General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

I encourage anyone who can make it out to Auburndale to attend this meeting on February 15th. The MBTA is going to be presenting the 100% design for Auburndale station and taking public comment. It appears that they're planning a single platform - on the opposite track from the other Newton stations - which will permanently kneecap frequency to the Newton stations, hurt service for the entire line, and basically prevent any sort of effective DMU service whatsoever. There needs to be a critical mass of transit-knowledgeable people who can speak against this.
 
Also, some interesting tidbits from the December 2016 System Wide Accessibility report:

  • Operator badge numbers will be announced audibly and visually on buses. Report bad operators and compliment good ones, folks.
  • "The MBTA will develop, and post to its website, guidelines for designing and maintaining accessible bus stops that will include both minimum technical standards as well as options for further improving service, such as curb extensions. A draft design standard for the construction and maintenance of bus stops has been developed and has been undergoing internal review. In November, SWA, Bus Ops, Service Planning, Capital Delivery, MassDOT Highway and the Federal Highway Administration met to review an updated draft and discuss internal processes that will need to be developed to ensure compliance with standards. Work will continue into 2017"
  • New catamaran ferry arriving this spring
  • Solicitation of design services for Type 10 vehicles for the Green Line will begin this spring
  • DTX elevator connection between OL NB and RL NB platforms is under construction (and one ped passage will be closed Jan 30 - Feb 6), with completion scheduled for early 2018. Two future phases will complete redundant elevators for all transfers at the station; conceptual design for that expected this month.
  • A bunch of elevators to be brought to 30% design, with 100% design to follow. Notable ones include additional elevators at Sullivan, Chinatown, Davis, Mass Ave, Broadway, North Station, and Jackson Square. The City Hall entrance to State Street will also get elevators. Also a number of 1-for-1 replacements (like that currently happening at Park Street)
  • A bunch more to be brought to 30% design, with consideration for advancing to 100% design (but no guarantee these will ever happen. Additional ones at Central, Prudential, Beachmont, and Courthouse. South Cove entrance to Tufts; reopening the Berkeley Street entrance to Arlington; elevators at Fenway; at Readville to the west parking lot and to Hyde Park Ave.
  • A bunch of elevators currently being replaced or about to be. Central, Tufts, and Andrew will have accessible shuttles.
  • Operations will begin sharing monthly reports with impacted municipalitys' transportation and Police Departments regarding bus stops obstructed by illegally parked vehicles."
  • Accessible route between platforms at Mansfield will begin construction in the spring
  • Change order work to start the BU station consolidation expected to be issued in the spring
  • Mini-high platform for the Mattapan Line at Ashmont will be fixed this summer
  • Newton Highlands is at 30% design for accessibility renovation, 100% expected this summer.
  • Feasibility studies being undertaken for making all remaining Green Line and commuter rail stations accessible
  • Wollaston accessibility construction beginning this spring. Station will be shut down for 18 months - that hasn't been mentioned previously.
  • Upgrades at Oak Grove, including finally having an elevator to Washington Street, will be taken to 30% this year.
  • 15% design for Symphony expected this April
  • Design contract for Natick Center, expected to take 18 months, signed soon.
 
Arlington said:
Thanks! Let's get West Medford a center passing/clearance track and two high level platforms !
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While they're at it, keep 50 ft between the south end of the platforms and the crossing. At some point, have DTMF signals protecting High St from southbound trains. That way, trains can come into the station and sit, and the gates won't have gone down at all until they dial in for a permissive signal.
 
Patriots Rally crowds are overwhelming the main downtown transfer stations on the T.

T is restricting access to the stations to meter the crowd flow. Per MBTA alert text.
 
JeffDowntown said:
Patriots Rally crowds are overwhelming the main downtown transfer stations on the T.

T is restricting access to the stations to meter the crowd flow. Per MBTA alert text.
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Closing GC, even to transfers is insane. Make it exit only.
 
datadyne007 said:
Closing GC, even to transfers is insane. Make it exit only.
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How are they enforcing the closure now? (exit-only doors in the new glass box? at faregate? with police tape? with police?)

Can fare gates be set to exit only?
 
Arlington said:
How are they enforcing the closure now? (exit-only doors in the new glass box? at faregate? with police tape? with police?)

Can fare gates be set to exit only?
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Trains were bypassing the station altogether. No boardings, transfers or exits.

GC reopened around 2.

And the way to enforce it is just T Police only letting people out & not in, but that's not what they did.
 
JumboBuc said:
Were there any T issues in yesterday's storm?
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Buses seemed to do pretty well (in the Bus & BRT thread we discussed that they were moving too fast in the empty AM streets, resulting in bunching at terminals)

Commuter Rail, when I looked at about 6pm at https://mbtatrains.com/ (my new fave) looked like:
NEC and Worcester were all on time
Fitchburg had serious problems with bunching (three outbounds delayed moving together)
Other lines had moderate delays

Personally, I rode my 37min 80 bus in 23mins inbound West Medford to Lechmere, and went home at midday GL->Lowell (to West Medford) which was, at 12:15 super punctual and still only filling one double decker behind the locomotive.

