Very exciting to see!
A few points in response to your comments:
Agreed about the need for infrastructure. But, it's very important to realize: this is not what the NSRL is about. Providing a shuttle service between North Station and South Station is not the point of the North-South Rail Link: the point is to create a unified job market, where northside commuters can access Back Bay and Longwood just as easily as southside commuters can. Creating a direct frequent North Station-Seaport link is very valuable, but still keeps those commuters at a remove; transfering to the new T-7 bus isn't going to be any more convenient than transferring to the Green Line to reach Longwood is right now.
[EDIT: Sorry, I should moderate my tone a little bit. You are right, this definitely will help northside commuters more easily reach the southern end of the Financial District and the Seaport, and will make it easier for southside commuters to reach the northern end of downtown, just like the NSRL would. I just got frustrated because it sounded like you were comparing the NSRL to a North Station-South Station shuttle, which is a bugbear of mine. But I realize you were criticizing this as a poor replacement for the NSRL anyway, so I apologize for the stand-off-ish tone from me. Thanks for sharing the article! This is one of my favorite projects.]
Atlantic Ave is much less direct to where the jobs in downtown actually are; half of Atlantic's walkshed is literally in the harbor.
A few points in response to your comments:
City of Boston Reboots Plans for Bus-Priority Corridor Between North, South Stations
In addition to bus-priority infrastructure and enhanced bus stops, the city is also examining the possibilities for cross-town protected bike lanes and safer, more visible crosswalks along the rout…mass.streetsblog.org
North-to-South Station high frequency bus was rebooted with initial designs due next year. This feels like a temporary solution to NSRL but I feel this needs some legitimate infrastructure (center-running dedicated bus lanes w/o right-turning cars , signal priority) to make the travel times competitive to get downtown core commuters to switch from driving to CR + bus connection. My sense is that we need <10 min travel times during peak between SS and NS for this to have a large impact on congestion.
Agreed about the need for infrastructure. But, it's very important to realize: this is not what the NSRL is about. Providing a shuttle service between North Station and South Station is not the point of the North-South Rail Link: the point is to create a unified job market, where northside commuters can access Back Bay and Longwood just as easily as southside commuters can. Creating a direct frequent North Station-Seaport link is very valuable, but still keeps those commuters at a remove; transfering to the new T-7 bus isn't going to be any more convenient than transferring to the Green Line to reach Longwood is right now.
[EDIT: Sorry, I should moderate my tone a little bit. You are right, this definitely will help northside commuters more easily reach the southern end of the Financial District and the Seaport, and will make it easier for southside commuters to reach the northern end of downtown, just like the NSRL would. I just got frustrated because it sounded like you were comparing the NSRL to a North Station-South Station shuttle, which is a bugbear of mine. But I realize you were criticizing this as a poor replacement for the NSRL anyway, so I apologize for the stand-off-ish tone from me. Thanks for sharing the article! This is one of my favorite projects.]
Also, why didn't they propose routing it via atlantic avenue (right over the Central Artery)? Seems to be plenty of ROW Width to run dedicated bus lanes.
Atlantic Ave is much less direct to where the jobs in downtown actually are; half of Atlantic's walkshed is literally in the harbor.
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