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

    As someone who rides the BOS-NYP segment for work, and just got back from vacation in Japan, it's a damn near shame (and carbon disaster) that we even have airplanes flying between BOS <> NYC <> DC. For comparison, the Tokyo <> Nagoya route, which is about 225 miles and roughly the same distance...
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    Biking in Boston

    It may be better off as a gravel/dirt path with some outdoor furniture, sitting areas, and fountains for the local community to bring their kids/dogs rather than a formal paved bike path. Kind of makes you wonder why the strip wasn't built this way in the first place and was just left to rot...
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    Green Line Extension to Medford & Union Sq

    I'm not a rail junkie but is this a legal requirement or just the MBTA being overly cautious? There clearly isn't the same standard of safety for personal vehicles..
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    Biking in Boston

    As a resident I love the pace that they are progressing with these projects. 3 months of design and outreach, collect feedback, and build the damn thing within a year or less. Then quickly onto the next one (main st, river st, and eventually broadway). Fortunately generally at these engagements...
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    Fall River/New Bedford Commuter Rail (South Coast Rail)

    people want affordable housing, but they also want 75+% of the residential land to be dedicated to empty asphalt instead of building more units. :censored:
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    Biking in Boston

    This is awesome progress, and shows how much work there still is to do across Back Bay. Seems like every street is 3 lanes of cars mixed with parking on both sides. Dartmouth and/or Clarendon needs the same treatment, Newbury should be closed to delivery vehicles only, and Boylston needs a...
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    Biking in Boston

    I never understood why installing the last layer of flexposts/barriers to delineate the parking spots from bike lane takes months or years. Can't they just send one guy out with a drill to put them in overnight? The Mass Ave bridge was restriped but with only cones as separation for over a year.
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    Acela & Amtrak NEC (HSR BOS-NYP-WAS and branches only)

    Cool explanation. Improvement on the NYP-BOS acela from 3:35-3:45 to 3:15 or 3:10 could have some strong implications on market share. At 3 hours it no longer makes any sense to take a flight if you're traveling into Manhattan.
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    General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

    This is good progress and transparency but why is Red being pushed back until mid to late 2024? It's the highest ridership line (by far) and also riddled with the largest number of slow zones. Seems that should be top priority for an extended shutdown.
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    Fall River/New Bedford Commuter Rail (South Coast Rail)

    What exactly is the point of building a bunch of low ridership rail that still has third world country infrastructure (single track, single platform, diesel run, surrounded by a sea of parking rather than in a town center)? Like I know the projected ridership/headways will be low enough that a...
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    Bowker Overpass replacement?

    I think is to facilitate two lanes for cars to queue up at the intersection, effectively increasing the capacity of the intersection. There's no doubt that as designed, it's an improvement over the existing viaduct which has no room for peds or bikes. However there should at a minimum be some...
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    Biking in Boston

    Looks like a welcome change! I assume street parking was removed on one side to make room for the lane? My concern is just that with the parked cars on the other side, people will subconsciously drive closer to/on top of the double yellow line to avoid the door zone - especially larger and...
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    MBTA Red Line / Blue Line Connector

    I also like having tail tracks so that trains can enter the MGH station at speed instead of slowing to 10mph for the entire last 500 feet. Travel times & ease of transfer to the Red are key elements of ridership!
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    MBTA Red Line / Blue Line Connector

    Do you really think that? Storrow right now is 6 lanes of cars that produce constant engine & tire noise + pollution and air particles from tires and brakes, which is much different than a 2-track, electric heavy rail system with trains running by every 5 mins. Plus what I envision is the rail...
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    Biking in Boston

    Mayor Wu announced partnership with Bluebikes to reduce the cost of an annual pass to $60 and basically free for low-income residents. https://mass.streetsblog.org/2023/10/12/mayor-wu-announces-discounted-bikeshare-passes-for-boston-residents This is great that it prices the bikes clearly under...
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    Green Line Extension to Medford & Union Sq

    I really want to believe that the speed restrictions are possibly for only certain types of rolling stock only, rather than the operators aren't just deciding willy nilly whether or not to obey them.
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    Regional Rail (RUR) & North-South Rail Link (NSRL)

    I'd add to this uncluttering the approach to NS and SS. I think in a previous transitmatters report they mentioned that the entire mess of switches can be upgraded from 10mph to 25mph for relatively low cost and effort. This allows trains to clear the switches much faster and increase terminal...
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    Biking in Boston

    I wish a bit more attention was paid to the quality of the pavement too. A car's shocks can largely absorb bumps and cracks but on a bike you can get thrown off the pedals or seat or your bag could fall out of the basket, which deters anyone but young, fit, experienced riders. Cambridge does a...
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    Green Line Extension to Medford & Union Sq

    I don't quite get this. Isn't the problem just damaged tracks, switches, and third rail? Are you really telling me that just ripping out old tracks and installing new ones over the 20-mile red line takes.... 4 years? I feel that even the NYC MTA can get this done in 3-6 months. Shut the line on...
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    General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

    At least Cambridge has been aggressive in deploying their cycling safety ordinance, giving a great alternative for local trips. Hampshire St separated bike lanes were just completed. I'd imagine the Alewife park-n-ride ridership is abysmal right now, though making the entire fresh pond parkway...

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