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  1. Koopzilla24

    MassDOT Rail: Springfield Hub (East-West, NNERI, Berkshires, CT-Valley-VT-Quebec)

    Could say the same about any road to a Greenfield development (pun intended). The reason you build out useable infrastructure is to enhance the economy of the region and in this case that would be improving job access and alleviating poverty and homelessness. That and at the same time improving...
  2. Koopzilla24

    MassDOT Rail: Springfield Hub (East-West, NNERI, Berkshires, CT-Valley-VT-Quebec)

    That is incredibly interesting the lack of travel to Lowell and the surrounding area from the North Central region considering the jobs in medical care and the 2 universities (including Merrimack) plus community colleges, especially with the commute on 495 being in reverse of Boston traffic...
  3. Koopzilla24

    MassDOT Rail: Springfield Hub (East-West, NNERI, Berkshires, CT-Valley-VT-Quebec)

    Idk if it has been discussed before but a routing via Lowell branching at Ayer with an intermediate stop in Westford/Chelmsford would be interesting. Express from Lowell to North station is ~35min, add on ~20min from Ayer to Lowell (40mph average speed) and you get a 1:23 trip from Wachusett to...
  4. Koopzilla24

    New Red and Orange Line Cars

    Officially 3 new RL trains active in rush hour today. I haven't looked any other day this week so no idea if this has been ongoing all week.
  5. Koopzilla24

    General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

    To keep playing the part of the optimist: I don't think a total budgeted officer positions difference of 56 drivers will make a big difference in the grand scheme of things (a -3% decrease). At that point in time when the BNRD was expected for 2023, the Columbus Ave bus lanes were not complete...
  6. Koopzilla24

    General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

    I'd assume you don't mean it this way but it comes off as if 1,819 drivers were always active or on standby to drive the buses. That is not the case and is just the roster of employed bus drivers. The T only has about 1079 buses total with also not all of those in-use at once. The construction...
  7. Koopzilla24

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

    Currently working on a dive into Commuter Rail Weekday v Weekend ridership data in relation to service provided, such as the percentage ridership drops off compared to the percentage drop in service, as well as other interesting trends in ridership. It'll take some time to sort out but the first...
  8. Koopzilla24

    General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

    I'm just the messenger, but Keolis and the MBTA will be leasing the BEMUs not procuring a build-order so they will be significantly cheaper (the whole project budget is ~$60mil). Being the only way to get the state to actually fund some form of electrification in the nearer-term the idea is to...
  9. Koopzilla24

    General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

    Interesting question and response from Eng at the Fairmount battery train live thing today: Someone asked about the decision to go with battery electric trains as opposed to fully electrifying with catenary. The response was a lot of the usual capital costs too high for what the T gets from the...
  10. Koopzilla24

    New Red and Orange Line Cars

    Their sources are a very complex network of connections, observation, and the MBTA's own press releases so it'd make sense they lag a bit behind. I think it's 2 people that are the maintainers of the site
  11. Koopzilla24

    MBTA Fare System (Charlie, AFC 2.0, Zone, Discounts)

    I've seen it prove its use to regular riders on my morning bus commute a handful of times now. Riders that don't need to go into work everyday and don't have a monthly/weekly have not kept up on their charliecard balance and went to tap with insufficient funds. Without any cash on hand the bus...
  12. Koopzilla24

    General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

    The announcements on my Franklin Line train just stated there are going to be upcoming schedule changes and weekend closures to facilitate the Franklin Line Double Tracking Project.
  13. Koopzilla24

    Green Line Type 10 Procurement

    Even if they're cheap looking the amount of important information you get out of the LCD screens on the OL trains couldn't be achieved with a dot matrix. They list every single connection not just a generic "bus and train connections" and for wayfinding that's crucial. Also the ability for them...
  14. Koopzilla24

    General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

    There are currently 1207 units worth of construction approved by the city of Everett for construction on 2nd Street (unless I missed some). The 129-unit building on the corner of Rt16 and 2nd was still a pile of dirt in Sept 2022 and is now renting out units to residents. A 320 unit building at...
  15. Koopzilla24

    New Red and Orange Line Cars

    You might have to wait a little longer than that. The 1500s have been on the rails for 55 years now and have another four to go
  16. Koopzilla24

    MBTA Construction Projects

    I doubt it since according to media the T is planning to replace the garage and station with a new development. https://www.universalhub.com/2024/mbta-could-seek-developer-replace-alewife-garage
  17. Koopzilla24

    Regional Rail (RUR) & North-South Rail Link (NSRL)

    My mistake I did not make it clear that the Old Colony thing was not in a NSRL context. I meant that in the "more trains to Ruggles" context and in the near-term. NSRL or 15min regional rail frequencies would supply the increased service to Ruggles. But in the near-term I believe there is merit...
  18. Koopzilla24

    Regional Rail (RUR) & North-South Rail Link (NSRL)

    Ruggles<->Longwood is served by the 8,19,47, CT2, CT3, Longwood Collective buses, and various other shuttle buses. Theres also many bus connections to get to the industrial and warehouse jobs in between Dorchester, Roxbury, and the South End. On top of that, the station sits on Northeastern...
  19. Koopzilla24

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

    Modern trolleybuses with small onboard batteries to run short distances off wire function fine on our existing 600v system. The efficiencies of modern motors allow for in-motion charging but the batteries can also charge when the vehicle is stopped and using minimal power.
  20. Koopzilla24

    Reasonable Transit Pitches

    Theres a lot more service you can run on only double track than we seem to be able to accomplish up here in Greater Boston. Even in this area nearly the same LoS happens at 128 with the NER, Acela, Providence, and Stoughton trains. The caveat being that they all stop at 128 as opposed to Amtrak...

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