the evening, so likely just after they've received their watering cycle. I would expect it's not dripping out/wet there all day. Elevated planters also are more affected by heat and dry out faster, so they do potentially need more/more frequent watering than your...
  18. M

    Biking in Boston

    Enforcement cameras are also impossible to implement when the vehicle in question doesn't have any kind of highly visible, standardized identifying marks. I do not see it as very likely that we are going to successfully mandate bicycle license plates and there is no visual identifier of an...
  19. M

    Logan Airport Capital Projects

    Out of curiosity, would that be the first operation like this in the US? I know of a few foreign locations where it's done but I've never heard of it here.
  20. M

    Memorial Drive Greenway Phase III

    It's a good example that induced demand isn't quite infinite. It is overbuilt, but I'm not sure what you actually achieve for spending a bunch of money on doing that. A highway that doesn't have traffic jams on most of it is a highway where a bus moves at full speed without needing a dedicated...

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