Auburndale's parking lot is tiny. People there could easily drive to Riverside or Wellesley Farms, but chose not to:
The Wellesley stations are very inconvenient and out-of-the-way from the highways. Riverside is only helpful if you want to take the Green Line. Not very convenient for those traveling to South Station: that would be a hike! What’s needed is a convenient Commuter Rail park-n-ride.
Alewife to $10... ouch. That'll probably get people to drive in to Cambridge more.
Auburndale's parking lot is tiny. People there could easily drive to Riverside or Wellesley Farms, but chose not to. I remember seeing plenty of cars parked out on the street too nearby, I assumed they were freeloaders.
Yeah looks like just about a mile walk, which probably isn't viable for most. Maybe a shuttle bus or something from Riverside to Auburndale, but that probably isn't that convenient either, as we are talking drive/ride into Riverside, transfer to bus (or 15-20 minutes walk), switch to the CR and then to South Station (and w/e connections or walk needed from there). Might still be better than the feasibility of getting more land around the CR stops for parking, though.
The Wellesley stations are very inconvenient and out-of-the-way from the highways. Riverside is only helpful if you want to take the Green Line. Not very convenient for those traveling to South Station: that would be a hike! What’s needed is a convenient Commuter Rail park-n-ride.
Anything more convenient would basically be Riverside.
Those living outside of catchment areas of transit need a park n ride that's accessible from the higway, not clogging city streets to access, and has a fast trip Downtown. That isn't Riverside (not fast), nor is it the Wellesleys or Auburndale (it fails the other two qualifications).
It's a mile and a half, anything closer that isn't Riverside just isn't feasible. You could run Commuter Rail trains from Riverside as mentioned if they wanted to.
I think you misunderstand me. I am talking about a new station in a different location. I'm not sure I understand what you're talking about.
Ah, I thought you meant from Riverside it would be a hike to walk to say Auburndale Station to grab the CR to South Station, when, in fact, I would guess you mean its a hike taking the Green into South Station from Riverside.
I think we're talking past each other. The location of the new infill station would be somewhere between track-mile 10.7 and 11.5 on the Worcester Line.
What does the proximity to Riverside have to do with feasibility? It's on a different ROW.
- Alewife, Braintree, and Quincy Adams will go from $7 to $10 on weekdays and $3 on weekends.
- Two suburban Commuter Rail stations jump out at me for the same reason: Littleton/Route 495 and South Attleboro. Their lots are going up in price on weekdays (from $4 to $6). They are park-and-ride oriented stations next to highways, and serve to take cars of the road and convince highway drivers to "park and ride." If the price of parking gets too high, they do not serve their purpose, and turn people away. If the parking lots are full, they also turn people away. These stations have become very popular, which is great! But, to adequately serve their purpose, they are both in need of parking garages to increase the amount of parking.
- Red Line Extension. Alewife will go from $7 to $10 on weekdays due to high demand. This was never meant to be the end of the line, and the strain is showing. A lot of commuters are coming from Arlington, Belmont, Lexington, Waltham, etc, and parking here. Extending the Red Line to Arlington would be a start. Ultimately, similar to the Orange Line, the Red Line needs to be extended to 128 (either in Waltham or Lexington).
On Recreation Road? That would be a tough sell that it would be worth it compared to what's there now.
There are tracks at Riverside which connect into the Worcester Line but would need upgrading for real use. I think they use the tracks today for testing and training purposes.