I spoke to the driver of my express bus (the 326 West Medford-Haymarket) this morning and the driver reported that at the worst of the storm, buses moved OK because the streets were empty of traffic.

The bus driver this morning said that all his regulars who commute to office jobs at MGH had been told to telecommute yesterday.
 
Arlington said:
Buses seemed to do pretty well (in the Bus & BRT thread we discussed that they were moving too fast in the empty AM streets, resulting in bunching at terminals)

Commuter Rail, when I looked at about 6pm at https://mbtatrains.com/ (my new fave) looked like:
NEC and Worcester were all on time
Fitchburg had serious problems with bunching (three outbounds delayed moving together)
Other lines had moderate delays

Personally, I rode my 37min 80 bus in 23mins inbound West Medford to Lechmere, and went home at midday GL->Lowell (to West Medford) which was, at 12:15 super punctual and still only filling one double decker behind the locomotive.

I spoke to the driver of my express bus (the 326 West Medford-Haymarket) this morning and the driver reported that at the worst of the storm, buses moved OK because the streets were empty of traffic.

The bus driver this morning said that all his regulars who commute to office jobs at MGH had been told to telecommute yesterday.
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sm89 said:
A bus was stuck in a snowbank for some time
https://twitter.com/MsModernMuse/status/829810189146714114

And another bus caught on fire
https://twitter.com/5_13Dist/status/829871913577148416
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So other than a couple broken down buses (which happens every day, everywhere) and screwed up headways, it sounds like everything ran smoothly. Not too bad given that a foot of snow fell. I can't help but think that most other East Coast transit systems would have fared much more poorly in yesterday's conditions.

Time to give credit where credit is due?

Maybe--and this is shocking, I know--investing in winter resiliency actually works? Imagine what wonders investment in other areas of the T could do...
 
JumboBuc said:
Maybe--and this is shocking, I know--investing in winter resiliency actually works? Imagine what wonders investment in other areas of the T could do...
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This is precisely the case. This proves investing $90 million in reliability upgrades WORKS. The new switch heaters installed on rapid transit & commuter rail WORKED. The new 3rd rail heaters on rapid transit WORKED. The extra motors in the shop ready to go when one gave out for rapid transit WORKED. The GL Type 7 overhaul program WORKED. Upgrades to snow removal equipment WORKED.

At this point in 2015, 40% of the GL fleet was out of service.
 
datadyne007 said:
This is precisely the case. This proves investing $90 million in reliability upgrades WORKS. The new switch heaters installed on rapid transit & commuter rail WORKED. The new 3rd rail heaters on rapid transit WORKED. The extra motors in the shop ready to go when one gave out for rapid transit WORKED. The GL Type 7 overhaul program WORKED. Upgrades to snow removal equipment WORKED.

At this point in 2015, 40% of the GL fleet was out of service.
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We just need to keep at it and not let it all fall apart again.

Need those CRRC cars as soon as possible, because the bubble gum and bailing wire is only going to hold so long!
 
Whatever good juju the T had yesterday, they must of used it all up. Currently on a 20 minute 'minor delay' wait on the OL.

Oh well.
 
statler said:
Whatever good juju the T had yesterday, they must of used it all up. Currently on a 20 minute 'minor delay' wait on the OL.

Oh well.
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Blue was a mess this morning too. 14 min wait for a Bowdoin train at the end of the peak.
 
I won't say my sample has been representative, but it sure has been multimodal (bus, express bus, CR, & Green Line), and in general it was really impressive.

This is my first Boston winter as a bus rider. Is it true to say fender benders cause them to drag out the older (high floor) and imperfect buses to ensure they've fielded a full fleet?

I suspect that the Haymarket Express buses always get stuck on North St and that the GL is always bunchy-irregular at Haymarket (they told everyone on an inbound C that they'd do better on the Orange)
 
Arlington said:
This is my first Boston winter as a bus rider. Is it true to say fender benders cause them to drag out the older (high floor) and imperfect buses to ensure they've fielded a full fleet?

)
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There are still just over 35 active RTS (high-floor) buses from 1994/95 at the Chrlestown garage. It is not unusual for 20-25 of them to be used each rush-hour. There are 369 new buses being delivered between last fall and next fall, but the first priority is to retire CNG low-floor buses from 2003/2004 at the Cabot, Arborway, and Southampton garages. Those buses have CNG tanks that will be expiring next year, and would cost about $80,000 per bus to replace. They also have major corrosion issues (they are built from conventional steel, not stainless steel like the RTS or the low-floor diesel buses built between 2005-2008). Once these CNG buses are replaced, they will evalulate the fleet size and decide if they need to order more buses to retire the remaining RTS buses or if they think think they can transfer some more buses to Charlestown garage while maintaining a reasonable spare ratio at all the garages.
 
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