General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

The one "reverse" commute I thought might work would be the Providence line to Providence. Although I'm not sure what the employment situation is there.
 
^^ I've done that commute. It works reasonably well. Depends on where you're going in the city-- I did it during the summers, it would be more of a pain in colder and generally unfriendlier weather. I think it'll be easier once RIPTA finishes the Downtown Transit Connector and creates a high-frequency band of bus service from the station down most of the way to the hospital.
 
jklo said:
The one "reverse" commute I thought might work would be the Providence line to Providence. Although I'm not sure what the employment situation is there.
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Agreed. And I also agree with what Riverside said. For a central station, Providence is oddly disconnected from much of the city center.
 
Lrfox said:
Agreed. And I also agree with what Riverside said. For a central station, Providence is oddly disconnected from much of the city center.
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Yeah, I wonder if it was any better before the interstate projects and Union Station. Seemed like they even had decent plans for a good trolley/street car/subway network and even have a pretty substantial tunnel that is sealed/not in use. I know their was a new trolley plan they were positioning for federal funding on a few years ago that fell through.
 
My hero.

https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/One-Teens-Mission-to-Review-the-Entire-MBTA-System-478395673.html

I hope when he's finished, someone takes all the raw content from the reviews, and then does an Andy Rooney, arch-curmudgeon style parody rendition of them & posts to Youtube ("And another thing: why is it that the Auburndale commuter rail station...")

Or a James Earl Jones, majestic profound baritone style parody rendition...
... Or a tag team, William Shatner/Leonard Nimoy style parody rendition...
... Or, for some added Bawstin zest, Marky Mark Wahlberg does his "The Departed" character style parody rendition

Really, the possibilities are endless.
 
choo said:
Is there any legal issue that precludes them from lowering the price for reverse commutes?

Right now, the marginal cost of an additional passenger is $0 and reverse commuters aren't often having a price of downtown parking as a monetary benchmark.

Why not just make those trains 70% off normal fares for the morning reverse. In the evening for nights out in the city and when traffic can be bad both directions, you could probably make inbound trains 40% off.

(this is getting to the off, on, super peak designations in NYC, but I don't think out normal price should push up much more)
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I dont think so. Although the only rail system I can think of that does this is Metro-North and LIRR with their peak and off-peak fares.

I think it just boils down to people who dont ride the train complaining that it is "unfair"

And then they say "wow, these off-peak riders are only paying 5% of the cost for the service, we should eliminate all off-peak trains!"
 
All of the (many) recent scandals have precipitated a re-org in the State Police.

Maybe this could be an opportunity to "Free the Ramp"? If nothing else, activating the (already installed but not turned on) GPS tracking of State Police cruisers will provide data on how that ramp is being used.

As they say, "never let a good crisis go to waste when it’s an opportunity to do things you had never considered or you didn’t think were possible".

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Also, is there any particular reason why the SL stops twice at World Trade Center Station on the return trip from Logan? This seems entirely unnecessary.

I took the SL1 back from Logan this morning at rush hour. Traffic in the Ted Williams tunnel was awful. Once out of the tunnel, we stopped at WTC on Congress St and opened the doors, zero passengers got on or off, but the driver himself got off and walked around the bus for at least thirty seconds before getting back on and continuing the trip. Is this typical? If so, why? Once we were moving again we caught two full red light cycles on D St (one at D & Congress and one at D & Silver Line Way). Then, once in the busway, we stopped again to open the doors at WTC and again zero people got on or off.

Isn't the busway stop sufficient? Why also stop on Congress?

If we didn't stop and wait at WTC on Congress we likely could have avoided at least one of the red light cycles on D. Taking this into account, that stop at which zero people boarded or deboarded probably added about 5 minutes to the trip.
 
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The state police barracks that blocks the entrance to that tunnel is a Troop E barracks. Although I'm not sure if the state will actually close the barracks or just reassign it to Troop H.

Though there is a Troop H office nearby at the Columbia Road Rotary in Southie.
 
Isn't that where they have to switch it off the catenary overhead wires for diesel running?
 
tysmith95 said:
The state police barracks that blocks the entrance to that tunnel is a Troop E barracks. Although I'm not sure if the state will actually close the barracks or just reassign it to Troop H.

Though there is a Troop H office nearby at the Columbia Road Rotary in Southie.
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Good point about it being an E barracks (with Troop E set to be eliminated and its duties and troopers reassigned), but also notable that the barracks doesn't actually "block" the ramp. The open barracks is fully compatible with a ramp open to Silver Line busses (i.e., the SL could use the ramp with little to no effect on the open barracks and the barracks could remain open and use the ramp with little to no effect on the SL also using the ramp).

I'd be surprised if they close the barracks; they'll probably keep it open but reassign it to another "Troop" (maybe even Troop F, whose troopers patrol Massport properties in the Seaport and make a killing doing it). I'm just hoping that the overall re-organisation provides an opportunity for forcing change regarding the ramp, even assuming that the barracks remains open.

bakgwailo said:
Isn't that where they have to switch it off the catenary overhead wires for diesel running?
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Nope, that's at the Silver Line Way stop, not at WTC. So the bus stops at WTC on Congress, then stops at Silver Line Way and switches diesel to electric, then stops again at WTC in the busway.
 
More on how the State Police re-org could affect the Seaport, from the Globe:

Matt Stout and Travis Andersen said:
One point of contention is how the Seaport will be patrolled. For years, troopers have fought Boston police to maintain their exclusive right to have Troop F patrol Massport property along the South Boston waterfront.

Baker aides said it was unclear if changes to how the Seaport is policed would require legislation, and Gilpin did not directly address a question of whether the State Police was willing to cede some of its control there.

“We’ll be looking at all angles,” she said.
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That sounds pretty promising for #FreeTheRamp
 
They do something at WTC. Every single time it stops, the driver gets out and has to adjust something in the back before heading to Silver Line Way.

Also, I think the barracks building doubles as the MassDot control center, so its def not going away.
 
falcon42 said:
They do something at WTC. Every single time it stops, the driver gets out and has to adjust something in the back before heading to Silver Line Way.
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Interesting; thanks. Anybody know what?

falcon42 said:
Also, I think the barracks building doubles as the MassDot control center, so its def not going away.
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These are adjacent but separate buildings. And the ramp is separate still, so the buildings' presence should have zero effect on the ramp's usage.

I'm not thinking "great, the barracks is going away, so now the SL can use the ramp."
I am thinking "great, the State Police are being reorganized and their jurisdiction over the Seaport is being revisisted, so this is a great time to reconsider their prohibition on the SL using the ramp."
 
falcon42 said:
They do something at WTC. Every single time it stops, the driver gets out and has to adjust something in the back before heading to Silver Line Way.
JumboBuc said:
Interesting; thanks. Anybody know what?
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I know this has been covered in some thread, though I can't recall which one. Anyway, I believe it is a safety check on the trolley poles -- the driver confirms that they are both down and secured prior to heading on to open streets.
 
HenryAlan said:
I know this has been covered in some thread, though I can't recall which one. Anyway, I believe it is a safety check on the trolley poles -- the driver confirms that they are both down and secured prior to heading on to open streets.
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But this is on the return from Logan, prior to switching over to electric, after the bus has been driving for 6+ miles on open streets.
 
millerm277 said:
If they can't reopen it for tomorrow/Friday, it's going to be an impressive disaster over there.

PAX East begins tomorrow. And Michelle Obama is speaking at the Seaport Hotel.
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The tunnel was scheduled to be closed this weekend to begin with, even despite PAX. Really bad planning just got worse.
 
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