General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

BeyondRevenue said:
Right on! Most people don't know that nearly 2/3 of MBTA funding comes from state taxes, not revenue service. Let's make it 100 percent... like all of the public streets and nearly all roads in the Commonwealth. Why do people who do the right thing for relieving traffic congestion, pollution and energy consumption get pay-gated, while people who do the wrong thing -- driving like idiots, circling endlessly for elusive free parking, blowing through red lights -- they get to be subsidized 100 percent? Why the double standard? Kill the Charlie card. all the turnstiles, and move everyone who works in revenue service, collections, and accounting onto broom detail if they want to stick around.
Free the T! Pay for it with congestion fees, gas taxes, and whatever else makes sense.
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Because there's a lot more people who primarily drive than people who primarily take the T at a statewide level, and they vote.

I'm sorry, but I think it's wild fantasy land to imagine that any of this besides maybe a Boston CBD congestion charge is getting past the MA legislature, or MA voters. We couldn't even get gas tax indexing to inflation to stick when the legislature did pass it.

I'll wager you're not going to find any support for hiking gas taxes to pay for the T from any politician outside 128.
 
millerm277 said:
Because there's a lot more people who primarily drive than people who primarily take the T at a statewide level, and they vote.

I'm sorry, but I think it's wild fantasy land to imagine that any of this besides maybe a Boston CBD congestion charge is getting past the MA legislature, or MA voters. We couldn't even get gas tax indexing to inflation to stick when the legislature did pass it.

I'll wager you're not going to find any support for hiking gas taxes to pay for the T from any politician outside 128.
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I think it's an uphill battle to be sure. It'll depend on two things, one being whether it can be tied to promises of service expansion (Amtrak, CT, VT, and NY having potential interests in upgraded passenger rail service and infrastructure in Western MA doesn't hurt), and the other being more a matter of squeaky wheels. Environmental concerns aren't exclusive to coastal areas or the MBTA district; make advocacy loud enough and the 'fringe benefits' enough to offset the complaints from the NIMBYs and you might well be able to get more legislators onboard than you'd think. All of that's easier said and done, and even if it works it's still not a slam dunk. To be fair, though, if you're talking congestion charge versus broader-spectrum road pricing, Boston's going to be the big-ticket target anyway. (Part of me wonders if proper road pricing might actually be easier to accomplish if it came with changes in gas taxes to make driving cheaper for the people who do it the least while not providing a perverse incentive to make people drive more.)
 
millerm277 said:
Because there's a lot more people who primarily drive than people who primarily take the T at a statewide level, and they vote.

I'm sorry, but I think it's wild fantasy land to imagine that any of this besides maybe a Boston CBD congestion charge is getting past the MA legislature, or MA voters. We couldn't even get gas tax indexing to inflation to stick when the legislature did pass it.

I'll wager you're not going to find any support for hiking gas taxes to pay for the T from any politician outside 128.
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Why just the T? Make all public transportation free. Would that make it easier sell to the taxpayers?
 
BostonBoy said:
Why just the T? Make all public transportation free. Would that make it easier sell to the taxpayers?
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Probably not. Even if you make it free there's still a significant portion of people that will never take it and won't see the value in forcing them to pay for something other people use.
 
393b40 said:
Probably not. Even if you make it free there's still a significant portion of people that will never take it and won't see the value in forcing them to pay for something other people use.
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True.

Though a nice political retort to that line of complaint would be to implement road pricing (or at least a congestion charge). After all, these people wouldn't have any problem with not forcing other people to pay for the things they use, right? :ROFLMAO:
 
Brattle Loop said:
Though a nice political retort to that line of complaint would be to implement road pricing (or at least a congestion charge). After all, these people wouldn't have any problem with not forcing other people to pay for the things they use, right? :ROFLMAO:
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It's a retort, but you'll find widespread opposition. Generally I find "gotcha" political rhetoric to be very ineffective at convincing people.
 
393b40 said:
It's a retort, but you'll find widespread opposition. Generally I find "gotcha" political rhetoric to be very ineffective at convincing people.
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Accurate, especially if the objective is to change minds. I was thinking more from the standpoint of an administration moving forward with removing fares and facing opposition, where the aim wouldn't be to convince so much as to either try and silence the opposition or - more likely - to get media coverage pointing out the "actually, there's sort of a point there" angle.

(I should note that I was half-joking anyway, hence the laughing emoji, and that if I were a PR/campaign advisor to a politician or government I might not advise so blunt a tactic, at least, not as a first move.)
 
Lead paint is cited in the article as an original issue, as well as COVID-19 labor restrictions/'reduced manpower.'

I'm not entirely shocked: these things are from the 1940's and have a good number of parts that only a handful of manufacturers would still make and only a handful of maintenance workers around the Boston area would know how to install/repair them.
 
Yeah, it isn't nearly as shocking as the reporting has tried to make it out to be. I do find it curious, though, that the lead paint/etc was seemingly missed in the last major overhaul which was not too long ago. Of course - maybe that is a bit of the root cause of it; perhaps they had figured all of the abatement had been done in the previous rebuilds.
 
The Senate Committee on Reimagining Massachusetts Post-Pandemic Resiliency has proposed offering free T passes to people on MassHealth/SNAP (making up to 200% of the poverty line)
Residents who are eligible for MassHealth or SNAP benefits would automatically qualify for low-cost broadband options, according to the report, which would cost the state between $50 million and $100 million annually.

Those same residents should get reduced MBTA fare cards, similar to benefits already available to seniors, people with disabilities and some younger riders, according to the report. In another approach, the MBTA could offer free frees to households below 200% of the federal poverty line.

The initiative would cost about $100 million annually, Hinds said.
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From Reddit. Is it just me, or is having two separate tap target areas bad UI

khd81osdmws71.jpg
 
jass said:
From Reddit. Is it just me, or is having two separate tap target areas bad UI

khd81osdmws71.jpg
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Are these ones better than the ones they got now? Because some of those don't work at all! More of a damn nuisense than a conveniense!!! :mad:
 
jass said:
From Reddit. Is it just me, or is having two separate tap target areas bad UI
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It is, but I suspect that the "bank card payment square" is controlled by different stakeholders (and security requirements) from the "stored value tap circle"

I might have gone even further in making them different colors (like "charlie card green" / green line green for the tap circle, and "Banking sponsor brand color" for the rectangle (unless it was Citizens green; I'm picturing BofA or Santander red)
 
www.nbcboston.com

Man Nearly Hit by Large Piece of Metal and Concrete That Fell at MBTA Station

A Boston man was nearly hit by a large piece of falling debris at the Savin Hill MBTA station in Dorchester. Tim Shannon of Dorchester says he’s feeling fortunate after a metal panel beneath a concrete stair gave way Sunday night. “I just happened to look up, you could hear a loud cracking...
www.nbcboston.com www.nbcboston.com

Guy nearly gets hit by a piece of metal at Savin Hill.
 
Seems that if it's not just the trains falling apart, it's the stations. The MBTA needs to be mindful of both. :unsure:
 
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Reading an article about restrooms in the Seattle transit system...

www.theurbanist.org

Toilet Deserts Remain Despite Sound Transit’s Renewed Restroom Policy - The Urbanist

# More passenger restrooms are ahead in Sound Transit's ever-growing system. However, a recommended policy update would discourage them from becoming a universal and easily accessible feature at light rail stations because of stringent criteria. Under the policy, 16 transit facilities throughout...
www.theurbanist.org www.theurbanist.org

What was the last new MBTA station to have one? Does Courthouse have restrooms? I dont think any of the Green Line extension ones do. Union Square probably should as a terminus...
 
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