General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

[lainpimicaja]

It looks like the MPO is using “congestion pricing” to mean “variable tolling on highways” like they do on interstates in Virginia and Texas , rather than a “charge to enter the central business district” like in London or Stockholm. Their map only included interstates and certain state highways, and notable excludes Storrow and Memorial Drives, so most trips from inner ring suburbs like Belmont and Watertown and Newton to Downtown or Kendall Square would not be affected by their version of congestion pricing. The central business district charge would probably yield more revenue that just the highways, but probably not to the level of NYC

Similar to what London is doing now with the expanded ULEZ cordon that encompasses much more of the city, eventually for Metro Boston (strong emphasis on eventually - acknowledging this would likely happen in phases if at all), I think the best thing would be to have a multi-tiered cordon - like a baseline charge for entering within the boundary outlined by 128 and then a CBD cordon that had a higher charge and encompassed the high demand, relatively transit-rich districts like Downtown, Back Bay, LMA, Airport, Kendall, etc.

 

[themissinglink]

MBTA experiments with new signs to help the visually impaired navigate the system

The MBTA is putting up brightly colored signs that sort of look like radically simplified QR codes as part of a pilot to try to help the visually impaired better get around the system with the help of a phone app that can read the signs. Read more.

www.universalhub.com

 

[ant8904]

Gov. Healey to Make 'Major Announcement' on Transport Funding - Streetsblog Massachusetts

Governor Maura Healey and Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll will be in Worcester Tuesday morning to make “a major announcement related to transportation funding,” according to the Governor’s press office. The Governor typically issues a proposal for the next fiscal year’s state operating budget...

mass.streetsblog.org

Well, whatever the plan (that does sound like it will be disappointing) that going to be revealed later today, at least this means the odds of the worse case scenario greatly decreases now. That scenario lies in nothing discussed or "revealed", with the odds increasing the later it is procrastinated. It probably be another kick-the-can plan, but at least it's not running right off the cliff by total inaction