Green Line Extension to Medford & Union Sq

F-Line to Dudley said:
All GLX stations are prepayment with gates. Nothing changed there.
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Are we sure about this? That's not how I read the station plans as of November 2019: fare vending machines but no faregates. I 100% agree that GLX stations should be fully faregated, but I fear that they won't be.

My understanding is that the T's POV during the most recent redesign was that the mythical dragon of AFC 2.0 would (somehow) render faregates obsolete.
 
JumboBuc said:
Are we sure about this? That's not how I read the station plans as of November 2019: fare vending machines but no faregates. I 100% agree that GLX stations should be fully faregated, but I fear that they won't be.

My understanding is that the T's POV during the most recent redesign was that the mythical dragon of AFC 2.0 would (somehow) render faregates obsolete.
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The public meeting documents don't seem to show faregates one the station layouts that I spotchecked, at least.

GLX public meetings & documents

Public meeting announcements and meeting documents
www.mass.gov www.mass.gov
 
I was also under the impression they won't have faregates at launch and were instead going to be done as part of the long delayed and never happening AFC 2.0
 
All they need are hard-wired bus fare machines by each entrance so people can tap as they walk in.
 
jass said:
All they need are hard-wired bus fare machines by each entrance so people can tap as they walk in.
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Sure, that would be better than the surface GL status quo, but faregates would be better still. Pre-boarding fare validation is faster and more convenient than on-board validation, and faregates lead to higher compliance.

It makes zero sense to install fare vending machines in enclosed built-from-scratch headhouses but not install faregates. Not installing faregates along the GLX would be almost as dumb as if they hadn't installed them at Assembly. But they did install them at Assembly, for the totally obvious reasons.
 
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I'm anti-GLX faregates, and frankly removing them at Science Park and Symphony also makes sense. They make adding addition entrances and egresses more difficult (this actually matters a lot at Symphony due to ADA requirements possibly mandating two elevator locations). They increase operating and capital costs and should not be significantly faster than Type-10 boarding, with two tap readers per door
 
Arlington said:
Objection your honor: assumes facts not in evidence: head-house enclosures were mostly deleted and will not be built from scratch or any other material
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Every single GLX station has at least one "STATION HEADHOUSE" per design documents. Headhouses may not have glass windows and climate control, and some may not have roofs, but I believe all stations but one will be "enclosed" in that access points are walled and secure-able "enclosures." These stations are much more like Lansdowne or Boston Landing than, say, Coolidge Corner.

Lechmere will have two grade-separated headhouses with walls and ceilings.
Union will have an walled entry way with a close-able security gate.
East Somerville has a single at-grade primary access points and an additional emergency egress.
Gilman Square will have walled and roofed entry corridors.
Magoun Square will have a walled and roofed entry corridor.
Ball Square will have walled and roofed entry corridors with security gates.
Medford / Tufts will have a walled and roofed entry corridor.

These are not strips of concrete like on the western reaches of the GL, they are grade separated structures with walls and controlled access. Some of them have such clear controlled entry points that you almost have to go out of your way not to faregate them.
FitchburgLine said:
I'm anti-GLX faregates, and frankly removing them at Science Park and Symphony also makes sense. They make adding addition entrances and egresses more difficult (this actually matters a lot at Symphony due to ADA requirements possibly mandating two elevator locations). They increase operating and capital costs and should not be significantly faster than Type-10 boarding, with two tap readers per door
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But these are brand new mostly grade-separated entrances and exits that are already ADA compliant with brand new elevators and brand new staircases. We're not going to be adding entrances or egresses to these stations in the next half-century. Also, the GLX will be fully operational for years (decades?) before the entire fleet is replaced with Type-10s.
 
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Getting ready to pave. (Dancingbanana)

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There are buried streetcar tracks all over the place on streets that have been reconstructed many times since the streetcars disappeared.
 
Isn't there somebody whose business is pulling out abandoned rail for its scrap value?
 
It's much easier for munis to just leave them under the street surface than waste time during road construction bring in a company to tear out the century+ old tracks.
 
George_Apley said:
It's much easier for munis to just leave them under the street surface than waste time during road construction bring in a company to tear out the century+ old tracks.
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They've been cut into by utility companies so many times there's hardly enough regular-size hunks of metal left to have any scrap value.

Main reason it's not done is that past roadwork is so poorly-documented on most city streets that they simply don't want to deal with any of complications of what random crap is buried underneath the lowest layer of pavement...paving stones, temp metal sheeting left from some ancient utility job, prior utility jobs that were simply never covered properly and would cost $$$ to finish right, and so on. Unless they're tearing down all the way to the substrate it's default practice to just let dragons rest until there's a problem, because odds are the randomness uncovered is going to cost well more than scrap saves at fixing right and every muni DPW budget would have to be padded with "we found dragons" contingencies for the unknown. Sucks for long-term maint, but it's not like even today's private utilities pay more than minimum necessary attention to what slop they leave behind on their dig-safe jobs so there's still an acknowledged administrative futility in trying to herd cats in the name of clean (under-)streets.
 
For the Washington Street Bridge, I'm guessing those secondary squat-looking concrete abutments will be left in place permanently, so that the sidewalks behind them will be higher than the roadway. Is that correct?
 
Charlie_mta said:
For the Washington Street Bridge, I'm guessing those secondary squat-looking concrete abutments will be left in place permanently, so that the sidewalks behind them will be higher than the roadway. Is that correct?
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I asked the GLX Community Working Group to reach out and ask GLX about the old abutments. Apparently the plan is to leave them in place.

"GLX-C confirmed that part of the old stone abutment will remain in place and visible as an aesthetic choice and to acknowledge the history of the site. I guess taste is always subjective. Some will like it and others won't.

Jeff Wagner at GLX-C did emphasize that roadway conditions, pedestrian and bicycle access, and critically, drainage will be much improved at that site and agreed he is anxious to see more of a finished product.

....

GLX-C further explained that retaining aesthetic elements of existing railway was a requirement from the bid materials. Not sure it had to be there specifically, or any abutments specifically, but thinking about the project broadly, there are only so many opportunities for that type of architectural/structural reference.

They also said the underpass will likely be open for traffic this evening, so you should get a good chance to check it out!"
 
ryblogs said:
I asked the GLX Community Working Group to reach out and ask GLX about the old abutments. Apparently the plan is to leave them in place.

"GLX-C confirmed that part of the old stone abutment will remain in place and visible as an aesthetic choice and to acknowledge the history of the site. I guess taste is always subjective. Some will like it and others won't.

Jeff Wagner at GLX-C did emphasize that roadway conditions, pedestrian and bicycle access, and critically, drainage will be much improved at that site and agreed he is anxious to see more of a finished product.

....

GLX-C further explained that retaining aesthetic elements of existing railway was a requirement from the bid materials. Not sure it had to be there specifically, or any abutments specifically, but thinking about the project broadly, there are only so many opportunities for that type of architectural/structural reference.

They also said the underpass will likely be open for traffic this evening, so you should get a good chance to check it out!"
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